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  • NBA roundup: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Hawks hold off Hornets

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    (Photo credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images)

    Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 23 points and came up with a crucial defensive play in the final seconds to help the Atlanta Hawks hold on for a 113-110 win over the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.

    Alexander-Walker put the Hawks ahead 111-110 with a layup at 1:42 and stripped Charlotte rookie Kon Knueppel of the ball with 6 seconds remaining to preserve the win. The Hornets’ Miles Bridges missed a last-second 3-pointer that would have tied the game.

    Alexander-Walker was one of four Atlanta players – all starters — with 20-plus points. Jalen Johnson scored 28 with 11 assists and eight rebounds, Dyson Daniels had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Onyeka Okongwu added 20 points and seven boards.

    Knueppel scored 28 points for the Hornets, including seven 3-point baskets. Collin Sexton added 22 points and Bridges scored 21.

    Heat 127, 76ers 117

    Norman Powell scored 32 points and Kel’el Ware registered 20 points and 16 rebounds to guide visiting Miami to a victory over Philadelphia.

    Bam Adebayo contributed 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, while Davion Mitchell chipped in with eight points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the Miami reserves with 22 points.

    Tyrese Maxey scored 27 points and Trendon Watford contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the 76ers, who have alternated losses and wins in each of their last nine games. Andre Drummond pulled down 23 rebounds to go with 14 points. Center Joel Embiid (knee) continued to sit out, while Paul George (knee) scored 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting as he works his way back from offseason knee surgery.

    Raptors 119, Nets 109

    Immanuel Quickley made two 3-pointers in the final 3:17 as Toronto defeated visiting Brooklyn for its seventh straight win.

    Quickley scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. He was one of eight Raptors to reach double figures, with Scottie Barnes leading the group with 17. RJ Barrett scored 16 before limping to the dressing room with 7:13 left in the third quarter; he did not return with a right knee sprain.

    Reserve Tyrese Martin scored 26 points for the Nets, while Michael Porter Jr. had 25. Noah Clowney added 22 points, and Nic Claxton had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Brooklyn tied the game at 104 with 4:19 remaining before Quickley’s barrage dashed its hopes.

    Cavaliers 120, Clippers 105

    Donovan Mitchell collected 37 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Evan Mobley scored 18 points as Cleveland pulled away for a victory over visiting Los Angeles.

    De’Andre Hunter added 17 points and Darius Garland had eight points and eight assists for the Cavaliers, who went 4-2 on their longest homestand of the season. Head coach Kenny Atkinson improved to 76-24 in his 100th game with the franchise.

    Ivica Zubac amassed a season-high 33 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to pace the Clippers, while Kawhi Leonard scored 20 in his first game since Nov. 3. James Harden had 19 points, but he missed all eight of his 3-point attempts. L.A. fell to 2-10 in November with the loss.

    Celtics 138, Magic 129

    Jaylen Brown collected 35 points and Boston avoided back-to-back home losses by beating short-handed Orlando.

    Boston received 23 points off the bench from Anfernee Simons and 19 from Payton Pritchard. Simons was 4 of 7 from 3-point territory. Brown and Pritchard each had eight assists.

    Jett Howard led the Magic with 30 points, seven rebounds and three assists off the bench. He scored 28 points in the second half, including 22 in the fourth quarter. Orlando received 18 points from both Jase Richardson and Desmond Bane. Franz Wagner added 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

    Thunder 122, Trail Blazers 95

    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points to help Oklahoma City extend its winning streak to nine with a home victory over Portland.

    Gilgeous-Alexander also had seven assists and five rebounds while finishing 13 of 18 from the field and hitting all nine of his free throws. Ajay Mitchell complemented SGA’s brilliance with 20 points off the bench, and Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.

    Jerami Grant led the Blazers with 21 points. Deni Avdija missed 12 of 16 shots from the field and finished with 11 points as Portland failed to defeat the Thunder for the second time in two tries and suffered its fifth loss in six games.

