Michael Porter Jr. scored 20 of his 23 points before halftime as the Brooklyn Nets produced their biggest first half in a little over three years and beat the Washington Wizards 127-113 Saturday afternoon in New York.

Brooklyn scored 46 points in the opening quarter, its most since a 47-point first quarter against the host Detroit Pistons on April 5, 2023. The Nets also scored 80 in the first half, its most before halftime since getting 91 points in a 143-113 home win over the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 21, 2022.

Porter led seven in double figures as the Nets won for the fourth time in their past 22 games.

Day’Ron Sharpe added 19 and nine rebounds to lead a 56-point showing by Brooklyn’s bench. Noah Clowney contributed 18 and rookies Danny Wolf and Nolan Traore finished with 16 and 15, respectively.

The Nets shot 54.9%, scored a season-best 66 points in the paint and led by as many as 34 in the first half.

Rookie Will Riley scored a career-high 27 points as Washington played with eight available players. Justin Champagnie added 21 while Tristan Vukcevic and Sharife Cooper contributed 14 apiece for the Wizards, who shot 46.8% from the floor.

Besides missing Jaden Hardy and D’Angelo Russell following their acquisitions from the Dallas Mavericks in the blockbuster Anthony Davis trade, Washington was without Bilal Coulibaly (sore back), Kyshawn George (right knee bruise), Alex Sarr (sore right ankle) and Tre Johnson (sprained left ankle)

The Nets ended the opening quarter on a 23-3 run and held a 46-20 lead after Wolf buried a 3-pointer with nine-tenths of a second left following Washington’s eighth turnover. The Nets saw their lead reach 30 when Sharpe’s 3-point play made it 51-21 early in the second and held an 80-47 lead by halftime after Porter hit a stepback 3 with 7.3 seconds left.

The Wizards showed some life by opening the second half on a 21-5 run to get within 85-68 on a 3 by Riley with 6:44 left. Brooklyn regained a little control in the final minutes of the quarter and held a 101-82 cushion entering the fourth.

Riley converted a four-point play and a layup on consecutive trips to cut the lead to 117-103 with 5:14 remaining, and Cooper’s corner 3 made it 123-111 with 2:10 left before the Nets finished it off by scoring the next four points.

–Field Level Media

Paolo Banchero collected 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to fuel the host Orlando Magic to a 120-117 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday.

Desmond Bane scored 22 points to fluster the Jazz for the second time this season. He erupted for 32 points in Orlando’s 128-127 overtime victory over Utah in Salt Lake City on Dec. 20.

Anthony Black had 21 points on Saturday for the Magic, who overcame a 17-point deficit to record their second straight win and fourth in their last six games.

Utah’s Lauri Markkanen scored 27 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 22 in his debut with his new team. The latter was acquired by the Jazz in an eight-player trade with the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.

Isaiah Collier recorded 20 points and 10 assists and Kevin Love added 13 points for the Jazz, who have lost 18 of their last 22 games.

Utah’s Keyonte George scored five points before exiting the contest in the second quarter with a right ankle sprain. He had just returned from a three-game absence due to a left ankle sprain.

Jalen Suggs sank a 3-pointer to forge a 115-115 tie before new addition John Konchar made a layup with 1:06 remaining in the fourth quarter to regain the lead for the Jazz.

Bane halved the deficit with a free throw and sank two more to give Orlando a 118-117 lead with 28.3 seconds to play. Suggs stole the ball with 15.2 seconds left and added two more free throws before Collier’s long-range 3-pointer was off the mark.

Orlando extended its lead to 17 at 94-77 following a 12-1 run in the third quarter, with Love scoring seven points during that surge. The Magic, however, responded with a 30-13 run to forge a tie at 107-107 after Wendell Carter Jr. sank a pair of free throws with 4:52 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Black’s dunk brought Orlando within one at 51-50 with 5:03 remaining in the second before Utah responded with a 14-4 surge to end the quarter. The Jazz outscored the Magic by a 35-21 margin in the second quarter.

–Field Level Media

RJ Godfrey and Ace Buckner each had 13 points to lead No. 20 Clemson to a 77-55 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over Cal on Saturday night at Berkeley, Cal.

The Tigers (20-4, 10-1 ACC) tied Duke at the top of the conference standings, won their fourth in a row and their 13th in their past 14 games. Clemson also extended its road winning streak to 14 in a row.

Cal (17-7, 5-6 ACC) was unable to pick up a Quad 2 victory that could have boosted its NCAA Tournament chances and had a two-game winning streak snapped.

The Tigers reached the 20-win mark for the fourth consecutive season.

Clemson seized control in the first half with a 23-1 run over a stretch of 12:40.

The Tigers defended well and took advantage of a terrible shooting stretch for Cal, which went scoreless from the field for 7:44 and scored their lone point on a Chris Bell free throw.

The Golden Bears shot 0 for 13 during that stretch and committed eight turnovers.

Cal led 13-9 following a Justin Pippen 3-pointer before the Tigers’ run began.

Clemson led 32-14 before Dai Dai Ames’ layup with 2:41 left in the first half snapped Cal’s shooting drought.

The Golden Bears made only 6 of 25 shots in the first half. Although it shot much better in the second half, going 13 for 23 (56.5%), Cal never pulled closer than 15.

Pippen led the Golden Bears with a game-high 19 points along with five rebounds and two steals. Bell had 13 points and Ames finished with 12.

For the Tigers, Jake Wahlin and Carter Welling also contributed 11 points each. Clemson shot 55.1% (27 for 49) from the field and made 12 of 26 from 3-point range.

Wahlin led Clemson on the boards with six while Buckner had four assists.

–Field Level Media