Denver Nuggets 114, Indiana Pacers 102

Indiana, the designated home team, had the first five points on Pascal Siakam's running pullup at 11:24 and Ivica Zubac's layup at 10:18, and Denver had the next eight: Aaron Gordon's alley-oop from Nikola Jokić at 10:03, Cameron Johnson's basket at 9:49, two Jokić free throws, and Jokić's basket at 8:36 for an 8-7 lead the Nuggets never gave back. Jamal Murray's driving layup at 7:54 made it 12-7 and sent the Pacers to a timeout, Trevon Brazile's three at 3:50 made it 21-13, and two Jokić free throws with 6.7 seconds left made it 27-19 after one. The second quarter put it away. Indiana got within six at 34-28 on Larry Nance Jr.'s second three in 37 seconds at 10:26, and Denver answered with 15 straight: Tyus Jones's three at 9:34, Johnson's floater at 9:00, Spencer Jones's three at 8:01, and DeMar DeRozan's turnaround and free throw at 7:26 for 49-28. Murray's step-back three at 4:40 made it 57-34, Murray's basket at 1:05 pushed the lead to 27 at 64-37, the largest of the night, and it was 64-41 at the half.

Indiana made a run with the second unit. Trailing 74-49 after Johnson's layup at 8:43 of the third, the Pacers scored nine straight, Nance's three at 6:42 making it 74-58, and after Jokić's three at 5:56 pushed it back to 21, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith made three straight threes from 5:47 to 4:47 to make it 79-67 and force a second Denver timeout in two minutes. Nance's two threes at 3:43 and 3:11 kept it at 86-73, Quenton Jackson's layup at 1:16 cut it to 88-78, and DeRozan's 16-footer at 55 seconds made it 90-78 after three. Indiana got within nine twice in the fourth, at 99-90 on Jarace Walker's layup at 8:51 and 108-99 on Siakam's layup at 3:49, and Nembhard's three at 2:07 made it 110-102. Murray's two free throws at 1:45 and Gordon's two at 38.9 seconds closed it.

Jokić had 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists on 7-of-20, with six offensive boards and one turnover. Johnson scored 18 on 8-of-12, Murray had 16 points, six rebounds and eight assists, Spencer Jones had 13 on 5-of-6 with three threes and a plus-14 in 21 minutes, Gordon 12, DeRozan 11 and five assists off the bench, and Marvin Bagley III 10 in 12 minutes. Denver shot 44-of-96 with 29 assists against three turnovers and outscored Indiana 54-44 in the paint. Siakam led the Pacers with 23 on 10-of-18, Nance had 15 on 5-of-7 from three in 13 minutes, Zubac 10 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, and Obi Toppin 10. Nembhard scored nine with eight assists, Nesmith was 3-of-11, and Braden Smith went 0-of-4 in 12 minutes. Indiana took 48 threes and made 15. Denver is 5-3; Indiana is 3-7.

New York Knicks 109, Cleveland Cavaliers 97

The lead changed hands eight times in the first quarter, which ended with Cleveland in front 27-26 on Thomas Bryant's layup with 38.5 seconds left. Meleek Thomas's back-to-back threes at 5:18 and 4:52 had put the Cavaliers up 16-14 and forced a New York timeout, Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 of the Knicks' 26, and Donovan Mitchell's step-back three and free throw at 2:10 made it 23-19 Cleveland. The second quarter belonged to Jalen Brunson. Cleveland led 39-34 on Riley Minix's three at 7:13, and Brunson scored New York's next 18 points: a three at 6:46, two free throws, a step-back at 5:31, a basket at 4:53 for a 43-42 lead, a running jumper at 4:03 to retake it at 46-45 after Thomas's third three, a three and a free throw at 3:23 for 50-45, and a pullup at 2:37 that sent Cleveland to a timeout at 52-47. OG Anunoby's two threes at 47.4 and 15.1 seconds made it 63-50, and James Harden's three at the buzzer left it 63-53 at the half. New York won the quarter 37-26.

