Jamal Murray scored a season-high 52 points on 10-for-11 shooting from 3-point range, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Indiana Pacers 135-120 in Indianapolis on Wednesday night.
It was the third time Murray has scored 50 or more in the regular season, and he did it two nights after suffering a right ankle sprain. His career high is 55 points. He made 19 of 25 shots overall.
Nikola Jokic had 24 points and 13 assists, Bruce Brown scored 14 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. and Peyton Watson finished with 11 points each for Denver, which has won eight in a row on the road.
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 23 points, Andrew Nembhard scored 16, Bennedict Mathurin finished with 15 points, Ben Shepperd and TJ McConnell added 14 points each and Jarace Walker scored 11.
Trail Blazers 122, Cavaliers 110
Deni Avdija posted 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while Caleb Love scored 20 points off the bench as visiting Portland never trailed in the second half of a win over Cleveland.
Shaedon Sharpe added 20 points, nine points and five assists for Portland, which snapped a three-game losing streak and won for the third time in 11 games. Toumani Camara scored 17 points and Donovan Clingan grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points in 34 minutes for the Cavaliers while Evan Mobley had 23 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots. Cleveland lost for the fourth time in five games since Nov. 24.
Nets 113, Bulls 103
Michael Porter Jr. produced a team-best 33 points and 10 rebounds and Noah Clowney chipped in 20 points to lift visiting Brooklyn to a win against slumping Chicago. Brooklyn has won consecutive games for the first time this season. Chicago has lost five straight, matching a season high, and 11 of 14.
The Nets finished 19 of 46 from beyond the arc. Clowney connected on six 3-pointers while Porter Jr. buried five. Nic Claxton contributed 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Nets and Egor Demlin scored 10 points.
Josh Giddey boosted Chicago with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, securing his second triple-double in the past six games.
Clippers 115, Hawks 92
James Harden and Kawhi Leonard combined to score 48 points to help visiting Los Angeles end its five-game losing streak with a victory over Atlanta.
Harden scored 27 points, including five 3-pointers, with nine assists, four rebounds and three steals. Leonard scored 21 points with six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Ivica Zubac scored 14 points and added 17 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season. The Hawks were led by Nickeil Alexander-Walker with 21 points and Dyson Daniels with 15 points.
Knicks 119, Hornets 104
Karl-Anthony Towns posted his 16th double-double in 21 games by finishing with 35 points and 18 rebounds for host New York, which never trailed in a win over Charlotte.
Towns converted 13 of 23 from the floor, including three of seven from distance, and converted six of seven free-throw attempts. Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and Mikal Bridges recorded 16 to help the Knicks win their fifth game in six tries. The Knicks’ starters scored 107 of the team’s 119 points.
LaMelo Ball scored 16 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter to help the Hornets get as close as eight with 4:27 left after trailing by 22 earlier in the period, but New York pulled away from there.
Bucks 113, Pistons 109
Kevin Porter Jr. scored 26 and Ryan Rollins added 22 to lead Milwaukee to a comeback victory over visiting Detroit.
The Bucks were down by as much as 18 and played most of the night without Giannis Antetokounmpo, who exited with a right calf strain just three minutes into the game. Rollins had eight assists and Porter contributed seven. AJ Green added 19 points on five 3-pointers, while Jericho Sims poured in a career-high 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Former Buck Tobias Harris led Detroit with 20 points, while Cade Cunningham added 17 and Jaden Ivey scored 15.
Spurs 114, Magic 112
De’Aaron Fox made two foul shots with 1.4 seconds left and finished with 31 points as visiting San Antonio withstood a fourth-quarter rally to beat Orlando.
Luke Kornet blocked Franz Wagner’s shot at the buzzer to secure the win for San Antonio, which improved to 7-2 since star Victor Wembanyama landed on the injured list with a strained left calf. Dylan Harper scored 16 points off the bench to help the Spurs snap Orlando’s three-game winning streak. Devin Vassell added 15, Julian Champagnie had 14, Keldon Johnson scored 13, and Harrison Barnes chipped in 11.
Wagner led the Magic with 25 points. Jalen Suggs tallied 24, Desmond Bane added 14, and Tristan da Silva contributed 12.
Rockets 121, Kings 95
Alperen Sengun had a 28-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Amen Thompson totaled 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to help Houston shake off a sluggish first half and beat visiting Sacramento.
Kevin Durant joined in with 24 points and eight assists, Jabari Smith Jr. had 14 points and eight rebounds and Steven Adams was the only double-digit bench scorer with 11 points and eight boards. The Rockets trailed 63-57 with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter before going on a 21-3 run to open up a 78-66 lead, which they’d never relinquish.
Rookie Maxime Raynaud buoyed the Kings for as long as he could with a career-high 25 points, but Sacramento failed to keep pace without Domantas Sabonis (knee) and Dennis Schroder (hip) in the lineup. Malik Monk also dropped 25 points, while DeMar DeRozan scored 12 points and Russell Westbrook notched 12 and nine assists.
Mavericks 118, Heat 108
Cooper Flagg recorded 22 points and six rebounds and Anthony Davis had 17 points, a season-high 17 rebounds and three blocked shots to lead Dallas past visiting Miami.
Naji Marshall scored 18 points and Klay Thompson made five 3-pointers while scoring 17 points as the Mavericks achieved a season-best three-game winning streak. Ryan Nembhard had 15 points and 13 assists.
Kel’el Ware scored a season-high 22 points and collected 10 rebounds for the Heat, who lost for just the second time in nine games. Bam Adebayo had 21 points and seven rebounds and Tyler Herro put up 20 points.
–Field Level Media
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