Amen Thompson tipped in a Kevin Durant missed jumper at the buzzer, and the Houston Rockets escaped with a wild 123-122 victory over the visiting Miami Heat on Saturday night.
Durant passed Michael Jordan’s career 32,292 points for fifth on the NBA’s scoring list with a corner 3-pointer at the 3:35 mark of the fourth quarter. The Heat (38-33) moved ahead on a goaltending call against Jabari Smith Jr. when he attempted to block Simone Fontecchio’s layup after the Rockets committed a turnover on an inbounds pass by Tari Eason.
Thompson finished with 24 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. He was one of three Rockets to record double-doubles along with Reed Sheppard (23 points, 14 assists) and Alperen Sengun (19 points, 12 rebounds). Durant finished with 27 points to lead the Rockets and has 32,294 for his career.
Bam Adebayo paired 32 points with a career-high-tying 21 rebounds to pace the Heat. Tyler Herro scored 25 points but missed all five of his fourth-quarter shots. Fontecchio had 21 points and five 3-pointers.
Lakers 105, Magic 104
Luke Kennard drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining to lift Los Angeles to a victory over host Orlando.
Trailing by two with 2.6 seconds left, Marcus Smart inbounded a pass to a wide-open Kennard, who clinched the team’s ninth straight win. Los Angeles was led by Luka Doncic’s 33 points and eight assists, while Austin Reaves had 26 points. LeBron James scored 12 and passed Robert Parish for most regular-season games played in NBA history with 1,612.
Orlando was paced by Paolo Banchero’s 16 points and Jalen Suggs’ 14. Wendell Carter Jr. and Jevon Carter added 13 apiece for the Magic, who lost their fourth straight.
Clippers 138, Mavericks 131 (OT)
Darius Garland scored 41 points with 11 assists and Kawhi Leonard added 34 points as visiting Los Angeles ended a four-game losing streak with an overtime victory over Dallas.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 15 points, including two 3-pointers in overtime, as the Clippers shot 56.7% from the floor and went 21-of-42 from 3-point range to salvage the final game of a three-game road trip.
Naji Marshall scored 28 points and Cooper Flagg added 18 points with 10 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Mavericks, who lost their 11th consecutive home game.
Hornets 124, Grizzlies 101
LaMelo Ball’s 29 points led to another big offensive output for Charlotte in its victory against visiting Memphis.
Brandon Miller poured in 22 points for the Hornets, who have won five of their last six. Charlotte also received contributions from Miles Bridges with 13 points and Coby White, who paired 12 points and eight rebounds with seven assists in 19 minutes off the bench.
GG Jackson led Memphis with 19 points, while Javon Small provided 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds, Taylor Hendricks had 14 points and Walter Clayton Jr. notched 11 points. The Grizzlies have lost 10 of their last 11 games.
Thunder 132, Wizards 111
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points as Oklahoma City beat host Washington to stretch its winning streak to 11 and the Wizards’ skid to 15.
The Thunder’s Chet Holmgren added 18 points and 10 rebounds and Jared McCain scored 18 off the bench. Isaiah Hartenstein had nine points, a career-high-tying 20 rebounds and 10 assists, just missing out on his second career triple-double.
Bilal Coulibaly led six Washington players in double figures with 21 points while Bub Carrington added 19.
Cavaliers 111, Pelicans 106
Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points, James Harden went for 20 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, and Cleveland used a fourth-quarter rally to snap New Orleans’ seven-game home winning streak.
Cleveland came back from down as many as 15 points, going on runs of 16-2 and 10-0 in the final period to pull ahead. Sam Merrill scored 15 points and Evan Mobley went for 18 points and eight rebounds.
Zion Williamson shot 10-of-14 from the floor to lead New Orleans with 25 points. Saddiq Bey shot 4-of-8 from 3-point range on the way to 19 points, and Murray posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists.
Hawks 126, Warriors 110
Dyson Daniels matched his career high with 28 points to help Atlanta beat Golden State and extend its home-court winning streak to 10 games.
Daniels was 12-for-17 from the field with seven rebounds, six assists and four steals to help the Hawks bounce back from their 11-game winning streak being snapped Friday vs. Houston. CJ McCollum scored 23 points, and Zaccharie Risacher and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 17 each. Mouhamed Gueye, who started in place of leading scorer Jalen Johnson (left shoulder inflammation), recorded 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
The Warriors were led by De’Anthony Melton with 20 points, Nate Williams with 19 points and Pat Spencer with 18. They are 1-4 on their six-game road trip, which concludes on Monday at Dallas.
Spurs 134, Pacers 119
Rookie Dylan Harper poured in a career-high-tying 24 points in his first career start and Keldon Johnson also hit for 24 points as host San Antonio rolled to a win over hapless Indiana.
The Spurs remain on a torrid pace as they won their fifth straight game and for the 21st time in their past 23 contests. Victor Wembanyama finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots in 26 minutes of court time.
Meanwhile, Indiana dropped its 16th consecutive outing. Andrew Nembhard led all scorers with 25 points while Jarace Walker tallied 21. Pascal Siakam scored 14 in his first game back after missing six contests with a sprained right knee.
76ers 126, Jazz 116
Quentin Grimes scored 25 points and VJ Edgecombe added 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead Philadelphia past Utah at Salt Lake City.
Trendon Watford added 20 points off the bench for the 76ers, who won for the fourth time in the last five games. Cameron Payne added 16 points and seven assists off the bench and Adem Bona also scored 16 points for Philadelphia, which played without star Joel Embiid (oblique) for the 12th straight contest.
Ace Bailey had 25 points and seven rebounds and Kennedy Chandler scored a career-best 19 points off the bench for the Jazz, who sewed up their third straight 50-loss campaign. Cody Williams and Elijah Harkless scored 15 points apiece and Bez Mbeng had a career-best 13 points for Utah, which has lost five of its last six.
Bucks 108, Suns 105
Ryan Rollins had 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as visiting Milwaukee handed Phoenix its fifth straight loss.
Kyle Kuzma scored 20 points before exiting in the third quarter with right Achilles tightness for Milwaukee. Gary Trent Jr. and Ousmane Dieng scored 11 points apiece for the Bucks, who ended a two-game skid.
Jalen Green led Phoenix with 24 points, while Collin Gillespie added 18 and Devin Booker had 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
–Field Level Media
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