Poole scores 30 as Wizards beat Bulls

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jordan Poole scored 30 points to continue his strongest stretch in a Washington uniform as the Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 125-107 on Wednesday night.

Poole — who joined Washington from Golden State prior to the 2023-24 season — made six 3-pointers and topped 25 points for a fifth straight game, the first such stretch of his career.

Rookie Alex Sarr added 11 points and 10 rebounds as one of seven players in double figures to help the last-place Wizards to their largest win of the season.

Zach LaVine scored 32 points for the Bulls after he sat out Monday’s win in Charlotte with toe soreness. Coby White added 17 points, and Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Chicago, which committed 20 turnovers and trailed throughout the final three quarters.

HEAT 119, PELICANS 108

MIAMI (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 32 points, Bam Adebayo flirted with a triple-double and Miami beat New Orleans.

Adebayo finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for Miami, which got 17 points from Duncan Robinson.

Trey Murphy III scored 34 for the Pelicans, who played on the same day that at least 15 people were killed in New Orleans when a truck drove into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in an attack that President Joe Biden described as “despicable.”

The Pelicans — who never led — lost for the 29th time in their last 32 games and are 1-20 in their last 21 contests.

RAPTORS 130, NETS 113

TORONTO (AP) — Scottie Barnes had 33 points and 13 rebounds and Toronto Raptors snapped an 11-game losing streak by beating Brooklyn.

Immanuel Quickley returned to the lineup for Toronto and contributed 21 points and a season-high 15 assists. He played for just the fourth time this season, returning after missing 22 games because of a torn ligament in his left elbow.

Gradey Dick scored 22 points and Ochai Agbaji added 14 as Toronto won for the first time since a home win over Indiana on Dec. 3.

Cam Johnson scored 24 points and D’Angelo Russell had 22 in his return to Brooklyn but the Nets lost their third straight and 11th of 14.

Keon Johnson scored 17 points and Nic Claxton had 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Nets lost their second straight on the road.

KNICKS 119, JAZZ 103

NEW YORK (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 31 points and 21 rebounds, Josh Hart notched his second straight triple-double and New York won their ninth straight game, beating Utah Jazz despite playing without leading scorer Jalen Brunson.

Hart finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists to become the first Knicks player since Michael Ray Richardson in 1981 with consecutive triple-doubles. Hart has four this season and became the fourth player to have 10 triple-doubles with the Knicks.

Mikal Bridges scored 27 points and OG Anunoby had 22 for the Knicks. Brunson missed the game with right calf tightness and was replaced by Cam Payne, who finished with eight points and nine assists.

Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton each scored 25 for the Jazz, who lost their fifth straight.

PISTONS 105, MAGIC 96

DETROIT (AP) — Jaden Ivey sustained what appeared to be a serious leg injury after scoring 22 points in Detroit's victory over Orlando.

With 10:07 to play and Detroit leading 84-79, Ivey and Orlando’s Cole Anthony were going for the ball when Anthony slipped and fell. His momentum carried him into Ivey’s planted leg, and the 22-year-old immediately fell to the floor, grabbing his left shin in obvious agony.

After a lengthy delay, Ivey was placed on a stretcher and wheeled off the floor.

The Magic had scored the first four points of the quarter, but Tim Hardaway Jr. scored nine points in the next 6:30 to give the Pistons a 99-90 lead.

Cade Cunningham added 19 points and nine assists for the Pistons, who have won four of five. Jalen Duren added 18 points and 11 rebounds to help Detroit overcome 24 turnovers.

Jalen Suggs had 24 points for Orlando, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 21. The Magic have lost six of nine.

ROCKETS 110, MAVERICKS 99

HOUSTON (AP) — Alperen Sengun had 23 points, Jalen Green added 22 and Houston built a big lead early in the second half and sailed to a victory over Dallas.

Dillon Brooks had 19 points and Cam Whitmore added 18 to help the Rockets get back on track after dropping two straight.

