OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 124-120 on Sunday.
Luguentz Dort added 20 points for the Thunder, who have won four of five as they try to earn at least a play-in spot. Oklahoma City has missed the playoffs the past two years.
Devin Booker scored 46 points and Chris Paul added 14 points and 13 assists for the Suns.
Phoenix led 69-57 at halftime behind 16 points from Booker. The Suns shot 52.2% from the field before the break. Gilgeous-Alexander had 21 points in the first half to keep the Thunder in it.
Gilgeous-Alexander stole the ball in the closing seconds of the third quarter and scored a layup while being fouled with 0.4 seconds remaining. He made the free throw to cut Phoenix's lead to 96-90 at the end of the period.
Phoenix went up 100-90 before the Thunder went on an 18-2 run. Oklahoma City tied the game at 100 on a layup by Aaron Wiggins with a little over seven minutes remaining. Oklahoma City took a 103-102 lead about 40 seconds later on a 3-pointer by Dort, and the Thunder pushed the lead out to 108-102 before Phoenix called timeout. The Thunder held off a late surge in the final minute.
NUGGETS 108, NETS 102
NEW YORK (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in his 28th triple-double of the season, Michael Porter Jr. had 28 points and nine rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 108-102 on Sunday.
Jamal Murray scored 20 of his 25 points in the first quarter for the Nuggets, who looked nothing like the slumping team that had dropped five of six. Denver shot 62.5% in the first half and led comfortably most of the game while playing for the second straight afternoon.
A 20-point lead after three quarters was cut to 100-93 with 3:44 to play, but Porter answered with one of his five 3-pointers and the Nuggets got the lead back up to 14 before the Nets had a couple more late baskets.
Mikal Bridges scored 23 points and Nic Claxton had 19 for the Nets, who have lost three straight as they try to hold onto a top-six seed and a guaranteed postseason spot in the Eastern Conference.
They pulled out a 122-120 victory in Denver a week earlier, but the Western Conference leaders made sure there would be no repeat.
BUCKS 118, RAPTORS 111
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, Brook Lopez scored 17 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, and Milwaukee improved to an NBA-best 51-20.
Khris Middleton added 20 points and Bobby Portis had 14 for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo had his 33rd career triple-double.
Fred VanVleet had 23 points and O.G. Anunoby added 22 for the Raptors, who had won their three previous games. Toronto missed a chance to move into eighth in the East Conference ahead of Atlanta, which lost to San Antonio 126-118.
CLIPPERS 117, TRAIL BLAZERS 102
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Paul George had 29 points and the Los Angeles Clippers handed Portland its sixth straight loss.
Kawhi Leonard added 24 for the Clippers as they fight for home-court advantage in the playoffs. Los Angeles was sitting at fifth in the Western Conference standings just behind the Phoenix Suns.
Jusuf Nurkic finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who were in 13th in the West, well outside of playoff contention. Damian Lillard had 21 points and nine assists.
Assistant coach Dan Craig was the acting head coach for the Clippers because Tyronn Lue had a non-COVID illness and did not travel with the team.
HEAT 112, PISTONS 100
DETROIT (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 10 of his 19 points in the final 3:20 and Miami won for the third time in four games.
Jimmy Butler had 26 points and 10 assists and Bam Adebayo added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat.
James Wiseman led the Pistons with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Killian Hayes put up 13 points and 11 assists. Detroit has lost 14 of its last 15 games.
Detroit’s Jalen Duren and Miami’s Kevin Love left the game in the third quarter after banging heads under the basket. Love received four stitches and could have returned, but Duren was being evaluated for a brain injury after feeling “woozy.”
SPURS 126, HAWKS 118
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell had 29 points each and San Antonio rallied from a 24-point deficit to spoil Dejounte Murray’s homecoming.
Murray had 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds in his first game in San Antonio since being traded to Atlanta in the offseason.
Zach Collins added 19 points for the Spurs, who snapped a two-game skid.
Onyeka Okongwu had 17 points and Clint Capela had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks.
PELICANS 117, ROCKETS 107
HOUSTON (AP) — Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum each scored 26 points and New Orleans closed the gap to a half-game behind Utah for the final spot in the play in tournament with 11 games left.
Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Trey Murphy III had 14 points and Herbert Jones scored 13 for the Pelicans, which shot 49%, including 13 of 31 on 3’s.
Jalen Green scored 40 points, his fourth game scoring at least 40 points this season, Kevin Porter Jr. added 25 and Tari Eason had 10 points for Houston, which saw its season-high three-game winning streak snapped.
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