PHOENIX — Grayson Allen scored 24 points, Kevin Durant added 22 and the Phoenix Suns pulled away late in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 123-113 on Sunday.
Allen and Royce O’Neale hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put the Suns up 116-104 with three minutes left. Jusuf Nurkic added 18 points, 22 rebounds and seven assists.
The Lakers trailed by 20 points late in the first quarter, but slowly cut the deficit to 92-90 by late in the third. Phoenix responded with the next six points and didn’t trail in the fourth.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting and also had 12 assists. Anthony Davis had 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Four Phoenix starters scored at least 20 points and the Suns had a 51-34 rebounding advantage. Devin Booker scored 21 points and O’Neale added 20. Bol Bol had 11 points in 24 minutes off the bench.
BUCKS 119, 76ERS 98
PHILADELPHIA — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points, Damian Lillard added 24 and Milwaukee won in Doc Rivers’ return to Philadelphia.
Rivers was fired by Philadelphia after last season. He coached the 76ers from 2020-23, never getting past the second round of the playoffs, and Sunday was his 12th game since taking over in Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo also had 12 rebounds and nine assists. Tyrese Maxey had 24 points for Philadelphia. They have dropped eight of 12 games since losing reigning MVP Joel Embiid to a left knee injury.
PACERS 133, MAVERICKS 111
INDIANAPOLIS — Myles Turner scored a season-high 33 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 17 points and 10 assists and Indiana beat Dallas to snap the Mavericks’ seven-game winning streak.
Luka Doncic finished with 33 points, six assists and six rebounds for Dallas. Kyrie Irving added 29 points and six rebounds.
Indiana shot 56 per cent from the field and made 14 3-pointers.
NUGGETS 119, WARRIORS 103
SAN FRANCISCO — Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists for his third straight triple-double and 18th of the season after his long buzzer-beater against Golden State sealed the last meeting, leading the defending champion Denver Nuggets past the Warriors again in a 119-103 victory Sunday night.
Jokic hit a Stephen Curry-like 40-footer as Denver rallied for a 130-127 win at Chase Center on Jan. 4, then topped Curry and Co. to sweep the four-game season series. On Sunday, Jokic shot 13 for 24 on the way to his 122nd career regular-season triple-double.
Klay Thompson scored 23 points all in the first half and Curry overcame a slow start missing his first seven 3-point tries before finishing with 20 points — all but four scored in the second half. He hit his only 3 with 3:26 left in the third in a 1-for-10 performance from deep. The two-time MVP passed both Dwyane Wade (23,165) for 32nd place and Adrian Dantley (23,177) for 31st on the NBA’s scoring list.
Jamal Murray scored 27 points and Aaron Gordon 17 in the Nuggets’ seventh consecutive victory against the Warriors and 10th in 11 and also their fifth in a row on Golden State’s home floor since a 113-102 defeat on March 10, 2022.
THUNDER 123, ROCKETS 110
HOUSTON — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 36 points and Chet Holmgren added 29 to lead Oklahoma City past Houston.
The Thunder won their fifth straight to move back into a tie with Minnesota for the Western Conference lead.
Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith Jr. had 20 points apiece for the Rockets in the first of consecutive games between these teams. Alperen Sengun added 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Smith led the team with 17 rebounds.
The teams meet again on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.
KINGS 123, CLIPPERS 107
LOS ANGELES (AP) — De’Aaron Fox scored 33 points, Domantas Sabonis had his NBA-leading 20th triple-double and Sacramento handed Los Angeles its first two-game losing streak since December.
Sabonis finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. Harrison Barnes added 22 points for the Kings, who won their third in a row.
Norman Powell led the Clippers with 21 points in his first start of the season in place of Paul George, who sat out with a sore left knee. Kawhi Leonard added 20 points, as did James Harden, who made all 10 of his free throws to go with eight assists.
HAWKS 109, MAGIC 92
ATLANTA — Dejounte Murray had 25 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, finishing just short of his first triple-double of the season, and Atlanta beat Orlando to snap a three-game skid.
Murray helped offset the loss of All-Star guard Trae Young, who will undergo surgery on his left hand Tuesday and will be re-evaluated in four weeks.
Franz Wagner had 19 points to lead for Orlando, with Paulo Banchero missing his first game of the season because of an illness.
CAVALIERS 114, WIZARDS 105
WASHINGTON — Jarrett Allen had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Caris LeVert added 18 points and 12 boards and Cleveland beat Washington to avoid its first three-game skid since December.
Evan Mobley added 21 points and Donovan Mitchell had 16 points in his return after missing the first two games following the All-Star break with an illness.
Jordan Poole scored a season-high 31 points for Washington. The Wizards have lost 11 straight to fall to 2-12 under interim coach Brian Keefe.
BULLS 114, PELICANS 106
NEW ORLEANS — Nikola Vucevic had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Chicago beat New Orleans to sweep the season series.
DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, including a left-wing 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to give the Bulls a 111-106 lead.
Zion Williamson scored 19 points, tied a career-high with 11 assists and grabbed nine rebounds for the Pelicans.
JAZZ 128, SPURS 109
SALT LAKE CITY — Lauri Markkanen scored 26 points and Utah beat San Antonio to snap a five-game skid.
Jordan Clarkson added 22 points and 10 assists for the Jazz. John Collins had 20 points and Collin Sexton added 16 points and 10 assists.
Devin Vassell led San Antonio with 27 points, and ictor Wembanyama added 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. The Spurs have lost 11 of 12.
HORNETS 93, TRAIL BLAZERS 80
PORTLAND, Ore. — Nick Richards had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Charlotte took advantage of Portland’s horrible 3-point shooting.
Portland was 3 of 32 from 3-point range, with two of the makes coming in the final minutes. The Trail Blazers missed 23 in a row at one point in dropping their eighth straight to fall to 15-41.
Miles Bridges added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte, and Brandon Miller had 17 points. The Hornets improved to 15-42.
Deandre Ayton led Portland with 26 points and 19 rebounds. He was 11 of 16 from the field, while the Trail Blazers shot 34.7% overall from the field.
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