The Mavericks led by four midway through the second quarter before Houston used a 21-8 run to take a 61-52 lead into halftime. Green made eight points in that stretch and Whitmore added two 3-pointers.

The Rockets then opened the second half with an 11-4 spurt that pushed it to 72-56 with nine minutes left in the third.

Houston was up by 14 entering the fourth and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the quarter.

Kyrie Irving (shoulder), Klay Thompson (illness) and Dereck Lively II (hip) returned after sitting out Monday. But Naji Marshall remained out serving a four-game suspension for his role in a fight against the Suns.

Quentin Grimes led the Mavericks with 17 points off the bench. Thompson and Irving added 16 each.

NUGGETS 139, HAWKS 120

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists in leading Denver to a win over Trae Young and Atlanta.

Jokic nearly notched a triple-double in the first half, finishing an assist shy. He secured his 144th career triple-double early in the third quarter.

Jamal Murray scored 21 points, while Russell Westbrook added 16 to go with 11 assists as the Nuggets won their third straight game, It started a busy 17-game month on the right note for Denver.

The Nuggets finished a perfect 21 of 21 from the free throw line. They also set a season-high in assists with 44 as they finished 2-0 against the Hawks this season. The Nuggets won in Atlanta 141-111 on Dec. 8 behind Jokic’s 48-point, 14-rebound performance.

Young had 30 points and nine assists, while reserve De’Andre Hunter added 20 as Atlanta saw its four-game win streak halted.

KINGS 113, 76ERS 107

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — De’Aaron Fox scored 35 points and Sacramento rallied from 14 down to defeat tPhiladelphia.

Malik Monk added 20 points and six assists for the Kings, who won their second consecutive home game under interim coach Doug Christie after Mike Brown was fired last week.

Domantas Sabonis had 17 points, 21 rebounds and seven assists. DeMar DeRozan scored 18.

Paul George had 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the 76ers (13-18), who had won four in a row. Tyrese Maxey added 27 points, six assists and four steals.

Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole dribbles the ball down the court during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Washington. The Wizards won 125-107. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Saturday he will resign in the coming days after talks on forming a new government failed a second time.

The announcement came after the People’s Party and the Social Democrats on Saturday continued coalition talks a day after the liberal Neos party’s surprise withdrawal from discussions.

“Unfortunately I have to tell you today that the negotiations have ended and will not be continued by the People’s Party,” Nehammer, from the conservative People’s Party, said in a statement on social media.

He said that “destructive forces” in the Social Democratic Party have “gained the upper hand” and that the People’s Party will not sign on to a program that it considers to be against economic competitiveness.

Social democratic leader Andreas Babler said he regretted the decision by the People’s Party to end the talks. “This is not a good decision for our country,” he said.

Babler said that one of the main stumbling blocks had to do with how to repair the “record deficit” left by the previous government.

“I have offered to Karl Nehammer and the People’s Party to continue negotiating and called on them not to give up," he told reporters Saturday evening.

The next government in Austria faces the challenge of having to save between 18 to 24 billion euros, according to the EU Commission. In addition, Austria has been in a recession for the past two years, is experiencing rising unemployment, and its budget deficit is currently at 3.7% of Gross Domestic Product — above the EU’s limit of 3%.

Babler blamed the collapse of the negotiations on “forces within the People’s Party” that were against a coalition with the Social Democrats, while praising Nehammer for his readiness to compromise.

It was not immediately clear what would happen next.

The People’s Party will have to search for a replacement for Nehammer, who has always ruled out the possibility of a coalition with far-right leader Herbert Kickl. But Nehammer’s expected resignation could now prompt the party to rethink its options under new leadership.

The People’s Party and the far-right Freedom Party are close on economic policies as well as other issues such as migration and are already working together in four coalitions on the local level.

An early election would be another option.

The talks had dragged on since Austria’s president tasked the conservative chancellor in October with putting together a new government. The request came after all other parties refused to work with the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, which in September won a national election for the first time with 29.2% of the vote.

FILE - Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer attends a press conference in Vienna on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)