Zion Williamson erupts as New Orleans Pelicans stifle Philadelphia 76ers; huge nights for Zach LaVine, Jayson Tatum and Nikola Jokic

Zion Williamson starred for the New Orleans Pelicans in their victory over the Philadelphia 76ers while the likes of Jayson Tatum, Zach LaVine, Trae Young and Nikola Jokic produced huge performances on an action-packed Friday night in the NBA.

Friday night's NBA results

• Philadelphia 76ers 94-101 New Orleans Pelicans

Zion Williamson had 37 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as the Pelicans defeated the 76ers 101-94.

Williamson tied a career-high with eight assists and made 15 of a career-high 28 field-goal attempts one game after his record streak of 25 consecutive games with at least 20 points on 50 per cent or better shooting, which he shared with Shaquille O'Neal, ended in a loss at Brooklyn.

Brandon Ingram returned from a five-game absence due to a foot injury and scored 17, though he made just 5-of-21 shots. Willy Hernangomez had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Jaxson Hayes scored 12 points.

Tobias Harris led the Sixers with 23 points, Joel Embiid had 14 (less than half of his 29.9 average) on 5-of-16 shooting, Furkan Korkmaz scored 12 and Ben Simmons 10. Simmons also had nine rebounds and six assists.

The score was tied at half-time and three more times early in the third quarter before Ingram, who was 2-for-12 from the floor in the first half, made a 3-pointer to give New Orleans a 62-59 lead.

Steven Adams added two baskets as the Pelicans increased the lead to 68-61 before pushing the advantage to as many as nine and finishing the quarter up 76-68.

Philadelphia responded to falling behind 86-71 in the fourth by moving within 94-87 with four minutes to go and continued to rally before Williamson split the defense for a dunk and a 100-92 lead with 1:08 on the clock.

• Chicago Bulls 108-120 Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young scored 42 points on 15-for-25 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and nine assists as the Atlanta Hawks rallied for a 120-108 win over the visiting Chicago Bulls.

Clint Capela contributed 22 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 10-for-12 from the field. Danilo Gallinari added 20 points off the bench for Atlanta, who earned their fifth win in the past six games.

Zach LaVine scored a career-high 50 points for the Bulls, making 18 of 31 shots from the field, seven of 12 shots from beyond the arc and seven of eight attempts from the free-throw line.

He scored 39 points in the first half alone, which tied for the best scoring production since Jamal Crawford had 39 points in the second half for the Phoenix Suns on April 9, 2019. The last player to score more than 39 in a half was the Suns' Devin Booker, who poured in 51 points in the second half against the Boston Celtics on March 24, 2017.

His mammoth night was in vain, though, as Atlanta outscored Chicago 67-42 during the second half to secure the comeback victory having trailed 66-53 at the half.

Nikola Vucevic meanwhile finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls.

• Minnesota Timberwolves 136-145 Boston Celtics (OT)

Jayson Tatum scored 35 of his career-high 53 points in the second half as the Boston Celtics erased a 17-point deficit to outlast the Minnesota Timberwolves 145-136 in overtime.

Tatum, the youngest player in Celtics history to score at least 50 in a game at 23 years and 37 days, shot 16-of-25 from the field, had six 3-pointers and added 10 rebounds as the Celtics won for the fourth time in five games.

Jaylen Brown scored 26 points and Marcus Smart 24 points and eight assists. Karl-Anthony Towns had 30 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to lead the league-worst Timberwolves, who rallied from down 11 with 2:51 left in regulation to force overtime. D'Angelo Russell scored 26 with eight assists and Anthony Edwards had 24 points.

Boston led 122-111 before 3-pointers from Towns and Russell helped Minnesota get within three. The visitors knotted the score at 124 on another Russell trey that banked in with 9.7 seconds remaining, and Tatum missed a chance at a game-winner at the buzzer.

Brown and Kemba Walker drained back-to-back threes to put the Celtics up 132-127 in the extra period. Walker hit again from deep, and three free throws from Tatum had Boston ahead 138-132. Minnesota got no closer than five the rest of the way.