Cleveland got within seven at 70-62 on Evan Mobley's layup at 7:29 of the third and within seven again at 72-65 on Tyrese Proctor's step-back three at 5:41, and Brunson answered again: a floater at 5:28, a running layup at 5:05 and a fadeaway at 4:24 for 78-65. Landry Shamet's three at 3:23 made it 81-65, Shamet's running 24-footer off Towns at 1:37 made it 88-69, the Knicks' largest lead at 19, and it was 88-70 after three. Mitchell kept it from getting away in the fourth. He scored 19 of Cleveland's 27 in the quarter, his three at 5:14 made it 100-87, his running pullup at 3:17 made it 102-92 and brought timeouts from both benches, and his floater at 2:40 made it 104-94. Brunson's pullup at 2:52 and Mikal Bridges's jumper at 1:35 kept it at 10, and Anunoby's two free throws at 42.8 seconds made it 109-97.

Brunson had 31 points, six rebounds and nine assists on 12-of-25 with one turnover and was a plus-13. Towns had 29 and 13 on 11-of-21 with five offensive rebounds, Anunoby 15 on three threes, and Jordan Clarkson, Shamet and Bridges scored nine each; Andre Drummond had eight rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes without a point. New York shot 41-of-96, 14-of-44 from three, and turned it over seven times. Mitchell had 37 on 13-of-22, 5-of-13 from three, with five turnovers and a minus-3. Mobley had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Peyton Watson 12 and six, Thomas nine on three threes, and Minix eight in 10 minutes. Harden went 2-of-9 for seven points and Mario Hezonja 0-of-6. Cleveland took 50 threes and made 16, was outrebounded 49-40, and never led after the 4:40 mark of the second quarter. New York is 5-4; Cleveland is 5-5.

Houston Rockets 99, Phoenix Suns 102

Phoenix scored 35 in the first quarter and 12 in the second, and the game turned twice because of it. Jalen Green's running layup at 6:06 of the first put the Suns ahead 12-11, Dillon Brooks's three at 5:03 made it 17-11 and brought a second Houston timeout in two minutes, Ryan Dunn's three at 3:35 made it 22-13, and Luke Kennard's three with 5.3 seconds left made it 35-23 after one. Kennard's two more threes at 9:44 and 8:38 of the second pushed it to 44-25, the largest lead of the night at 19. Then Phoenix went cold. The Suns scored three points in the next seven and a half minutes and Houston outscored them 22-3 the rest of the half: Fred VanVleet's step-back three at 4:12 made it 47-41, Amen Thompson's running layup at 2:58 made it 47-45, and VanVleet's pullup at 57.1 seconds tied it 47-47 at the half. Houston won the second quarter 24-12.

The third was a trade. Kevin Durant's pullup at 11:25 tied it and Jabari Smith Jr.'s at 11:01 put Houston ahead 51-49, Phoenix tied it twice, Durant's three at 2:57 made it 68-66, Devin Booker's step-back three at 2:39 answered, and the lead changed hands six more times before Collin Gillespie's layup at 41 seconds sent the Suns to the fourth up 76-75. Houston had its last lead at 86-85 on Alperen Şengün's layup at 7:32 of the fourth; Şengün tied it at 89-89 with a three at 7:06, at 93-93 with a floater at 5:13, and at 95-95 with two free throws at 4:08. From there it was Booker. His step-back at 3:48 made it 97-95, his step-back three at 3:13 made it 100-95, and his basket off Miles Bridges at 2:30 made it 102-95 and sent Houston to its last timeout. Thompson's alley-oop at 2:10 and Durant's jumper at 46.7 seconds got the Rockets within three, and neither team scored again.

Booker had 24 on 10-of-24 with three steals, Green 16 and six assists, Bridges 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, Kennard 11 on three threes in 14 minutes, Brooks 11, and Khaman Maluach eight points, 10 rebounds and two blocks; Dunn was a plus-25 in 23 minutes with eight points and three steals. Durant led Houston with 21 and 10 rebounds on 5-of-14 and 10-of-11 at the line, Thompson had 17 points and seven rebounds, VanVleet 16 on four threes, and Smith 15 and nine. Şengün scored 15 on 5-of-16 and was a minus-16, Tari Eason went 1-of-8 with four turnovers, and Reed Sheppard was 2-of-8. Houston shot 36-of-93 and had 16 assists to 14 turnovers. Phoenix is 3-5; Houston is 7-3.

