Los Angeles Lakers 124, Atlanta Hawks 114

Atlanta had the first eight minutes. Onyeka Okongwu's running jumper at 11:30 opened it, Jalen Johnson's dunk at 10:25 made it 7-2, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker's two free throws at 8:22 made it 15-7. Then the Lakers scored 15 of the next 22: Luka Dončić, back after sitting Sunday in Detroit, tied it 22-22 on a driving layup at 2:41, put them ahead with two free throws at 2:00, and assisted on Cameron Carr's dunk at 1:41, Jarred Vanderbilt's dunk at 1:20 and Sandro Mamukelashvili's three at 29.7 seconds for 31-22 after one. Ziaire Williams's three at 11:29 of the second made it 34-22, Walker Kessler's alley-oop from Collin Sexton at 9:23 made it 41-27 and forced an Atlanta timeout, and Sexton's threes at 6:44 and 5:56 pushed it to 54-34, the largest lead at 20. Atlanta scored 23 of the last 37 of the half to cut it to 68-57.

The Hawks kept coming. Dyson Daniels's three at 8:45 of the third made it 72-64 and sent the Lakers to a timeout, Alexander-Walker's step-back three at 7:19 made it 75-69, and his three at 6:51 made it 78-72. Dončić answered each time, a step-back three at 7:05, a floater at 5:50 and a 26-footer at 4:14 for 86-76, but Aaron Wiggins's running jumper at 1:48 made it 91-87, and Dončić's turnaround at 30.5 seconds left it 95-90 after three. Wiggins's three at 8:55 of the fourth cut it to 100-98, the closest Atlanta got, and the Lakers answered with Mamukelashvili's basket at 8:36 and Adou Thiero's layup at 8:24. CJ McCollum's three at 4:31 made it 113-109 and forced a Lakers timeout, Mamukelashvili's two free throws at 3:51 made it 115-109, and Dončić's basket at 2:27, Williams's dunk at 2:20 and Jake LaRavia's dunk off a Dončić pass at 1:51 made it 121-111. Matisse Thybulle's three at 52.9 seconds set the final.

Dončić had 32 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and five steals on 11-of-22 in 39 minutes, with six turnovers. Mamukelashvili scored 23 on 7-of-13 and 5-of-8 from three off the bench and was a plus-20, Kessler had 21 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-12, Sexton 18 and six assists on 3-of-4 from three, and Williams 12. The Lakers had 16 steals and 30 assists and scored 52 in the paint. McCollum led Atlanta with 21 off the bench on 8-of-15, Alexander-Walker had 20 on 6-of-19 with 4-of-14 from three, Okongwu 16 and nine, Johnson 15 and seven, Wiggins 15 on four threes, and Daniels 10 points, eight assists and four steals on 4-of-4. Atlanta took 44 threes and made 17 and turned it over 19 times. Los Angeles is 10-2; Atlanta is 7-5.

Houston Rockets 110, Denver Nuggets 100

Denver, with all six of its questionable players in uniform, led 13-11 on Jamal Murray's layup at 6:50 of the first, and that was its last lead. Alperen Şengün's three at 6:30 put Houston ahead, Fred VanVleet's three at 4:11 made it 22-16, and Tari Eason's running jumper at 1:04 and three at 2.6 seconds made it 32-24 after one. The Rockets scored the first 11 of the second, Reed Sheppard's jumper at 11:31, Bogdan Bogdanović's three at 10:12, Eason's layup at 9:41 that brought a Denver timeout and his dunk at 8:42, and Amen Thompson's floater at 8:08 made it 43-24, the largest lead at 19. Denver scored 16 of the last 27 of the half to get to 54-40.

