DETROIT (AP) — Jonas Valanciunas scored 13 of his 33 points in the first quarter and the New Orleans Pelicans went on to beat the Detroit Pistons 116-110 on Friday night.
New Orleans’ CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III each had 19 points and Naji Marshall added 17. The Pelicans played without a trio of injured players: Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herbert Jones.
Detroit was short-handed, too, missing Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren, Marvin Bagley III and Cade Cunningham.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 14 of his 22 points in the first quarter and made a jumper with 3:17 left to pull the Pistons within three points.
HAWKS 113, PACERS 111
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — John Colllns tipped in a missed shot with less than a second left to lift Atlanta past Indiana.
Trae Young scored 26 points and De’Andre Hunter had 25 for the Hawks. Young was 6 of 10 from 3-point range and Hunter 6 of 9. The Hawks made 16 of 31 3-pointers overall. Onyeka Okongwu added 18 points and a career-high 20 rebounds.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 26 points for Indiana. The short-handed Pacers who were without three starters.
KNICKS 112, WIZARDS 108
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 34 points, including a couple crucial free throws with 13.9 seconds left, and New York held off Washington.
Julius Randle had 23 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who won for the sixth time in seven games. He also provided the game’s biggest highlight with his left-handed dunk in the third quarter over Washington’s Daniel Gafford.
Kyle Kuzma had 40 points for Washington.
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