Young scores NBA season-best 56 in Hawks’ loss to Blazers

PORTLAND, Ore. — Anfernee Simons had a career-high 43 points and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame an NBA season-best 56 points by Atlanta’s Trae Young, snapping a four-game losing streak in a 136-131 win over the Hawks on Monday night.

Young shot 17 for 26 from the field, 7 for 12 from 3-point distance and 15 for 15 from the line for his career-high scoring total, and added 14 assists. His 56-point game eclipsed Kevin Durant’s 51-point performance for the Nets at Detroit on Dec. 12. Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Boston’s Jaylen Brown have had 50-point games this season.

Young became the first player with 50-plus points and 14-plus assists in a game since James Harden with the Houston Rockets on Dec. 31, 2016.

Portland starting center Jusuf Nukic had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Simons had a career-high nine 3-pointers, the most for a Portland player this season.

GRIZZLIES 118, NETS 104

NEW YORK — Ja Morant scored 36 points and five players scored in double figures as Memphis extended its winning streak to five games with a win over Brooklyn.

Desmond Bane scored 29 points, Brandon Clarke added 16, and Jarrett Culver and Tyus Jones had 12 apiece.

Kevin Durant led the Nets with 26 points on 8-for-24 shooting from the field, including 2 for 8 from 3-point range. James Harden added 19 points in 5-for-14 shooting. Nic Claxton added 11 points and Blake Griffin and Bruce Brown each finished with 10 points as Brooklyn lost its third straight.

Morant scored 18 points in the third period and had a spectacular tomahawk dunk that drew a gasp from the Barclay Center crowd of more 17,000, which included NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown, whose career is on hold after leaving the field and his Tampa Bay teammates in the Buccaneers’ win over the Jets on Sunday.

PISTONS 115, BUCKS 106

MILWAUKEE — Saddiq Bey scored a career-high 34 points and Detroit ended Milwaukee’s six-game winning streak.

Detroit owns the NBA’s worst record (7-28) but beat the reigning NBA champions and ended its recent futility in the series. Milwaukee had won 12 consecutive regular-season matchups with the Pistons by an average margin of 16.7 points before Monday.

Josh Jackson scored 24 points, Cade Cunningham had 19 and Trey Lyles added 11 as all three Pistons came back from health and safety protocols. Hamidou Diallo added 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Jrue Holiday scored 29. Bobby Portis had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Khris Middleton added 10 points.

BULLS 102, MAGIC 98

CHICAGO — DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points, Zach LaVine added 27 and Chicago beat Orlando for its eighth straight victory.

Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Bulls. Coby White came off the bench to score 17 points.

Franz Wagner led Orlando with 22 points. Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who lost their sixth straight. Orlando has three wins since Nov. 17.

LaVine and DeRozan combined for 17 points in the third quarter, helping the Bulls hold off the Magic. Chicago last lost on Dec. 11, 118-92 to Miami.

WARRIORS 115, HEAT 108

SAN FRANCISCO — Jordan Poole scored 32 points, Andrew Wiggins added 22 points and a key driving dunk with 4:34 remaining on a quiet night for Stephen Curry, and Golden State held off undermanned Miami.

Heat star Jimmy Butler was helped off the court with 3:14 left in the third quarter after hurting his right ankle going down awkwardly. Butler had 22 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Curry had a season-low nine points.

Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 11 assists for the Heat playing in foul trouble, whistled for his fifth personal with 43.2 seconds remaining in the third. Tyler Herro scored 18 points for a Miami team down 10 players in all, five because of the COVID protocols.

TIMBERWOLVES 122, CLIPPERS 104

LOS ANGELES — Anthony Edwards scored 28 points to lead six players in double figures and Minnesota routed Los Angeles to end a three-game skid.

The Wolves gained a split in LA after losing by five to the Lakers a night earlier.

Serge Ibaka tied his season high with 17 points for the Clippers, who have dropped four of six.

Reserves Jaylen McDaniels added 18 points and Taurean Prince had 17 points for the Wolves. Patrick Beverley tied his career high with 12 assists against his former team.

76ERS 133, ROCKETS 113

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid had a triple-double with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, leading Philadelphia over Houston.

Furkan Korkmaz scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe had 18 points for the Sixers.

Garrison Mathews led the Rockets with 23 points.

The Rockets played without guard Kevin Porter Jr. and forward Christian Wood. They were suspended one game for bad behavior. Both had meltdowns in a loss Saturday to Denver.

WIZARDS 124, HORNETS 121

WASHINGTON — Kyle Kuzma had a season-high 36 points and 14 rebounds and Bradley Beal scored 35 points in Washington’s win over Charlotte.

Charlotte (19-19), which lost to Phoenix by a season-high 34 points on Sunday, was led by Gordon Hayward’s 27 points. Terry Rozier scored 25 points and Miles Bridges added 23 points and a season-high 14 rebounds.

Beal again started at point guard as four others were in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. He had eight assists and seven rebounds.

JAZZ 115, PELICANS 104

NEW ORLEANS — Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points, Bojan Bogdanovic added 21, and Utah extended its road winning streak to nine games by beating New Orleans.

Rudy Gobert had 10 points and 18 rebounds for the Jazz, who led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter as Utah won for the seventh time in eight games.

Jonas Valanciunas had 25 points and nine assists, and Josh Hart added 15 points and nine assists for New Orleans, which dropped its second straight and lost for the third time in four games. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 13 points in a reserve role. Brandon Ingram missed 15 of 18 shots and finished with 10 points in his return from a two-game absence caused by a sore left Achilles tendon.

MAVERICKS 103, NUGGETS 89

DALLAS — Luka Doncic had 21 points and matched a season high with 15 assists in Dallas’ win over Denver.

Dwight Powell and Reggie Bullock added 15 points each for the Mavericks, who swept a back-to-back and matched their longest winning streak of the season at three games.

Nikola Jokic had 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Nuggets, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.