The third quarter was Denver's until it wasn't. Nikola Jokić's three at 9:54 made it 58-45, Cameron Johnson's running jumper at 9:20 made it 58-48 and forced a Houston timeout, Murray's three at 7:34 made it 60-53, his driving layup and free throw at 5:37 made it 60-58, and Jokić's layup at 5:04 tied it 60-60, capping a 20-4 run. Houston called timeout and scored the next six: Eason at 4:14, Jabari Smith Jr.'s dunk at 3:48 and two Kevin Durant free throws at 3:31 for 66-60. Smith's three at 2:56 made it 69-62, and Marcus Smart's basket at 5.5 seconds left it 77-68 after three. Murray kept Denver close in the fourth, step-backs at 9:21 and 7:59 and a fadeaway at 6:49 that made it 91-87, but Şengün scored at 6:27, VanVleet made a three at 5:34 for 96-87, and Smith's three at 3:20 made it 103-92. VanVleet's three at 2:06 for 106-96 closed it out.

Murray had 38 on 14-of-23 and 5-of-8 from three, and Jokić had 25 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists on 11-of-21. Nobody else on Denver scored more than eight; Aaron Gordon was 1-of-6 for three points, Johnson 2-of-6 for eight, and DeMar DeRozan 2-of-8 for seven off the bench. Durant had 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists on 6-of-15 with 10-of-10 at the line, Şengün 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, Smith 14 and seven, VanVleet 12 on three threes, and Eason 12 and five off the bench at a plus-18. Houston outrebounded Denver 51-39 with 15 offensive boards and took 38 threes, making 14. Houston is 8-3; Denver is 5-4.

New Orleans Pelicans 87, Golden State Warriors 138

New Orleans, short-handed and on the second night of a back-to-back, never had a chance. Golden State led 35-20 after one quarter, pushed the lead to 23 early in the second with Brandin Podziemski scoring four quick points, and was up 51-24 midway through the quarter. It only grew from there, and the final margin was 51.

Stephen Curry, two nights after his 41, scored 25 in a little over 20 minutes on 6-of-10 with four threes. Podziemski also scored 25, Yaxel Lendeborg had 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists, De'Anthony Melton added 16 with four threes, and Charles Bassey had 12 and 10 off the bench. It was Golden State's eighth straight win. Golden State is 8-3; New Orleans is 4-7.

Charlotte Hornets 124, Cleveland Cavaliers 112: Cleveland scored the first seven and led 14-5 on Jarrett Allen's three at 8:03 of the first, and then Charlotte took over. Naz Reid's step-back three at 3:52 tied it 20-20, his three at 58.1 seconds made it 29-26, Tidjane Salaün's three and three-point play at 7:41 and 7:21 of the second made it 50-39, and Liam McNeeley's three at 3:48 made it 62-45. Sion James's reverse layup at 7:57 of the third made it 84-64, four straight threes from Christian Anderson and James between 5:43 and 3:50 made it 100-67, and the lead reached 33 before Cleveland scored 32 in the fourth. Grayson Allen had 27 on 6-of-12 from three, Reid 25 and 13, Salaün 14 and Ryan Kalkbrenner 15 rebounds; Charlotte made 23 of 46 threes. Meleek Thomas led Cleveland with 18 off the bench, and Donovan Mitchell and James Harden had 11 each. Charlotte is 4-7; Cleveland is 5-6.

Detroit Pistons 122, Washington Wizards 111: Trae Young's three at 31 seconds of the first put Washington up 32-31, its only lead, and John Collins's basket at 11:42 of the second put Detroit ahead for good. The Pistons led 68-58 at the half, Daniss Jenkins's free throw at 1:14 of the third made it 99-82, and Duncan Robinson's basket at 8:14 of the fourth made it 110-91, the largest lead at 19, before Washington scored 20 of the last 32. Anthony Davis had 44 points and 13 rebounds on 16-of-21 and 10-of-11 at the line, AJ Dybantsa 21 and eight, and Young 20 and seven assists on 6-of-17; Washington went 9-of-36 from three and turned it over 18 times. Collins had 24 and 10 on 9-of-13, Robinson 22 on four threes, Jenkins 22 points, eight assists and four steals, and Cade Cunningham 17 and seven in 27 minutes. Detroit made 28 of 31 free throws and scored 58 in the paint on the second night of a back-to-back. Detroit is 7-3; Washington is 4-7.

