NBA – Fortunebets

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been fined $50,000 (£38,300) by the NBA under anti-tampering rules for remarks about Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker.

During an appearance as an analyst on TNT on Friday, Green, 30, suggested Booker should leave Phoenix.

NBA rules prevent teams or players attempting to persuade other players to leave their contracted team.

“It’s not good for him, it’s not good for his career,” said Green of Booker.

“They gotta get Book out of Phoenix. I need my man to go somewhere where he can play great basketball all the time and win, because he’s that type of player.”

When asked by TNT host Ernie Johnson if his comments were tampering, Green said: “Maybe.”

At the start of the season the NBA said it would more strictly enforce its anti-tampering rules.

The Suns have won all five of their games since the NBA season restarted in Orlando in July and are now 10th in the Western Conference.

They are two games behind the Memphis Grizzlies in the eighth and final play-off spot, with three games left to play.

Booker, 23, is Phoenix’s highest scorer with 26.4 points per game this season and is under contract there until the end of the 2023-24 season after signing a five-year extension in 2018.

The Warriors, who have won three of the past five NBA titles, were already eliminated from play-off contention before the restart after an injury-hit season.

James Harden scored 49 points, Russell Westbrook added 31 points and 11 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets erased a 14-point deficit and rallied for a 153-149 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.

The Rockets claimed the season series with Dallas two games to one by finally mustering some defensive might down the stretch of the fourth quarter.

Trailing 139-137, Houston got a tip-in of a Harden missed free throw from Robert Covington with 3.3 seconds left to force overtime. Covington, following an 0-for-8 start from behind the arc, added a 3-pointer with 1:22 left in overtime to extend the Houston lead to 150-146.

Luka Doncic recorded his league-leading 15th triple-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists while Kristaps Porzingis paced the Mavericks with 39 points and 16 rebounds. Trey Burke added 31 points on 8-of-10 3-point shooting off the bench while Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 24 points for Dallas.

Portland Trail Blazers 140 – Memphis Grizzlies 135 (OT)

CJ McCollum scored 33 points, Damian Lillard added 29, and Portland overwhelmed Memphis in overtime.

The Trail Blazers built a first-half lead then surged ahead 75-62 in the third quarter before a 22-6 run pushed the Grizzlies ahead. The game was back-and-forth from there until the Blazers took control in the extra frame.

Rookie Ja Morant, the Grizzlies’ leading scorer on the season at just under 18 points per game, finished with 22 points Friday. He had only two points on 1-of-5 shooting at halftime but came to life to lead the third-quarter run. Morant also handed out 11 assists.

Orlando Magic 128 – Brooklyn Nets 118

Orlando turned a close game into a rout by scoring nine consecutive points late in the second quarter en route to a win over Brooklyn in what could be a key battle for playoff seeding.

Evan Fournier had 24 points while Aaron Gordon posted a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) for the Magic (31-35), who moved past the Nets (30-35) into seventh place in the Eastern Conference. The top seven teams are guaranteed a playoff spot. The eighth-place team advances to the postseason as the final seed if it is at least four games better than the ninth-place team at the end of the regular season. Otherwise, a play-in series will determine the eighth seed.

Nikola Vucevic had 22 points for the Magic. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot led the Nets with 24 points, and Caris LeVert had 17.

Rockets vs Mavericks Highlights

Phoenix Suns 125 – Washington Wizards 112

Cameron Johnson and Devin Booker combined for 18 first-quarter points, helping Phoenix build a big lead en route to a victory over Washington.

Booker finished with a game-high 27 points and Deandre Ayton registered a 24-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Suns, who entered the resumption of play with the worst record among the 13 Western Conference teams still alive.

Rui Hachimura paced the Wizards with 21 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points and 15 rebounds to lift Milwaukee past Boston in the teams’ first game of the NBA restart.

Antetokounmpo’s double-double was his 19th straight, matching the longest streak in the NBA this season — set by the reigning league MVP himself from Oct. 24 to Nov. 29.

Khris Middleton had 18 points and Brook Lopez added 14 points and six blocks for the Bucks, who bolted out to a 17-2 lead before requiring a late push to seal the win. Marcus Smart scored 23 points off the bench and Jaylen Brown added 22 for the Celtics.

San Antonio Spurs 129 – Sacramento Kings 120

DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points — all but two in the second half — and added 10 assists as San Antonio finished with a flurry to beat Sacramento in the teams’ first game back in action after the league’s stoppage for COVID-19.

Derrick White added 26 points for San Antonio, with Rudy Gay scoring 19 off the bench, Lonnie Walker IV hitting for 16, and Dejounte Murray contributing 11.

The Kings’ De’Aaron Fox led all scorers with 39 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic hit for 24, Nemanja Bjelica added 12, and Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes contributed 10 points each for Sacramento.