Dynamic Dyson dishes up NBA defeat to fellow Aussie

Dyson Daniels has just missed notching another NBA double-double, but he earned Australian bragging rights as Atlanta comfortably beat Johnny Furphy's Indiana.

Daniels finished with 22 points, a team-high nine assists, five rebounds and one steal as his Hawks claimed a 132-116 win at home on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).

It was the fourth time this season that Daniels had scored 20 or more points.

CJ McCollum led Atlanta's scoring with 23 points, the home side using a 17-0 run in the second half to take the lead.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 21 points as the Hawks (23-25) earned their third straight win.

Melbourne-born Furphy, who is having a breakout season, had a relatively quiet game for the Pacers, the 21-year-old finishing with six points, five rebounds, one assist and two steals.

Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 26 points. Aaron Nesmith scored 18 and Bennedict Mathurin returned from a thumb injury to add 16 points for Indiana (11-36), who finished 1-4 on their five-game road trip.

Josh Giddey's Chicago continued their hot-and-cold campaign with a 129-118 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on the sixth anniversary of Kobe Bryant's death.

LA led by as many as 20 points but had their lead cut to single digits in the final term, despite a trademark huge game from Luka Doncic (46 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds)

Australian guard Giddey contributed 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds from the bench in his third game back from a hamstring injury.

He hit his first three attempts but went on to finish with three from eight shots beyond the arc.

The screens at United Centre in Chicago displayed a tribute to Lakers legend Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who were killed in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.

Elsewhere, in-form centre Jock Landale missed the Memphis Grizzlies' 108-99 loss to the Houston Rockets for personal reasons.

Fellow Australian Josh Green collected 12 points and four assists as Charlotte crushed the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 130-93.

Brandon Miller had a game-high 30 points for the victorious hosts.

The Hornets became the first team since Phoenix in February 2009 to lead by 50 or more points in two separate games within the same calendar month. Charlotte led Utah by 57 on their way to a 150-95 win on January 10.

With AP.