Memphis Grizzlies 118, Toronto Raptors 102: There were 13 lead changes in the first 19 minutes. Jamal Shead's 33-footer at 44.2 seconds of the first put Toronto up 26-25, Ja'Kobe Walter's three at 7:30 of the second made it 37-36, and Cameron Boozer's floater at 5:32 put Memphis ahead 42-41 for good. Jaylen Wells's pullup at 2:40 and Cam Spencer's three at 2:03 made it 56-46, it was 59-53 at the half, and Boozer's dunk at 9:19 of the third and basket at 8:19 made it 71-55. Toronto got within 94-92 at 9:05 of the fourth, and Memphis scored the next seven; the lead was 16 at the end. Ty Jerome had 27 on 5-of-11 from three, Boozer 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, Jerami Grant 17 on 3-of-3 from three, and Wells 14 on 4-of-5. Shead had 20 and 11 assists, RJ Barrett 19 on 7-of-21, Jakob Poeltl 18 on 9-of-12 with four blocks, and Jamison Battle 18 on five threes. Memphis is 7-3; Toronto is 5-5.

Dallas Mavericks 125, Indiana Pacers 122: Indiana led 31-26 after one and 66-56 at the half, Pascal Siakam's three at 1:36 of the second having made it 63-50, the largest lead at 13. Dallas chipped it to 93-90 after three, Cooper Flagg's three at 10:50 of the fourth tied it 93-93, and Kyrie Irving's three at 9:36 put the Mavericks ahead 98-97 for good. Daniel Gafford's three-point play at 7:36 made it 106-99, P.J. Washington's free throw at 4:19 made it 116-108, and Indiana got within three at 1:52 and again at 3.7 seconds, calling timeouts at 26 seconds and 3.7 seconds, without getting the tying shot off. Flagg had 43 points, 10 rebounds and six assists on 16-of-25 and 8-of-8 at the line, and Irving 35 on 11-of-18 with 7-of-10 from three and a plus-29. Siakam had 29 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on 5-of-8 from three, Aaron Nesmith 18 on four threes, Ivica Zubac 16, and Andrew Nembhard 12 and 12 assists; Indiana had 35 assists and one offensive rebound. Dallas is 7-4; Indiana is 3-8.

San Antonio Spurs 122, Phoenix Suns 96: Khaman Maluach's three at 2:12 of the first tied it 22-22 and Devin Booker's three at 1:41 gave Phoenix a 25-24 lead, its only one. Victor Wembanyama's tip-in at 1:22 put San Antonio back ahead, it was 31-25 after one, and the Spurs scored 14 of the first 16 of the second, Wembanyama's dunk at 8:51 and two free throws at 7:59 making it 45-27. It was 61-46 at the half, 93-68 after Wembanyama's three at 31.3 seconds of the third, and 104-70 after his second running dunk of the fourth at 9:34, the largest lead at 34. Wembanyama had 40 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks on 15-of-19 in 25 minutes and was a plus-30. Dylan Harper had 17 on 7-of-10, De'Aaron Fox 15, nine and six, and Julian Champagnie and Harrison Barnes 11 each. Booker scored 32 on 10-of-17 and Maluach had 11; Dillon Brooks was 3-of-14 and Phoenix shot 35-of-89. San Antonio is 9-2; Phoenix is 3-6.

Tuesday has six games. Milwaukee visits New York at 7:30 PM ET, Boston is in Philadelphia at 8 on NBC, the Clippers visit Phoenix and Miami is in Utah at 9, Orlando visits Sacramento at 10, and Oklahoma City closes the night in Portland at 11 on NBC. We'll have the preview, the cards and every lean before the first tip.

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