Cleveland Cavaliers 115, New York Knicks 107

Jarrett Allen's alley-oop dunk at 9:05 of the first put Cleveland ahead 6-4, and the Cavaliers led the rest of the quarter, Tyrese Proctor's three at 31.7 seconds making it 33-21 before Jalen Brunson's layup set it at 33-23 after one. New York had called two timeouts in the quarter, at 6:31 and 2:00. The Knicks caught up in the second: Miles McBride's three at 6:09 tied it 43-43, and Brunson's 26-footer at 4:10 gave New York its only lead after the opening minutes, 49-47. James Harden answered with a three at 3:48, his step-back three at 1:43 made it 57-51, and his two free throws at 6.1 seconds sent it to the half at 59-53.

New York tied it twice in the third, on Brunson's step-back three at 5:07 for 69-69 and McBride's three at 3:58 for 74-74, and Cleveland answered both times, Harden's technical free throw at 3:30 putting the Cavaliers back ahead and Donovan Mitchell's running jumper at 26.9 seconds making it 82-76 after three. Mitchell scored five straight early in the fourth for 87-81 at 10:38, Jaylon Tyson's three at 9:44 made it 92-83, and Meleek Thomas's three at 8:26 made it 95-85. Then the Knicks ran off 14 of the next 18: Karl-Anthony Towns's dunk at 7:35, OG Anunoby's three at 6:41 for 99-95, and Josh Hart's layups at 5:55 and 5:36 tied it 99-99 and sent Cleveland to a timeout. Harden's pullup at 5:22 put the Cavaliers back up, Anunoby's free throws tied it again at 5:09, and Harden's 27-footer at 4:22 made it 104-101 and brought a Knicks timeout. New York never got even again. Evan Mobley's floater at 2:59 made it 106-103, Allen's free throws at 2:18 and dunk at 1:41 made it 110-103, and Allen's dunk and free throw at 29.6 seconds made it 113-105.

Harden had 32 on 9-of-14 with 5-of-7 from three and 9-of-11 at the line in 33 minutes, with four assists. Mitchell scored 23 with seven rebounds and six assists on 8-of-15, Proctor had 15 on 3-of-8 from three, Thomas scored 14 off the bench, and Allen had 11 points and 14 rebounds. Cleveland made 15 of 38 threes, went 20-of-25 at the line, and blocked nine shots. Brunson led New York with 27 on 12-of-23, never got to the line and was a minus-20; Towns had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on 7-of-11, McBride scored 19 on 5-of-10 from three, Anunoby had 14, and Landry Shamet 12. The Knicks made 14 of 39 threes and had 33 assists on 41 baskets, on the second night of a back-to-back. Cleveland is 6-6; New York is 6-5.

Golden State Warriors 108, Houston Rockets 115

Stephen Curry made a three with about seven and a half minutes left in the first quarter, grabbed his right side as he backpedaled, and walked straight to the locker room. The Warriors ruled him out early in the second quarter with right abdominal soreness; no further diagnosis has been announced. He finished with three points in six minutes. Houston led 35-20 after one, Golden State got back within 56-51 at the half and 85-79 after three, and the Rockets pulled away again in the fourth, getting the lead back to 10 midway through the quarter.

Kevin Durant had 20 points, four rebounds and five assists and moved into seventh on the career scoring list, and all five Houston starters scored in double figures: Alperen Şengün had 19 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, Amen Thompson 19, seven and four, Fred VanVleet 18 with six assists, and Jabari Smith Jr. 14 and eight. Yaxel Lendeborg led the Warriors with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Brandin Podziemski had 22 points, six rebounds and four assists. The loss ended Golden State's eight-game winning streak on the first night of a five-game road trip. Houston is 9-3; Golden State is 8-4.

Los Angeles Lakers 123, Milwaukee Bucks 112

Milwaukee led 7-4 on Brayden Burries's running jumper at 10:00 of the first, and that was the last time the Bucks were ahead. Luka Dončić's layup at 8:13 made it 8-7, his pullup at 7:14 made it 14-7 and sent Milwaukee to a timeout, and the Lakers led 26-18 on Dončić's reverse layup at 3:43 before Jaime Jaquez Jr.'s layup at 1:29 cut it to 28-26; it was 30-28 after one. The Bucks got within 45-43 on Burries's free throw at 4:13 of the second, and the Lakers scored 16 of the next 23: Collin Sexton's layup at 4:02, Dončić's 27-footer at 3:25, Sandro Mamukelashvili's three at 1:53 for 55-45, and Austin Reaves's dunk at 4.6 seconds for 61-50 at the half.

