Kyrie Irving scored 40 points, including a critical 3-pointer in the final minute, and Jeff Green made a pair of free throws with 3.7 seconds left to seal the Brooklyn Nets’ 114-112 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday.
The Nets, while playing second quarterback, carried some of the struggles from their 115-107 loss Sunday in Chicago. Brooklyn fell behind by 10 points at half-time and James Harden lost after only four minutes due to hamstring tightening.
Green finished with 23 points for the Nets, who hold a half-game win over the Philadelphia 76ers for first place in the Eastern Conference. Harris scored 16 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Alize Johnson added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Julius Randle recorded a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists for the Knicks. RJ Barrett shot 4 of 6 from 3-point range en route to a team of 22 points.
Mavericks 111, Jazz 103
Luka Doncic paid 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to lead Dallas past Utah for its fifth straight win.
Doncic shot 6 of 11 from 3-point range to help the Mavericks pull away. Dorian Finney-Smith added 23 points and Jalen Brunson chipped in 20 off the bench. Josh Richardson added 17 while making all five of his shots from 3-point range.
Mike Conley scored 28 points and went 6 of 10 from 3-point range to lead Utah. Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson, and Bojan Bogdanovic each scored 16 apiece, though Mitchell missed 17 of 23 shots from the field. Rudy Gobert added 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Sun 133, Rockets 130
Devin Booker scored a game-high 36 points, Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul recorded double-doubles and Phoenix extended its winning streak to six games by edging Houston.
Booker sank four free throws in the final 37.8 seconds left and picked up a Jae’Sean Tate pass to seal the win. Booker finished 6 of 8 from 3-point range and added six rebounds and six assists. Ayton finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds, while Paul had 19 points and 11 assists.
Christian Wood led the Rockets with 23 points while Kelly Olynyk added 21. Kevin Porter Jr. finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Birds of Prey 103, Wizards 101
Gary Trent Jr. drained a 3-pointer as time expired to lift Toronto over Washington in Tampa.
Pascal Siakam scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half and rookie Malachi Flynn joined Trent with 16 points for Toronto, which overcame a 19-point deficit. The Raptors have also won nine straight regular season meetings against the Wizards.
Russell Westbrook of Washington collected 23 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in recording his 19th double-double and ninth NBA in his last 13 games. Garrison Mathews scored all 17 of his points in the first half and Davis Bertans finished with 17 points as well.
Timberwolves 116, Kings 106
D’Angelo Russell finished with 25 points, five rebounds and three assists while returning from surgery on his left knee, helping Minnesota beat Sacramento in Minneapolis. Russell came off the bench and played 24 minutes after losing 26 games. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to help Minnesota pull away. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Anthony Edwards contributed 19 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves.
De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with game-highs of 31 points and nine assists, but he couldn’t stop his team from taking its fourth consecutive loss. Harrison Barnes finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds for Sacramento while Buddy Hield had 18 points and seven rebounds.
Cavaliers 125, Spurs 101
Darius Garland scored a career-high 37 points and Collin Sexton added 22 as Cleveland visited sputtering San Antonio to cap a five-game losing streak.
Cleveland came into the contest averaging just 90.8 points per outing over its five-game losing skid and only 102.7 points per game for the season, the worst in the NBA. The Cavaliers surpassed those figures late in the third quarter and then in the first minute of the fourth, respectively, and then built their advantage to as many as 32 points down the stretch.
Isaiah Hartenstein added 16 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland. DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 20 points while Keldon Johnson had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Pistons 132, Thunder 108
Jerami Grant scored 21 points and six of his fellow players also reached double figures as Detroit handled Oklahoma City. The Pistons earned a bounce-back victory after a 44-point loss to the Knicks on Saturday.
Josh Jackson and Sekou Doumbouya each contributed 14 points to the Pistons, who have won three of their last five and open a five-game road trip. The Pistons shot 51.6 percent from the floor while hitting a season-high 49 field goals.
The Thunder were led by 19 points from rookie Aleksej Pokusevski. The Oklahoma City player shot the season’s worst 18.5 percent from behind the arc (5 of 27) in losing his third in a row and falling for the sixth time in seven games.
—Field Media Media