The Los Angeles Clippers won a season-best fifth straight game with a 120-113 victory against the Atlanta Hawks. Kawhi Leonard led the way with 32 points, including a season-high five 3-pointers. Paul George had 23 points and Ivica Zubac 18.
Trae Young led the Hawks with 31 points and 10 assists.
NEXT HAWKS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 4 at Miami
-Joel Embiid won a battle of two MVP candidates by leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 126-119 victory against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
After being listed as questionable due to a foot injury, Embiid recorded 47 points and a season-high 18 rebounds. James Harden had 17 points and 13 assists while Georges Niang led the bench with 14 points.
Jokic led the Nuggets with 24 points and Jamal Murray had 22.
NEXT 76ERS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 27 in Philadelphia
NEXT NUGGETS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 13 at Miami
OTHER NOTES:
-Kyrie Irving extended his string of 30-plus point games to six when he scored 32 in the Brooklyn Nets 122-115 win against the New York Knicks. The streak is a career-high and a franchise record for the Nets.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 26 points and RJ Barrett had 24.
NEXT KNICKS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 2 in New York
NEXT NETS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 15 in Brooklyn
-The Chicago Bulls defeated the Orlando Magic 128-109 behind Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan’s 32 points. Nikola Vucevic had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Patrick Williams had 16 points.
Moritz Wagner led the Magic with 27 points off the bench.
NEXT BULLS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 18 in Chicago
NEXT MAGIC GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 11 in Orlando
-Daniel Gafford recorded a season-high 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to a 113-103 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans.
CJ McCollum scored 24 points for the Pelicans and Brandon Ingram had 22.
NEXT WIZARDS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Apr. 7 in Washington
-One of the NBA’s best duos led the Boston Celtics to a 125-121 overtime win against the Los Angeles Lakers. Jaylen Brown scored 37 points and Jayson Tatum had 30 and 11 rebounds.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 41 points and Anthony Davis led the bench with 16.
-With OG Anunoby sidelined with a wrist injury, Precious Achiuwa scored a career-high 27 points to give the Toronto Raptors a 123-105 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 30 points and Jerami Grant had 26.
NEXT RAPTORS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 28 in Toronto
-Eric Gordon led the Houston Rockets to a 117-114 win against the Detroit Pistons. He scored a season-high 24 points and Tari Eason had 16. Alec Burks led the Pistons with 21 points and Bojan Bogdanovic had 18.
NEXT PISTONS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 19 in Detroit
NEXT ROCKETS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Feb. 10 at Miami
Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog: https://substack.com/profile/114079068-cory-nelson?utm_source=account-card
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