Charlotte’s Jeremy Lamb celebrates after hitting the game-winning three against Toronto. | AP photo
TORONTO — Jeremy Lamb banked home a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Toronto Raptors 115-114 on Sunday night (Monday morning, Philippine time) for their third straight win.
Toronto looked to have won the game after Kawhi Leonard hit the go-ahead basket with 44 seconds left, then blocked Kemba Walker at the other end.
Charlotte got one final chance after Leonard missed a jumper with 5.8 seconds to go. Pascal Siakam knocked the inbounds pass away from Lamb, who chased the ball into the backcourt before launching the winning shot.
Walker had 15 points and 13 assists and Willy Hernagomez had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets.
Dwayne Bacon made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points, and rookie Miles Bridges scored 16 for Charlotte, which began the day 2 1/2 games behind eighth-place Miami and 1 1/2 games behind ninth-place Orlando in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
BUCKS 127, CAVALIERS 105
Giannis Antetokounmpo showed few signs he was bothered by an ailing right ankle, getting 26 points and 10 rebounds to lift Milwaukee over Cleveland.
Antetokounmpo was listed as questionable after missing two of the three previous games with an ankle sprain. He made 11 of 16 shots and had seven assists in 32 minutes.
Khris Middleton and George Hill added 17 points apiece for the Bucks. Hill was acquired from the Cavaliers in a three-team trade in early December.
Kevin Love had 20 points, Jordan Clarkson 19 and Collin Sexton 18 for Cleveland.
Milwaukee improved to an NBA-best 55-19.
ROCKETS 113, PELICANS 90
James Harden scored 28 points in a little less than 29 minutes, and Houston downed New Orleans.
Chris Paul had 10 points and 13 assists, and Eric Gordon added 18 points for the Rockets, who hit 21 3s in winning for the fifth time in six games to move a game ahead of Portland for the third seed in the Western Conference.
Anthony Davis had 12 points and 10 rebounds in just less than 21 minutes for the short-handed Pelicans, who lost for the eighth time in nine games. Frank Jackson scored 19 and Julius Randle 15 for New Orleans, which fell behind by double digits early and struggled throughout to keep pace with a contending Rockets squad trying to sharpen up for the postseason.
SPURS 115, CELTICS 96
LaMarcus Aldridge had 48 points and 13 rebounds, and San Antonio gave short-handed Boston its fourth straight loss.
The Spurs have won 10 of 12 to strengthen their grip on a Western Conference playoff spot. San Antonio (43-31) is eighth in the conference, a half-game behind Oklahoma City and Utah.
Aldridge had his second-highest scoring output of the season. He scored 56 points on Jan. 10 against the Thunder.
Marcus Smart led the Celtics with 14 points. Kyrie Irving had 11 points and 12 assists, but was just 5 of 17 from the field. Irving left the game briefly and went to the locker room in the first quarter with an injury to his left hand, but returned and played the rest of the way with tape on his left ring finger.
PACERS 124, NUGGETS 88
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 26 of his 35 points in the first half to lead Indiana over Denver.
Myles Turner had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Domantas Sabonis added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Pacers, who returned home after dropping four in a row during a West Coast swing.
Nikola Jokic had 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, Will Barton had 15 points and reserve Monte Morris scored 12 points for the Nuggets, who lost for the first time after winning six straight.
Bogdanovic scored every point during a 12-2 run late in the second quarter. He made a 3-pointer with 2:53 remaining in the first half to put the Pacers ahead 52-35.
CLIPPERS 124, KNICKS 113
Danilo Gallinari scored 26 points to extend the best scoring streak of his career, and Los Angeles beat New York for its fifth straight victory.
Lou Williams had 29 points and fellow reserve Montrezl Harrell added 24 to provide their usual potent play off the bench for the Clippers, who began play tied with Oklahoma City and Utah for fifth place in the Western Conference.
Gallinari made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:12 remaining to make it 106-104, then hit a pair of free throws before Williams made another 3 to push it to 111-104 with 3:01 to go. The Clippers then pulled away from there to win for the 10th time in 11 games.
Gallinari, the Knicks’ first-round pick in 2008, has scored 20 or more in his past nine games.
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