Philadelphia 109, New Orleans 107
Chicago 121, Boston 99
Miami 121, Minnesota 112
Charlotte 122, Orlando 112
Milwaukee 141, Houston 133
Dallas 110, Cleveland 90
Utah 127, Denver 120
Portland 106, LA Lakers 101
Phoenix 128, New York 105
San Antonio 113, Sacramento 104
LOS ANGELES (AFP) ‒ Bojan Bogdanovic torched Denver for a career-high 48 points as the Utah Jazz remained in the fight for top spot in the Western Conference with a 127-120 victory over the Nuggets on Friday night.
The under-manned Jazz were without their dynamic guard duo of Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley, but throughout their injury absences other Utah players have been stepping up and Friday it was Bogdanovic’s turn.
Mitchell has missed the last 11 games with a right ankle sprain and Conley has missed six straight games with a hamstring injury.
Jordan Clarkson had 21 points and eight assists for the Jazz, who improved to 48-18 and are one game ahead of Phoenix for the top seed in the Western Conference. Clarkson was coming off a 30-point game against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Luka Doncic scored 24 points and surpassed the 5,000 career point mark as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-90.
Doncic became just the fourth youngest NBA player (22 years, 67 days) to reach 5,000 points when he scored his seventh point of Friday’s game. Only Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Kevin Durant did it at a younger age. Doncic played just 23 minutes and also had eight rebounds.
With the win, the Mavericks clinched the Southwest Division title, giving them the fifth seed if there is a three-way tie with the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland.
“I think it’s something that’s always worthwhile,” said coach Rick Carlisle. “It shows that you’re one of the better teams. It’s big and we’ll take it. It’s important to get this win, try to get through this game unscathed and get ready for Sunday.”
