On a night when the 76ers and Wizards rallied from huge deficits, DeAndre Jordan turned in the best game of his career.
The Clippers center scored a career-best 30 points to lead his team to a 129-119 victory in Boston. Jordan dominated inside and was nearly perfect from the floor, going 11 of 14. He was also 8 of 9 from the free-throw line and had a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Celtics (40-19) got 33 points from Kyrie Irving, but the Clippers (30-26) led from the start as it jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Jordan, who had the first of three assists 55 seconds into the game, didn't even score until he dunked with 7:42 remaining in the first quarter.
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While Jordan, who also had four steals, led the Clippers to an upset in Boston, Bradley Beal and Ben Simmons led their respective teams to improbable victories.
Beal scored 36 points and added five rebounds with seven assists to help the Wizards rally from 27 points down against the Knicks for a 118-113 victory at Madison Square Garden. Simmons led the 76ers, which was without Joel Embiid, to a 104-102 win over the Heat. Miami led by 24 with 9:13 remaining in the third quarter before Simmons and JJ Redick heated up.
Simmons recorded a triple-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He even added four steals to lead the rally. Redick finished with 14 points despite going 2 of 12 from behind the arc, but his 3-pointer with 4:02 remaining gave the Sixers a 97-94 lead it would not relinquish.
STUDS OF THE NIGHT
Jordan, Beal and Simmons weren't the only players who had big nights Wednesday. Rockets guard James Harden scored 28 points with nine rebounds and nine assists in a 100-91 win over the Kings. The Rockets (44-13) has won 10 straight to claim the top seed in the Western Conference heading into the All-Star break after the Warriors (44-14) lost in Portland despite Kevin Durant's 50-point effort. Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard scored 44 points in the 123-117 win.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook added yet another triple-double with 23 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds in a 121-114 road win over the Grizzlies.
Pelicans forward Anthony Davis scored 42 points and added 15 rebounds to lead New Orleans to a 139-117 win over the Lakers. Davis was an impressive 15 of 18 from the floor and 10 of 11 from the charity stripe. He even made both 3-point attempts.
DUD OF THE NIGHT
The Hawks (18-41) is downright bad this season and Taurean Prince struggled in Wednesday's 104-98 loss to the Pistons. Prince scored 14 points, but was 4 of 15 from the floor and missed all six of his 3-point attempts.
WHAT'S NEXT
Nuggets (31-26) at Bucks (32-24) 8 p.m. ET — The Bucks has been on fire since sacking coach Jason Kidd. It'll look to stay hot heading into the All-Star break against a Nuggets team that has won two straight and seven of 10. The matchup to watch Thursday is Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo against Denver forward Paul Millsap. Denver's trip to the Bradley Center is one of just two games on Thursday as the Lakers will visit the Timberwolves.
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