The third was where it ended. Reaves's three at 11:13 made it 64-50, Dončić's 28-footer at 8:14 made it 69-56 and brought another Milwaukee timeout, Matisse Thybulle's threes at 7:17 and 6:47 pushed it to 75-58, Ziaire Williams's dunk at 4:13 made it 82-62, and Dončić's jumper at 1.4 seconds left it 94-73 after three. The Lakers won the quarter 33-23 and led by 24 after Adou Thiero's free throws at 4:12 of the fourth. From there Milwaukee's bench scored 20 of the game's last 27 points, Gary Trent Jr.'s threes at 3:34 and 1:21 and Ousmane Dieng's at 2:20 and 45.9 seconds getting it to 118-108, and Kasparas Jakucionis's layup at 34.9 seconds made it 118-110 before Bronny James made four free throws to close it.

Dončić had 32 points, five rebounds and five assists on 10-of-25 with 5-of-12 from three and 7-of-10 at the line in 32 minutes, with five turnovers. Mamukelashvili scored 23 on 9-of-15 and 5-of-8 from three, Reaves had 18 points and five assists on 6-of-10 at a plus-23, Walker Kessler had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Jake LaRavia went scoreless on 0-of-4 but grabbed nine rebounds, seven of them offensive, with six assists. Los Angeles had 19 offensive rebounds, 14 steals and 22 fast-break points, and turned it over 17 times. Tyler Herro was back for Milwaukee and scored 27 on 8-of-16 with 9-of-10 at the line and seven assists, and Jaquez had 25 on 7-of-16 with 9-of-9 free throws. Kyle Kuzma scored nine on 2-of-8 and fouled out at a minus-22, Ryan Rollins had eight points and four turnovers, and Kel'el Ware had eight points and three blocks. Milwaukee went 29-of-33 at the line and 13-of-38 from three, with Myles Turner out. The Lakers are 11-2; Milwaukee is 1-11.

Indiana Pacers 114, Washington Wizards 101: Tied 77-77 after three on Quenton Jackson's free throw at 36.3 seconds, and then Indiana opened the fourth 14-0: Andrew Nembhard's three at 11:44, Pascal Siakam's free throws at 11:21 and 10:04 around Larry Nance Jr.'s three at 10:45, Jalen Slawson's dunk at 9:48 and Nembhard's pullup at 9:01 for 91-77, with Washington burning timeouts at 10:42 and 9:47. The Pacers won the quarter 37-24. Siakam had 28 points, eight rebounds and five assists on 12-of-12 at the line, Ivica Zubac had 20 and 12, Nembhard 17 points and 10 assists, and Kelly Oubre Jr. 14 with four steals; Indiana scored 60 in the paint without Tyrese Haliburton. Kyshawn George led Washington with 25 on 5-of-8 from three but turned it over six times, Anthony Davis had 21 and 13 on 7-of-20, and Trae Young scored 15. Both teams are 4-8.

Boston Celtics 98, Toronto Raptors 93: Toronto scored 38 in the first quarter and led 59-37 on Jamal Shead's free throw at 5:24 of the second, the largest lead at 22, before Boston got it to 61-54 at the half. Jordan Walsh's layup at 7:09 of the third gave the Celtics their first lead since the opening minutes, 66-65, and the teams traded it until Alijah Martin's three at 38.7 seconds sent Toronto to the fourth up 80-73. The Raptors scored 13 in the fourth. Sam Hauser's three at 4:51 made it 89-84, Neemias Queta's free throw at 2:47 made it 89-88, Jayson Tatum's jumper at 1:55 put Boston up 90-89, RJ Barrett's floater at 1:39 and dunk at 1:14 put Toronto back up 93-90, and then the Raptors did not score again: Queta's dunk at 54.1 seconds, Tatum's free throws at 25.2 for 94-93, and Queta's and Hauser's free throws closed it. Tatum had 24 on 6-of-21 with 2-of-11 from three and 10-of-12 at the line, plus seven rebounds and eight assists; Derrick White scored 19 with seven assists and four blocks, and Queta had 11 points and 13 rebounds at a plus-27. Ja'Kobe Walter led Toronto with 17 on 5-of-10 from three, Barrett had 12 on 5-of-16 with seven assists, and Immanuel Quickley went 3-of-14, with Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes out. Boston is 10-2; Toronto is 5-6.

