WASHINGTON (AP) — Jalen Green scored 22 of his 29 points in the third quarter and the Houston Rockets routed the short-handed Washington Wizards 135-112 on Tuesday night.
Alperen Sengun added 26 points and 10 rebounds, Amen Thompson scored 20 points and grabbed 15 boards, and Fred VanVleet had 19 points as the Rockets improved to 6-1 on the road against Eastern Conference opponents.
Houston overcame a 20-point first quarter — the fewest points allowed by last-place Washington in a period this season.
Corey Kispert scored 23 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 in the Wizards’ third straight defeat.
HORNETS 115, SUNS 104
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball had 32 points and 10 rebounds, Miles Bridges added 21 points and Charlotte snapped a 10-game losing streak with a win over Phoenix.
Nick Richards added 15 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for Charlotte (8-27).
Devin Booker had 39 points and 10 assists and Kevin Durant added 26 points for the Suns (16-19), who’ve lost five of their last six.
The Hornets took a 13-point lead at the half after outscoring the Suns 37-17 in the second quarter behind 10 points from Ball, who was scoreless in the first quarter. Ball scored 29 points in the second half on 8-of-15 shooting, including four 3-pointers.
Charlotte dominated Phoenix on the glass, outrebound the Suns 59-42.
MAVERICKS 118, LAKERS 97
DALLAS (AP) — Quinten Grimes had 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists as Dallas snapped a five-game skid with a win over Los Angeles.
Grimes matched his career high with six 3-pointers on 6-for-11 shooting. P.J. Washington shot 9 for 14 and finished with 22 points and eight rebounds for the Mavs, who shot 52% (18 of 38) from the field.
The Mavericks ended their losing streak without their top scorers. Luka Doncic has been out with a left calf strain since Dec. 25, and Kyrie Irving has been sidelined the past two games with a bulging disk in his back.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 21 points and 12 rebounds. LeBron James added 18 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Los Angeles lost its second straight and for the third time in five games.
TIMBERWOLVES 104, PELICANS 972
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anthony Edwards highlighted a 32-point performance with seven 3-pointers, and Minnesota beat New Orleans to take some luster off of Zion Williamson’s return from a 27-game absence.
Williamson, who’d been sidelined by a left hamstring strain, had 22 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block in 27 minutes in his seventh game this season.
Former Pelican Julius Randle scored 16 points and ex-LSU star Naz Reid had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota, which led most of the game and by as many as 13 points. Rudy Gobert had 14 rebounds and six blocks.
Edwards hit four early 3s and had 14 points less than seven minutes in. He surpassed the 30-point mark for the ninth time this season.
HAWKS 116, JAZZ 114
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Trae Young hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from beyond the halfcourt line to give Atlanta a victory over Utah.
Young took an inbounds pass, dribbled to just short of halfcourt and hit the 49-foot winner as time expired while being loosely guarded by Collin Sexton, who had seemingly forced overtime with a tying 3-pointer with four seconds remaining.
Young finished with 24 points and 20 assists. Dyson Daniels added 16 points, seven assists, and six rebounds for the Hawks, who snapped a three-game skid. Clint Capela scored 18 points and De’Andre Hunter 17.
Lauri Markkanen made a season-high eight 3-pointers and scored a season-best 35 points for Utah. Sexton added 24 points and Walker Kessler finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
CELTICS 118, NUGGETS 106
DENVER (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, Kristaps Porzingis added 25 and Boston held off depleted Denver as three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic sat out because of an illness.
Porzingis had 11 rebounds, while Jrue Holiday contributed 19 points. The Celtics attempted 35 3-pointers, which was well below their season average of 50.17. Instead, they outscored the Nuggets by a 60-46 margin in the paint.
Russell Westbrook had 26 points for Denver. Michael Porter Jr. added 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Nuggets dropped to 10-7 at home. They were 33-8 last season.
Trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, the Nuggets rallied to make sure the game stayed tight down the stretch. There was a momentary break with 8:56 remaining when a cup of ice spilled on the court. It took several minutes to clean up. Christian Braun followed with a 3-pointer to tie it at 93.
HEAT 114, WARRIORS 98
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bam Adebayo had 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists with two timely dunks down the stretch, and Miami Heat snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Golden State.
Stephen Curry scored 31 points, Trayce Jackson-Davis added 19, and Draymond Green contributed seven points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. The Warriors were booed by the home crowd, and many frustrated fans headed out of Chase Center early for a second straight game.
Nikola Jovic hit consecutive baseline 3s midway through the fourth on the way to 20 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 18 as Miami won in a road back-to-back after a 123-118 double-overtime defeat Monday at Sacramento.
Buddy Hield had 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists off the bench for a Warriors team that took a 30-point pounding by the Kings on Sunday.
Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) shoots the ball as Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet (5) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump emerged from a lengthy meeting on Capitol Hill with Republican senators late Wednesday with no preferred strategy for tackling his legislative priorities as House and Senate GOP leaders are straining to develop a plan as the party takes power in Washington.
Trump said it “feels great” to be back inside the U.S. Capitol for the first time since he left office four years ago, after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by his supporters. With his wife, Melania, he also paid tribute to the late President Jimmy Carter lying in state in the Rotunda ahead of funeral services Thursday.