Atlanta Hawks 124, Brooklyn Nets 121: Brooklyn, 2-6 and rested, led 37-27 after one, by as many as 17, and 114-110 on Mikel Brown Jr.'s third three of the fourth quarter at 2:13. Atlanta scored the next seven: Onyeka Okongwu's three at 1:44, Nickeil Alexander-Walker's two free throws at 1:26 for the lead at 115-114, and Alexander-Walker's running layup at 1:07. Jalen Johnson's layup and free throw at 38.5 seconds made it 120-114, and Atlanta made four of eight free throws in the last 16 seconds, which was enough: Danny Wolf's three with 1.5 seconds left made it 123-121 and Okongwu's free throw closed it. Johnson had 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Aaron Wiggins and Alexander-Walker scored 20 each, and Dyson Daniels had nine points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Michael Porter Jr. led Brooklyn with 25, Julius Randle and Nolan Traore had 19 each, Day'Ron Sharpe had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, and the Nets turned it over 22 times. Atlanta is 7-4; Brooklyn is 2-7.

Oklahoma City Thunder 114, Washington Wizards 75: Washington led 16-15 on Deandre Ayton's dunk at 3:56 of the first, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's step-back at 3:38 put Oklahoma City ahead for good, and it was not close after that. The Thunder led 25-19 after one and opened the second 13-4, Jared McCain's three at 6:21 making it 38-23; the Thunder won the quarter 32-17 and led 57-36 at the half. McCain's running pullup at 1:06 of the second made it 53-34, the third went 33-23 to Oklahoma City, and it was 90-59 going to the fourth, where the lead reached 43. Gilgeous-Alexander had 30 points and nine assists on 11-of-20 in 29 minutes, McCain 19 on 8-of-10, Aday Mara 18 on 8-of-10 with eight rebounds and three blocks, and Isaiah Hartenstein 14 rebounds and six assists in 18 minutes. AJ Dybantsa led Washington with 19, Alex Sarr had 15 and 14, and Kyshawn George 14; Tre Johnson went 2-of-15, Bilal Coulibaly 0-of-8, and Trae Young scored four. The Wizards shot 29-of-98 and 7-of-43 from three. Oklahoma City is 8-2; Washington is 4-6.

Golden State Warriors 126, Orlando Magic 119 (OT): Golden State led 31-19 after one and 57-41 at the half, and Orlando, missing Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs, won the third quarter 37-20. Jase Richardson's pullup at 3:50 tied it 69-69, Anthony Black's step-back three at 1:22 gave the Magic their first lead at 75-73, and it was 78-77 Orlando after three. The fourth had 12 ties. Franz Wagner's floater at 34.6 seconds tied it 108-108, Jamal Cain's tip at 1.5 seconds tied it 110-110, and Golden State took overtime 16-9: Charles Bassey's two free throws and floater made it 114-110, Tristan da Silva's three at 2:24 gave Orlando its last lead at 118-117, and Stephen Curry's basket and free throw at 1:38 and basket at 54.1 seconds made it 122-118. Curry finished with 41 on 13-of-19, 5-of-10 from three and 10-of-10 at the line, Yaxel Lendeborg had 23 and eight, Brandin Podziemski 15 on four threes, and Draymond Green 13 assists. Wagner had 30 points and 11 assists, da Silva, Wendell Carter Jr. and Black scored 19, 19 and 18, and Cain had 18 and 12; Orlando took 113 shots and made 43. Golden State is 7-3; Orlando is 2-7.

San Antonio Spurs 125, Portland Trail Blazers 95: On the second night of a back-to-back for both teams, San Antonio led 64-49 at the half and broke it open with a 45-27 third quarter for a 109-76 lead, then coasted through a fourth that Portland won 19-16. Victor Wembanyama had 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists. San Antonio is 8-2 and has won eight straight; Portland, still without Ja Morant, is 6-3.

Sunday is another seven-game night. Philadelphia visits Chicago at 3:30 PM ET, the Lakers are in Detroit at 6, Utah visits Minnesota at 7, Brooklyn is in Dallas at 7:30, Boston visits Milwaukee at 8, and New Orleans is at the Clippers and Miami at Sacramento at 9. We'll have the preview, the cards and every lean before tip-off.

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