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Quentin Grimes scored a career-high 44 points as the Philadelphia 76ers shocked the Golden State Warriors 126-119 to snap their nine-game NBA skid on Saturday - a day after confirming superstar centre Joel Embiid would miss the rest of the season.
The Sixers brought Stephen Curry and the Warriors back to earth with a thud two days after Curry drilled a dozen three-pointers on the way to 56 points in a win at Orlando. Curry finished with 29 points and a season-high 13 assists, but the Warriors missed the offensive spark of Jimmy Butler, who was a late scratch with back spasms.
Philadelphia seized control with a 37-point second quarter that propelled them to a 67-55 half-time lead. Golden State pulled level at 116-116 with 2:01 remaining, but Grimes drove for a layup, and Guerschon Yabusele drilled a three-pointer and the 76ers held on for the win.
Despite the loss of Embiid to a lingering knee injury - the most notable of a string of injury setbacks for the Sixers - Grimes was bullish on their chances of making the post-season. "We've still got a lot of games and a chance to make the play-in," he said. Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points with nine rebounds and nine assists and Damian Lillard added 28 points for the Bucks in a 132-117 victory over the Mavericks in Dallas.
Milwaukee closed the first half on a 15-4 scoring run to take a 71-63 lead at half-time and Kyrie Irving, who led Dallas with 31 points, was limited to four points in the third quarter as the Bucks pulled away in the second half. One day after Detroit's eight-game winning streak - their longest in 17 years - ended with a loss to Denver, the Pistons bounced back with a 115-94 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren and Malik Beasley scored 18 points apiece to lead six Pistons players to score in double figures - Beasley making six of his 10 shot attempts before he was ejected midway through the fourth quarter after receiving his second technical foul. Duren added 11 rebounds and six of the Pistons' 15 blocked shots. Cade Cunningham scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and handed out nine assists for the Pistons, whose sloppy third quarter had seen their 23-point half-time lead sliced to six going into the final period.
