Jalen Duren scored a season-best 27 points and grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds for the Detroit Pistons, who recovered from a 23-point, third-quarter deficit to notch a 128-122 overtime victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
Jaden Ivey put up 26 points and Cade Cunningham added 23 points for the NBA-worst Pistons, who have won consecutive games for the first time since late October. Detroit, which beat the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, has just eight victories all season. Ivey was a career-best 7 of 7 from 3-point range. Rookie Marcus Sasser had 17 points and a career-high 11 assists for the Pistons.
Jerami Grant scored a career-high 49 points and also had eight rebounds and six assists for Portland, which lost its third straight game. Anfernee Simons scored 29 points in 25 minutes but missed the final 22 minutes due to a sprained left ankle.
Jabari Walker had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Kris Murray added 12 points for the Trail Blazers, who scored the first basket of overtime and never tallied again.
Suns 129, Jazz 115
Kevin Durant scored 31 points and Bradley Beal added 30 as Phoenix defeated visiting Utah.
Durant, who had eight rebounds and seven assists, scored 19 points in the first quarter as Phoenix jumped ahead 40-28. Phoenix shot a blistering 59.1 percent from the field, making 14 of 29 3-point attempts en route to its third win in a row. Beal made six of the Suns’ 3s and had seven assists. Eric Gordon scored 19 points.
Lauri Markkanen led the Jazz with 22 points. John Collins contributed 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Collin Sexton chipped in 19 points and eight assists in the loss.
Timberwolves 129, Bucks 105
Anthony Edwards scored 26 points and dished nine assists, and Minnesota cruised to a win in Milwaukee.
Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 19 points for Minnesota, which bounced back from an overtime loss against the Chicago Bulls two nights earlier. Mike Conley added 18 points and shot 6-for-7 from beyond the arc, Naz Reid finished with 17 points off the bench and Rudy Gobert tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds.
AJ Green scored a game-high 27 points off the bench to lead Milwaukee. Jae Crowder scored 21 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 17 for the Bucks, who fell to 1-5 since Doc Rivers took over as head coach.
Warriors 131, Pacers 109
Stephen Curry hit his first seven 3-point attempts on a 42-point night, Jonathan Kuminga chipped in with 18 points and Golden State thumped Indiana in Indianapolis.
Curry shot 15-for-22 overall and Kuminga was 9-for-16, helping the visitors make 55.9 percent of their total shots. They were 17-for-32 (53.1 percent) on 3-pointers. Rookie Gui Santos gave Golden State a boost off the bench with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Andrew Wiggins and Dario Saric contributed 11 points apiece.
Pascal Siakam paced six Pacers in double figures with 16 points to complement eight rebounds. Myles Turner had 15 points, Jalen Smith 14, Aaron Nesmith 13, Bennedict Mathurin 11 and Andrew Nembhard 10 for Indiana, which saw a two-game winning streak come to an end.
Magic 127, Spurs 111
Franz Wagner racked up 34 points to help hot-shooting Orlando to an emphatic win over visiting San Antonio.
Jalen Suggs added 17 points for Orlando, with Paolo Banchero scoring 16, Cole Anthony hitting for 12 points and Moritz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr. tallying 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Magic won for the fourth time in five games and swept the season series from San Antonio.
Devin Vassell hit for 30 points, all in the second half, to lead San Antonio, which has dropped six straight outings and the first two of their nine-games-in-21-days road trip. The Spurs also got 15 points from Victor Wembanyama, 12 each from Zach Collins and Keldon Johnson, and 10 apiece from Tre Jones and Blake Wesley.
Nuggets 114, Lakers 106
Jamal Murray scored 29 points, Michael Porter Jr. added 27 and visiting Denver opened a three-game road trip by holding on for a victory over Los Angeles.
Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for the Nuggets, who extended their winning streak to three games and improved to 8-2 in their past 10 contests. Murray had 11 assists and seven rebounds, while Porter grabbed eight boards.
Anthony Davis finished with 32 points and nine rebounds and LeBron James logged 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who were playing in their first game since going 4-2 on a two-week road trip.
Bulls 118, Grizzlies 110
DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Andre Drummond recorded a 21-point, 13-rebound double-double off the bench, and Chicago opened a four-game road swing by sending host Memphis to a seventh consecutive loss.
Nikola Vucevic scored 20 points for the Bulls and grabbed 10 rebounds. Coby White scored 20 points, his fourth consecutive game with at least that many. White also dished eight assists and grabbed six rebounds.
Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 15 points, while GG Jackson II had a career-high 27 points for the Grizzlies. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 28 points, Santi Aldama added 15 points and Vince Williams Jr. flirted with a triple-double, tallying 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Mavericks 122, Knicks 108
Luka Doncic tallied 39 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds as visiting Dallas held off a late charge to beat short-handed New York.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points for Dallas, which led wire to wire and won its third straight. Derrick Jones Jr. added 18 points, Kyrie Irving had 16, and Josh Green chipped in 15.
Donte DiVincenzo made seven 3-pointers and led New York with 36 points. The Knicks were down to seven active players after center Isaiah Hartenstein departed late in the second quarter with a sore left Achilles. Hart had 23 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for New York, which lost for just the second time in 12 games.
Cavaliers 118, Nets 95
Thanks to a 21-0 run to start the second half, Cleveland put the game out of reach and cruised past host Brooklyn for its eighth straight win.
The Cavaliers won for the 16th time in their past 17 games as Donovan Mitchell collected a game-high 27 points along with five rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks. Darius Garland chipped in 14 points and seven assists, Evan Mobley had 14 points and 12 boards, and Jarrett Allen added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Nets had only nine active players after Royce O’Neale and Spencer Dinwiddie were dealt earlier Thursday at the trade deadline. Newly acquired Keita Bates-Diop, Jordan Goodwin and Dennis Schroeder were not yet available to play for Brooklyn. Mikal Bridges paced the short-handed Nets with 26 points and five 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media