Amen Thompson and Kevin Durant combined for 59 points to pace a blistering shooting effort as the Houston Rockets rolled to a 117-98 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Friday. Durant scored 17 of his 28 points in the second quarter to turn the tide, and he became the eighth player in NBA history […]
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NBA roundup: Kevin Durant hits 31K career points in Rockets’ win
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Amen Thompson and Kevin Durant combined for 59 points to pace a blistering shooting effort as the Houston Rockets rolled to a 117-98 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Friday.
Durant scored 17 of his 28 points in the second quarter to turn the tide, and he became the eighth player in NBA history to eclipse 31,000 career points. He added eight assists.
Thompson scored a season-high 31 points on 12-for-17 shooting from the field. The Rockets excelled despite the absence of Alperen Sengun (illness), hitting 59.2% of their field-goal attempts.
Dillon Brooks paced the Suns with 23 points while Jamaree Bouyea scored a career-high 18. Phoenix, playing without leading scorer Devin Booker (groin), shot 5-for-36 (13.9%) on 3-point attempts.
Thunder 132, Mavericks 111
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points in three quarters, helping Oklahoma City to a home win over Dallas.
The Thunder have won 14 consecutive games and 22 of their first 23 to start the season. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 10 of 12 from the field while adding six assists and five rebounds. The reigning Most Valuable Player scored 16 of his points in the third quarter when Oklahoma City put the game away.
The Mavericks’ three-game winning streak was snapped. Jaden Hardy led Dallas with 23 points off the bench, including 12 in the third quarter.
Nuggets 134, Hawks 133
Nikola Jokic totaled 40 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, helping visiting Denver rally for a win over Atlanta. Jamal Murray added 23 points and 12 assists for Denver, which trailed by as many as 23 en route to its ninth straight road win.
Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson became the fifth player in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) to record a first-half triple-double. After having 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists before the break, he finished with 21, 18 and 16, respectively.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 30 points while Kristaps Porzingis contributed 25 as the Hawks dropped their third straight game. At the end, Alexander-Walker then had his 3-point attempt blocked by Murray, and he settled for a layup with 2.2 seconds remaining. Denver inbounded the ball and ran out the clock.
Celtics 126, Lakers 105
Jaylen Brown had 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to help Boston stretch its winning streak to four games by beating visiting Los Angeles.
The Celtics received 19 points from Derrick White, 17 from Jordan Walsh and 15 from Payton Pritchard. Walsh has made 18 of his 19 shots from the floor over the past three games.
The Lakers played without Luka Doncic (personal), LeBron James (sciatica and foot) and Marcus Smart (lumbar). Austin Reaves had a 36-point performance for Los Angeles, and Gabe Vincent tossed in 18.
Cavaliers 130, Spurs 117
Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points and Jaylon Tyson tallied 16 of his 24 points in the second half as Cleveland used a big third-quarter run to beat visiting San Antonio.
Tyson scored 11 points during a 31-7 run in the third that gave the Cavaliers the lead for good at 98-81. Evan Mobley had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Cleveland, which had lost two straight at home.
Devin Vassell finished with 28 points while De’Aaron Fox had 25 points and nine assists for San Antonio. The Spurs fell to 4-3 on their trip through nine cities in 18 days.
Pistons 122, Trail Blazers 116
Cade Cunningham scored 29 points and dished out nine assists as host Detroit held off Portland.
Jalen Duren contributed 18 points and eight rebounds and Ron Holland II had 17 points off the Pistons’ bench. Ausar Thompson supplied 15 points as Detroit won for the third time in four games.
Deni Avdija led the Trail Blazers with 35 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Jerami Grant fired in 29 points and Shaedon Sharpe had 28. There were 64 fouls called and 83 free throws attempted in the contest.
Knicks 146, Jazz 112
Jalen Brunson scored 33 points in three quarters for host New York, which rode its biggest game-opening run on record to a rout of visiting Utah.
The Knicks raced out to a 23-0 lead, their longest game-opening run since at least 1996-97, when the NBA began tracking play-by-play data. New York led by at least 19 thereafter as it completed a second straight wire-to-wire win. Miles McBride scored 22 points off the bench and was 7-of-10 from 3-point range.
Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George had 18 points apiece before sitting out the fourth for the Jazz, whose two-game winning streak was snapped. Ace Bailey and Isaiah Collier each put up 13 points.
Magic 106, Heat 105
Franz Wagner scored 32 points as host Orlando held off a late Miami surge to record a win.
The Heat, down by 10 points in the fourth quarter, got within a point on back-to-back inside buckets by Norman Powell. On an inbounds play in the last second, the Magic’s tight defense forced a contested 3-point heave from Bam Adebayo that came nowhere close.
Orlando’s Paolo Banchero made his return to the lineup from a groin strain that cost him 10 games, and he scored nine points in 20 minutes. Powell paced the Heat with 28 points, and Adebayo registered 24 points and 15 rebounds.
Hornets 111, Raptors 86
Rookie Kon Knueppel had 21 points and seven assists as visiting Charlotte defeated Toronto.
Tidjane Salaun added a career-best 21 points — 13 in the fourth quarter — and Miles Bridges had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets. LaMelo Ball added 11 points before leaving with left ankle soreness during the third quarter.
Immanuel Quickley scored 31 points for the Raptors, who have lost four of five. Scottie Barnes added 13 points as Toronto showed signs of carryover from a loss on a buzzer-beater against the Lakers on Thursday.
Pacers 120, Bulls 105
Pascal Siakam produced 36 points and 10 rebounds and Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points to lift visiting Indiana to a victory against scuffling Chicago.
The Pacers stopped a two-game slide while sending the Bulls to their season-high sixth straight defeat. Andrew Nembhard (15 points), Jay Huff (11) and Ethan Thompson (11) also scored in double figures for the Pacers.
Coby White led Chicago with 22 points and Matas Buzelis posted 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulls, who have lost 12 of 15, shot 44.2% compared to 53.6% for the Pacers.
76ers 116, Bucks 101
Quentin Grimes scored 22 points and Paul George added 20 to lead visiting Philadelphia to a win over Milwaukee.
It was an atypical scoring night for Philadelphia, with Tyrese Maxey managing just 12 points and the bench unit contributing 61. Maxey’s previous season low in scoring was 20.
Bobby Portis led Milwaukee with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Kevin Porter Jr. added 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and Myles Turner put up 19.
Grizzlies 107, Clippers 98
Rookie Cedric Coward had 23 points and 14 rebounds, logging four points and a steal in the closing 2:17, while leading Memphis to a victory over visiting Los Angeles.
Jaylen Wells and Cam Spencer added 17 points apiece for the Grizzlies, who won for the sixth time in eight games. Jaren Jackson Jr., who was held to two points in the first half, finished with 13.
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists. James Harden had 18 points and seven assists as Los Angeles lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
–Field Level Media