San Antonio Spurs 124, Chicago Bulls 119: Chicago scored 41 in the first quarter, led 63-42 on Matas Buzelis's three at 5:35 of the second, and took a 70-56 lead to the half. San Antonio won the third 34-19: Dylan Harper's three at 8:05 tied it 73-73, Keldon Johnson's basket at 3:36 put the Spurs ahead 83-82, and Nic Claxton's dunk at 6.6 seconds left it 90-89 San Antonio after three. Victor Wembanyama's jumper at 11:40 of the fourth and turnaround at 10:24 started an 11-2 run that Stephon Castle's layup at 9:36 finished at 101-91, and Wembanyama's step-back three at 8:19 made it 107-94. Chicago outscored the Spurs 14-4 over the last two minutes, Noa Essengue's three at the buzzer setting the final. Wembanyama had 32 points, nine rebounds and five blocks on 13-of-18, Harper had 18 points, 10 assists and four steals, and De'Aaron Fox 17 and nine assists; the Spurs turned it over six times and scored 66 in the paint. Jalen Smith led Chicago with 23 on 8-of-9, 5-of-5 from three, Claxton had 17 in 16 minutes, Caleb Wilson 15, and Josh Giddey had seven assists and seven turnovers in 19 Bulls giveaways. San Antonio is 10-2; Chicago is 1-9.

Denver Nuggets 123, Memphis Grizzlies 118: Denver led 35-24 after one and 65-52 at the half, and Memphis scored 38 in the third to get within 94-90, Cameron Boozer's three at 1:21 making it 87-86 and Cedric Coward's basket at 57.5 seconds making it 89-88 before Jamal Murray's 29-footer at 35.5 and jumper at 3.9 seconds. Murray scored 17 in the fourth: his step-back three at 5:48 made it 113-104, Ty Jerome's three at 5:35 and floater at 4:51 and Boozer's layup at 4:01 got Memphis within 113-111, Murray's floater at 2:58 and Cameron Johnson's layup at 2:04 made it 117-113, and Johnson's three at 1:01 made it 120-113. Jaylen Wells's three at 52.7 seconds and Zach Edey's basket at 20.6 got it to 120-118 before Nikola Jokić and Aaron Gordon closed it at the line. Murray had 30 points and eight assists on 12-of-19, Jokić 27 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Johnson 23 on 4-of-7 from three; Denver turned it over four times. Wells and Jerome had 22 each for Memphis, Coward had 15 and 11, and Boozer 13 and 11. Denver is 6-4; Memphis is 7-4.

Brooklyn Nets 145, New Orleans Pelicans 111: Michael Porter Jr.'s dunk at 9:58 of the first put Brooklyn ahead 7-5, and the Nets never trailed again, leading 39-25 after one, 83-66 at the half on Terance Mann's three at 0.8 seconds, and 107-81 after three. Egor Demin's threes at 9:46 and 9:16 of the fourth made it 121-84 and sent New Orleans to a timeout, and Drake Powell's three at 6:06 made it 133-92, the largest lead at 41. Brooklyn made 20 of 41 threes and 35 of 42 free throws. Porter and Demin had 22 each, Demin on 5-of-8 in 23 minutes; Julius Randle had 17 points and five assists at a plus-38, Noah Clowney and Moritz Wagner 16 each, and Day'Ron Sharpe 15 with four blocks. Zion Williamson scored 29 on 12-of-14 at the line for New Orleans, Saddiq Bey had 15, and Dejounte Murray had five points on 2-of-6 at a minus-33, with Trey Murphy III and Bennedict Mathurin out. Brooklyn is 3-8; New Orleans is 4-8.

Orlando Magic 123, Utah Jazz 108: Tied 85-85 after three on Isaiah Collier's free throw at 25.4 seconds, and Brice Sensabaugh's three at 8:01 of the fourth had Utah within 95-94. Orlando scored 11 of the next 13: Jevon Carter's three at 7:39, Franz Wagner's layup at 6:30, Desmond Bane's three at 6:07 and Wagner's 29-footer at 5:23 for 106-96. Bane's three at 4:13 made it 111-97 and Carter's at 3:05 made it 116-99, and the Magic won the quarter 38-21. Wagner had 38 points and eight rebounds on 13-of-23 with 9-of-10 at the line, Bane scored 25 on 7-of-11 from three, Anthony Black had 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and Carter's 11 came at a plus-24; Orlando made 18 of 46 threes with Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs out. Darryn Peterson led Utah with 20 on 7-of-19, Sensabaugh had 19 off the bench, Ace Bailey scored 18 with four blocks on 6-of-17, and Keyonte George went 3-of-13; the Jazz shot 14-of-44 from three without Lauri Markkanen. Orlando is 4-7; Utah is 1-11.

Portland Trail Blazers 118, Oklahoma City Thunder 108: A night after beating the Thunder by 20, Portland beat them again on the second night of the back-to-back in Portland. Deni Avdija had 28 points, three rebounds and six assists, and Damian Lillard added 18. Isaiah Hartenstein had 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for Oklahoma City, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 but went 0-of-7 from three. Oklahoma City, still short-handed, is 8-4; Portland is 8-3.

Thursday has four games. Toronto visits Philadelphia and Detroit is in Washington at 7 PM ET, Dallas visits Minnesota at 8 on NBA TV, and Charlotte is in Phoenix at 9. We'll have the preview, the cards and every lean before the first tip.

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