Aaron Gordon scored a season-high 38 points and the host Orlando Magic broke a nine-game losing streak with a 121-113 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night.
Orlando’s Evan Fournier added a season-high 31 points just one night after committing a costly turnover in the final seconds of the Magic’s 94-93 loss to the host New York Knicks. Nikola Vucevic added 22 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.
The Nets lost for only the second time in 16 games, saw a six-game winning streak stopped and had their eight-game road winning streak stopped.
Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving returned after missing one game with a sore groin and scored a season-high 43 points.
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Portland Trail Blazers 125 – Dallas Mavericks 119
CJ McCollum scored 32 points and Damian Lillard added 31 as host Portland opened a two-game set against Dallas with its seventh win in the past nine games.
Billed as a duel of superstars, Lillard got help from McCollum to earn the victory over the Mavericks and Luka Doncic, who scored 38 points. Portland’s Terry Stotts earned his 500th career victory as an NBA head coach.
Doncic added nine rebounds and nine assists for the Mavericks while Tim Hardaway had 25 points and Maxi Kleber added 16.
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Phoenix Suns 113 – Minnesota Timberwolves 101
Chris Paul recorded 20 points and nine assists to help Phoenix post a victory over visiting Minnesota.
Mikal Bridges added 17 points and Devin Booker scored 16 as the Suns won for the 19th time in the past 24 games.
Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 24 points and nine rebounds and Ricky Rubio contributed 21 points and 10 assists for Minnesota. Anthony Edwards had 11 points and 10 rebounds one night after becoming the third-youngest player in NBA history to score 40 or more points.
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Detroit Pistons 113 – Houston Rockets 100
Frank Jackson scored a season-high 23 points as Detroit extended host Houston’s franchise-worst losing streak to 19 games.
Saddiq Bey had 20 points and six rebounds while Jerami Grant contributed 18 points as the Pistons won in back-to-back outings for just the second time this season.
John Wall put up 21 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets. Victor Oladipo finished with 19 points and Christian Wood had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Utah Jazz 115 – Toronto Raptors 112
Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points, including a go-ahead pull-up jumper with 29.1 seconds left, to lead Utah to a victory over Toronto in Tampa.
Mitchell eight points in an 8-0 run that put Utah up 113-110 with 12.4 seconds left. Pascal Siakam barely missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.
Joe Ingles added 19 points and Mike Conley chipped in 15 for the Jazz, and Rudy Gobert tallied 15 points and 16 rebounds while playing with a hip contusion. Siakam had 27 points and nine assists to lead the Raptors.
San Antonio Spurs 116 – Cleveland Cavaliers 110
Keldon Johnson collected 23 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to lift visiting San Antonio to a victory over Cleveland.
Johnson recorded 11 offensive boards to highlight his sixth double-double of the season for the Spurs. Dejounte Murray had 22 points and DeMar DeRozan added 20 in his return from a four-game absence following the death of his father.
Collin Sexton scored 16 of his 29 points in the second half and Darius Garland also had 29 points for the Cavaliers, who have lost five of their past six games.
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Sacramento Kings 107 – Boston Celtics 96
De’Aaron Fox led all scorers with 29 points, and visiting Sacramento held Boston to 42.9 percent shooting from the floor en route to a win.
Buddy Hield finished with 22 points and Richaun Holmes was one of two Kings to record a double-double, posting 25 points and 11 rebounds. Harrison Barnes added 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Jayson Tatum finished with 15 points for Boston, more than 10 below his season average. Kemba Walker scored 16 points and passed for seven assists while Daniel Theis had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Indiana Pacers 137 – Miami Heat 110
Reserve guard T.J. McConnell had 16 points and game highs in assists (15) and steals (three), sparking Indiana past host Miami.
Malcolm Brogdon was Indiana’s scoring star with a game-high 27 points on 10-for-12 shooting, including 7-of-9 on 3-pointers. The point total was a season high for the Pacers.
Miami, which lost consecutive games for the first time since a three-game skid from Feb. 13-17, was led by Bam Adebayo, who had 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists. The Heat also got 17 points from Jimmy Butler, 16 by Dragic and 15 from Tyler Herro.
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Denver Nuggets 131 – Chicago Bulls 127 (OT)
Jamal Murray scored 22 of his 34 points after the third quarter, including a last-second 3-pointer to send the game to overtime, and host Denver rallied to beat Chicago.
Nikola Jokic also had 34 points to go with 15 rebounds and nine assists. Michael Porter Jr. scored 19 points and Will Barton had 16 for the Nuggets.
Zach LaVine scored 32 points, Otto Porter Jr. had 22 and Coby White scored 17 for the Bulls.
Golden State Warriors 116 – Memphis Grizzlies 103
Andrew Wiggins exploded for a season-best 40 points and Jordan Poole, subbing for injured Stephen Curry, scored 25, lifting short-handed Golden State to a victory over host Memphis in the opener of a two-day, two-game series.
Wiggins’ 40-point game was the ninth of his career, with the previous eight all having come while he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Ja Morant and Grayson Allen had 14 points apiece for Memphis, which lost for the fourth time in the past five games.
–Field Level Media