The Timberwolves began the third quarter on a 13-5 run for their largest lead of the game at 79-62. Trailing 87-74, the Celtics got within two following a 16-5 stretch, during which Tatum scored 13 straight points. The Celtics entered the fourth down 97-92.

• Memphis Grizzlies 129-133 New York Knicks (OT)

RJ Barrett scored 20 points and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining in overtime as the New York Knicks rallied for a 133-129 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, who saw their four-game winning streak end.

Barrett helped the Knicks complete one of their impressive comebacks of the season following consecutive two-point road losses to the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics. He scored 10 points in the final six minutes of regulation when the Knicks overcame a 13-point deficit, and his layup around Ja Morant forged a 114-114 tie with 8.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The game reached overtime when Morant missed a floater in the lane right before the buzzer.

Memphis evened the game at 124 on a layup by Dillon Brooks with 91 seconds left in overtime. On the next possession, Julius Randle passed out of the low post to a wide-open Barrett, who sank a 3-pointer from the left side before Grayson Allen could rotate over.

The Knicks missed a chance to further ice the game when Randle missed two free throws with 13.5 seconds left. Memphis got within 131-129 when Brooks hit a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left, but Alec Burks finished it off by hitting two free throws with 1.2 seconds left.

Barrett was among six Knicks to reach double figures. Immanuel Quickley also finished with 20 points, Derrick Rose contributed 19 while Burks scored 16 of his 19 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Randle did not hit his first basket until the third quarter but posted his fifth triple-double this season with 15 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

Morant led all scorers with 26 points, Brooks added 23 and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Grizzlies.

• San Antonio Spurs 119-121 Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokic racked up 26 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds as the Denver Nuggets built a big early lead and barely held on for a 121-119 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

By beating San Antonio for the second time in three days at Denver, the Nuggets earned their eighth consecutive victory to move to 13-3 since the All-Star break. San Antonio lost for the fifth game in a row and fell for the 10th time in the past 12 contests.

The Nuggets never trailed in the game, but the Spurs cut their deficit to one point late in the third quarter and to within 118-117 on a driving layup by Derrick White with 24.2 seconds to play.

Will Barton expanded the Nuggets' lead to three points by sinking two free throws with 16 seconds left.

White then answered by hitting two foul shots with 10.7 seconds to play before Denver's Michael Porter Jr. made one at the line but missed his second attempt with 10 seconds left. Keldon Johnson rebounded and drove to the rim but missed with 5.1 seconds to play before both Dejounte Murray and DeMar DeRozan failed on put-back attempts.

Jokic logged his 13th triple-double of the season, second in the NBA only to the 20 of Washington's Russell Westbrook. Porter added 22 points and 10 rebounds, Monte Morris scored 21, Barton had 17 and Aaron Gordon tallied 11 for the Nuggets.

Six players scored in double figures for the Spurs. White led the way with 25 points, DeRozan added 24 points and 12 assists, Johnson and Rudy Gay scored 15 apiece, Jakob Poeltl recorded 13 points and 10 rebounds and Murray hit for 12 points.

• Houston Rockets 109-126 Los Angeles Clippers

Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points and dished out eight assists as the Los Angeles Clippers earned their fourth victory in a row, a 126-109 decision over the Houston Rockets.

Reggie Jackson finished with 26 points, Nicolas Batum added 17 and Terance Mann totalled 16 points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles. Clippers forward Paul George didn't play as the team gave him a rest following consecutive 30-plus-point outings. Rajon Rondo (adductor soreness) also sat out.

Houston had six players in double figures, led by Christian Wood with 23 points. Jae'Sean Tate finished with 18 points, Sterling Brown added 15, Kevin Porter Jr. totalled 14 points and 13 assists, Kenyon Martin Jr. added 14 points and Kelly Olynyk contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds.

The Rockets, who lost for the sixth time in seven games, rested John Wall ahead of a Saturday game against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.

The Clippers trailed by 10 points after the first quarter as the Rockets came out with energy. However, Los Angeles outscored Houston 41-10 in the second quarter to take a 21-point lead into half-time, and the Clippers never fell behind again.

