Devin Booker and Chris Paul led the Phoenix Suns to a 117-113 overtime win over the visiting Utah Jazz on Wednesday night in a game between the NBA’s two best teams that lived up to its billing.
Booker scored 35 points and Chris Paul contributed 29 points and nine assists as the Suns, who have the NBA’s second-best record, held on for their seventh victory in a row.
Booker got the Suns off to a quick start in OT with a layup, and Paul finished it off with free throws late in the extra session. Utah never led in overtime. Deandre Ayton also had a strong showing with 18 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks for Phoenix, which picked up its second win in two meetings with the Jazz this season.
Donovan Mitchell registered 41 points and eight rebounds for the NBA-leading Jazz, and he forced overtime with a clutch 3-pointer late in regulation. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 20 and Rudy Gobert tallied 16 points and 18 rebounds for the Jazz, who have lost two in a row on the road after a nine-game win streak.
Nets 139, Pelicans 111
Kevin Durant played for the first time in nearly two months and was one of seven Brooklyn players to score in double figures in a rout of visiting New Orleans.
Durant, who last played on Feb. 13 and missed 23 consecutive games because of a hamstring injury, didn’t enter the game until the second quarter was nearly halfway over. He scored 17 points, making 5 of 5 field-goal attempts, 2 of 2 from 3-point range and 5 of 5 free throws in 19 minutes.
Kyrie Irving led Brooklyn with 24 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge had 22. Eric Bledsoe led New Orleans with 26 points despite being ejected late in the third quarter. Zion Williamson scored 16 points on 4-of-12 shooting to end his streak of 25 consecutive games with 20-plus points on 50 percent shooting or better.
Rockets 102, Mavericks 93
Kelly Olynyk scored 10 points and pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds to help host Houston snap its five-game losing streak by beating Dallas.
Olynyk grabbed two critical boards down the stretch after his three-point play gave the Rockets an 89-84 lead with 3:38 to play. John Wall finished with 31 points, seven assists and four steals for Houston, and Christian Wood added 22 points — including the team’s opening 12 points of the third quarter — and 10 rebounds.
Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis scored 23 points apiece for the Mavericks, who saw their season-best, five-game winning streak come to an end. Doncic missed 17 of 26 field-goal attempts and committed five turnovers. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 18 points.
Celtics 101, Knicks 99
Marcus Smart hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 36.4 seconds left, and he scored 14 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as host Boston snapped a seventh-place tie in the Eastern Conference by coming back to beat New York.
Smart was just 1-for-7 from the field before he teamed up with Jaylen Brown (seven points) and Jayson Tatum (seven points) to score the final 28 points for the Celtics, who trailed by seven early in the fourth before winning for the third time in four games.
Brown wound up with 32 points and 10 rebounds while Tatum finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds. RJ Barrett was 6 of 6 from 3-point range and scored 29 points for the Knicks, who lost for the fifth time in six games. Julius Randle had 22 points and nine rebounds.
Nuggets 106, Spurs 96
Nikola Jokic finished with 25 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to help surging Denver to a victory over visiting San Antonio in the first of a two-games-in-three-days mini-series between the teams.
The game was the second of a home back-to-back for the Nuggets, who rolled past Detroit on Tuesday. Michael Porter Jr. added 18 points and 10 rebounds and Will Barton hit for 14 points for Denver.
Dejounte Murray and Derrick White led the Spurs with 18 points each, with DeMar DeRozan scoring 14 and Patty Mills adding 12 off the bench. San Antonio has lost four consecutive games and nine of its past 11.
Grizzlies 131, Hawks 113
Grayson Allen poured in a season-high 30 points to help Memphis roll over host Atlanta.
Jonas Valanciunas recorded 19 points and 11 rebounds and Ja Morant added 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as Memphis won its fourth straight contest. The Grizzlies shot 53.9 percent from the field and hit 17 of 40 from 3-point range.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 24 points and Trae Young had 14 points and 11 assists for the Hawks, who saw a four-game winning streak snapped. The Hawks played without John Collins (ankle), Clint Capela (Achilles) and Danilo Gallinari (ankle).
Wizards 131, Magic 116
Bradley Beal scored 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting and Russell Westbrook posted his fifth triple-double in the past six games to lead Washington past host Orlando.
Beal, who also had five assists, returned to the Wizards’ lineup after missing the previous five games with a right hip contusion. Westbrook finished with 23 points, 15 assists and 14 rebounds for his 20th triple-double of the season.
Terrence Ross led Orlando with 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting, and Mo Bamba had 19 points and eight rebounds. The Magic lost their third straight, while the Wizards ended a four-game skid.
Pacers 141, Timberwolves 137
Aaron Holiday scored 22 points off the bench and his brother Justin Holiday added 21 to fuel Indiana to a victory over Minnesota in Indianapolis.
The Pacers’ T.J. McConnell collected 19 points and 15 assists, both season-high-tying totals. Indiana scored a season high in points despite playing without All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis (ankle), Malcolm Brogdon (hip) and Myles Turner (ankle).
Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 32 points and 12 rebounds and rookie Anthony Edwards added 27 points for Minnesota, which failed in its bid to win back-to-back games for the first time since emerging victorious in its first two contests of the season.
Hornets 113, Thunder 102
Jalen McDaniels scored a career-high 21 points to lead visiting Charlotte over Oklahoma City.
McDaniels took advantage of his second career start as Hornets coach James Borrego tinkered with his starting lineup in search of more consistency on the offensive end. McDaniels, who hadn’t scored more than 11 points in any of his first 40 NBA games over the past two seasons, finished 9 of 14 from the floor.
Nearly half of the Thunder’s scoring came from their two teenagers as Aleksej Pokusevski and Theo Maledon each finished with 25 points.
–Field Level Media