With Trump taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, Republicans have no time to waste.
“We're looking at the one bill versus two bills, and whatever it is, it doesn't matter," Trump said about the conflicting strategies as he arrived. "We’re going to get the result.”
More than 90 minutes later, Trump exited from what he called a “great meeting, great unity,” with the same message: “One bill, two bills, doesn't matter.”
Trump’s return to Capitol Hill marked a changed era in Washington as he strode through the corridors where four years ago a mob of his supporters had laid siege to the U.S. Capitol as senators fled to safety in a failed attempt to salvage Trump’s election defeat to President Joe Biden.
Inside the lengthy meeting, Trump received applause and bursts of laughter from the Republican senators, staying late into the evening to confer with him behind closed doors. He talked about many topics — from his designs on Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal to the fires raging in California and even the North Dakota Bison game, senators said. He also met privately with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and is also expected to huddle over the weekend with House GOP lawmakers at his private club Mar-a-Lago.
Political capital is almost always at its peak at the start of a new presidential term, even more so because this is Trump’s second and he is prevented under the Constitution from a third. Moving swiftly is all the more important because the GOP majorities are slim, particularly in the House, where House Speaker Mike Johnson can’t afford to lose hardly any votes.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said they're all in line with getting results. “It's an ongoing conversation,” he said.
Johnson, who greeted Trump at the Capitol, has said he sees himself operating as the GOP quarterback with Trump as their coach calling plays. But Republicans are quickly finding themselves in a dilemma: What happens when the coach changes his mind?
Trump has given Republicans on Capitol Hill mixed signals, flip-flopping over what is the best approach. Over the weekend, he said he wanted “one big, beautiful bill.” By Monday, he had reopened the door to two.
House Republicans want a single package. Senate GOP leaders are proposing at least two.
At one point during the meeting, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. said he suggested the strategies were like a horse race: "Well, Mr. President, you love a horse race and then whatever works best is great.’”
At stake are tax cuts, border security, money to deport immigrants and efforts to boost oil and gas energy production — priorities for Republicans coming to the White House, House and Senate.
“You all heard me say over the last year we were developing — using my football metaphors — we were developing a playbook,” Johnson, R-La., said Tuesday.
“We have very well-designed plays. Now we are working out the sequence of those plays, working with a new head coach, in that metaphor, President Trump,” he said. “We are excited about how all of that is rolling out.”
Republicans are relying on perhaps the most complicated legislative tool at their disposal, the budget reconciliation process, as the vehicle to advance Trump’s priorities.
It's a strategy with high risk, but also potentially high reward.
Reconciliation allows Congress to pass bills on a majority basis, without the threat of a filibuster in the Senate that could delay or kill action. But it is also a difficult, strict and time-consuming process that can fall apart at any moment.
Democrats used the same tool during the Obama era to approve the Affordable Care Act in 2010 without any Republican support. Republicans used it during Trump’s first term to pass the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act without Democrats.
Using reconciliation is a herculean task. Doing it twice could prove doubly difficult.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California said what's at stake is that Trump and the Republicans are proposing a tax giveaway to the wealthy and budget cuts that will cut social services and other programs that Americans rely on.
Republicans are “huddling behind closed doors” focused on “how they provide tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires and how they cut programs that hurt people,” he said.
Many GOP senators preferred the strategy Thune proposed, which would break Trump’s priorities into two bills.
Thune has said one could be approved within the first 30 days of the new administration with provisions for border security and mass deportations, energy development and military funds. The tax cuts would come later, in a second package.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, a member of GOP leadership who invited the president-elect to meet with senators, said she could go with one or two bills.
“But I still think the two-bill strategy is better simply because I think we can get a victory in early, which will show the American people and the president we mean business,” she said.
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., among those House Republicans headed to Florida for this weekend's meetings, said he supports the House’s one-bill approach.
“You’re not going to get everything that you want,” he said. “So how do we put something together that everybody can get something?”
Once back in Florida on Thursday, Trump is hosting Republican governors for dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo is one of the governors headed to South Florida, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details were not public. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is also expected to attend the dinner, according to a schedule released by the governor’s office earlier this week.
During his first term, Trump was known for changing his mind, a habit that members of Congress became accustomed to as they navigated his presidency.
Trump ally Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said Trump just “wants all of it done.”
Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick, Farnoush Amiri, Matt Brown and Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump flanked by from left, Vice President-elect Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of S.D. talks to reporters after a meeting with Republican leadership at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President-elect Donald Trump, flanked by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., right, talks to reporters after a meeting with Republican leadership at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
President-elect Donald Trump talks to reporters after a meeting with Republican leadership at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington. From left, Vice President-elect Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Trump, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of S.D. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
President-elect Donald Trump, flanked by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., talks to reporters after a meeting with Republican leadership at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
President-elect Donald Trump flanked by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of S.D. talks to reporters after a meeting with Republican leadership at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President-elect Donald Trump walks with Melania Trump at the Capitol Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President-elect Donald Trump walks with Melania Trump at the Capitol Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., follows. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump pause at the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter as he lies in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump pause at the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter as he lies in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
President-elect Donald Trump walks with Melania Trump at the Capitol Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., watches after a joint session of Congress confirmed the Electoral College votes, affirming President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