    Suns 111, Spurs 102

    Dillon Brooks had 25 points and four of Phoenix’s 14 3-pointers, Devin Booker tallied 24 points and the host Suns extended their winning streak to three with a victory over San Antonio.

    Jordan Goodwin had his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds in his first start this season, and Mark Williams added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix, which has won 10 of 12.

    De’Aaron Fox scored 26 points, Devin Vassell had 17 and Julian Champagnie collected 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, who had a three-game winning streak broken. San Antonio had not lost since star Victor Wembanyama suffered a calf injury in a Nov. 14 loss to Golden State.

    Lakers 108, Jazz 106

    Luka Doncic scored 33 points while adding 11 rebounds and eight assists to lead Los Angeles past Utah in Salt Lake City.

    Austin Reaves tallied 22 points and 10 boards to help the Lakers notch their second consecutive win over the Jazz in a six-day span. LeBron James added 17 points and eight assists in his second game back from a sciatica injury. Rui Hachimura chipped in 13 points. Los Angeles outscored Utah 26-18 in fastbreak points.

    Keyonte George led the Jazz with 27 points and eight assists. Lauri Markkanen chipped in 20 points that included multiple baskets in the final minutes. Jusuf Nurkic added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

    –Field Level Media

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  • Hopeful Hawks, Magic set for early-season division matchup

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    (Photo credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)

    A pair of Southeast Division rivals with lofty expectations will meet for the first time on Friday, as the Orlando Magic play host to the visiting Atlanta Hawks.

    Both consensus picks to make the postseason out of the Eastern Conference, Orlando and Atlanta last met in the 7 vs. 8 play-in tournament game in April, a 120-95 Magic victory. With each team returning its core nucleus while adding key newcomers, neither side wants to return to the play-in.

    Orlando began its season with a 125-121 victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday, debuting its revamped offense spearheaded in part by offseason trade acquisition Desmond Bane.

    The former high-scoring Memphis Grizzlies guard was shipped to the Magic in June and began his Orlando career with a 23-point output.

    ‘It felt good, I’m not going to lie,’ Bane said of his first game in Orlando. ‘It’s going to be a good place to call home, for sure. … We’ve got work to do. It’s always good to come out of here with a win, but we’ve still got a long way to go. It’s the first of 82 (games). It’s a long journey. It doesn’t happen overnight.’

    Bane should provide a lift to an Orlando team that made the postseason despite averaging just 105.4 points per game (28th in the league), while shooting a league-worst 31.8% on 3-point attempts.

    Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner chipped in 24 points apiece in the season-opening win. Looking to complement last season’s No. 1 scoring defense (105.5 points per game allowed), Orlando is embracing the challenge of its newfound offensive balance.

    ‘Those are very good problems,’ Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said. ‘ … The beauty of this team is our depth, our togetherness and the focus that we have to continue to work for one another.’

    Atlanta’s highly-anticipated season began with a whimper on Wednesday, as the Hawks were uncompetitive in a 138-118 home loss to the Toronto Raptors. As new faces debuted in Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard, Atlanta trailed by as many as 29 points in the season opener, allowing the Raptors to score 86 points in the paint.

    ‘A lot of things we need to clean up, stating the obvious,’ Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said. ‘ … It’s tough to have this on your home opener. The enthusiasm we have needs to get channeled correctly into the things that are going to help us win games.’

    Wednesday marked the return of Jalen Johnson, who saw his 2024-25 season end in January after a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Johnson and Trae Young had 22 points each, while Porzingis chipped in 20, but the good news ended there for the Hawks, who look to rebound on Friday.

    ‘I don’t think there’s too many positives you can take from tonight,’ Young said after the 20-point loss. ‘It’s embarrassing the way we started it. A lot of it comes from the preseason, obviously it carried over, we didn’t play all five of us. You could tell by the continuity we had out there, it wasn’t right. But the cream always rises to the top. We got some time to make it up and got to get going.’

    –Field Level Media

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