Houston cut Los Angeles' advantage to five points on D.J. Augustin's 3-pointer with 7:07 left in the game. The Clippers responded by scoring the next eight points to push their lead back to double digits, and they held off the Rockets the rest of the way.

Washington Wizards 110-107 Golden State Warriors
Bradley Beal's four-point play with 6.1 seconds remaining powered the Washington Wizards to a 110-107 win over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.

Beal, the NBA's leading scorer, finished with 20 points - more than 11 fewer than his season average - and did not make a 3-pointer until his game-tying shot from the corner.

Thanks to a foul on Andrew Wiggins as Beal released the shot, he sank the ensuing free throw that proved to be the difference. He added two more foul shots after Golden State's Damion Lee, who scored 10 points, passed on an open shot and committed a turnover.

Beal scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, and backcourt mate Russell Westbrook - who recorded his 21st triple-double of the season with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists - notched six of his points in the final period.

Washington guard's duo started slowly offensively, and both finished below their scoring averages. Their combined 2-of-9 from 3-point range set the tone for Washington's overall 5-of-19 from long distance.

Rui Hachimura meanwhile scored a team-high 22 points, Robin Lopez added 20 points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Alex Len scored 15 points with two steals.

Golden State's Stephen Curry led all scorers with 32 points and Kelly Oubre added 23, 11 of them in the third quarter. Wiggins went 0-of-5 beyond the arc, but finished with 15 points, a team-high seven rebounds, and six assists. Draymond Green dished a team-high eight assists.

• Charlotte Hornets 127-119 Milwaukee Bucks

Miles Bridges scored 26 points and the Charlotte Hornets wrapped up a key road swing with a 127-119 victory against the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks, who have lost three in a row.

The backcourt duo of Devonte' Graham and Terry Rozier each supplied 20 points as the Hornets went 4-2 on the trip having built a 66-55 half-time lead.

The Bucks played their third straight game without star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who's dealing with knee soreness; they're 3-4 this season when he hasn't played.

Jalen McDaniels aided Charlotte's attack with 19 points, P.J. Washington had 18 points, and reserve centre Cody Zeller contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds. Graham took only 3-point shots, making 6 of 12. Bridges made four 3-pointers and Rozier each and Washington hit three apiece.

Rookie Jordan Nwora led Milwaukee with 24 points. Jeff Teague tacked on 19 points, followed by Bryn Forbes (18), rookie Sam Merrill (13), Thanasis Antetokounmpo (12) and rookie Mamadi Diakite (10). Bobby Portis had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

The Bucks were also without Jrue Holiday (left knee), Khris Middleton (right knee), Brook Lopez (back) and Donte DiVincenzo (right hip) sitting out.

While much of the offensive firepower was missing for the Bucks, they also had trouble at the defensive end as Charlotte scored at least 32 points in each of the first three quarters. The Hornets also had 35 assists on 44 field goals.

• Indiana Pacers 111-106 Orlando Magic

Aaron Holiday's 20 points and 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range propelled the Indiana Pacers to a 111-106 victory over the Magic in Orlando.

The healthier Pacers, who welcomed Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon back to their lineup, secured back-to-back wins as they began a stretch of five out of six on the road.

Terrence Ross led Orlando with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Ross' driving dunk with 54.1 seconds left pulled the Magic within four points, but after collecting the rebound off a missed 3-pointer by T.J. McConnell, he airballed a 15-foot jumper with 19.3 seconds left.

McConnell and Brogdon combined to make three of four free throws down the stretch to send the Magic to their fourth consecutive defeat.

The Pacers put together another balanced scoring effort with six players scoring in double figures. Sabonis returned after a three-game absence to finish with 16 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, Brogdon totaled 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, Doug McDermott had 19 points and six rebounds, Edmond Sumner had 12 points and Caris LeVert had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Twice in the second half, the Magic trailed by 15 points and cut it to single digits first on a 19-6 surge to pull within two points with a minute left in the third quarter.

James Ennis III and Mo Bamba each had 14 points for Orlando. Gary Harris (abductor strain) played for the first time since Feb. 17 and finished with eight points on 2-for-10 shooting.