John Collins leads Atlanta Hawks to win over Denver Nuggets

John Collins finished with a career-high 30-point haul and a double-double to lift the Atlanta Hawks over the Denver Nuggets.

The power forward added 12 rebounds and was backed up by Vince Carter and DeAndre’ Bembry in a third-quarter rally to clinch the 106-98 win.

Both coming off the bench, Carter added 11 of his 13 points in the third, while Bembry scored eight of his night’s 18 to put the Hawks 86-77 ahead going into the fourth.

Denver had got off to the better start as Nikola Jokic added 15 points in the first quarter but after building a 56-51 half-time lead, the Nuggets could not take advantage of the momentum, racking up back-to-back losses on the road.

It came down to a late revival by the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, who struck 11 points in the fourth quarter to lead his team to a narrow 107-104 win over the Houston Rockets.

Collin Sexton, meanwhile, equalled a career-high 29 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers topped the Washington Wizards 116-101, Tristan Thompson adding 23 points and 19 rebounds at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Boston Celtics maintained their winning form with their fifth straight victory, thrashing the Chicago Bulls 133-77, while LeBron James finished with 20 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 111-88 win against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Thaddeus Young had a season-high 20 points, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 18 and Myles Turner hit nine points and 13 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers beat the Sacramento Kings, while the Brooklyn Nets saw off the New York Knicks 112-104 thanks to 25 points from Spencer Dinwiddie.

In the night’s other games, the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-105 and the Miami Heat defeated the LA Clippers 121-98.