New York Knicks 93, Philadelphia 76ers 98

Philadelphia played without Jaylen Brown, listed out with the knee issue that had him questionable, and started Dean Wade in his place. It barely mattered for three quarters. The 76ers led 29-21 after one, pushed the lead to 14 at 42-28 on LeBron James's 30-footer with 6:00 left in the second, and took a 53-44 lead into the half. Tyrese Maxey opened the third with a three and a step-back for a 58-44 lead, and Anfernee Simons's 27-footer with 5.1 seconds left in the quarter sent Philadelphia into the fourth up 77-68.

Then New York came. Karl-Anthony Towns scored the Knicks' first eight points of the fourth, Jordan Clarkson's tip made it 85-82 with 6:44 left, and after Josh Hart picked off a LeBron pass, Towns's running jumper cut it to 87-85 with 4:46 to go. Mikal Bridges pulled up for 89-87 at 2:29, and Jalen Brunson's step-back three with 1:32 left gave New York a 90-89 lead, its first since Anunoby's three made it 3-2 in the opening minute. It lasted 22 seconds. James answered with a 12-foot fadeaway at 1:10, VJ Edgecombe hit a 27-footer at 33.6 seconds for 94-90, and after Brunson made one of two at the line, James tipped in a miss with 11.9 seconds left for 96-91. OG Anunoby's dunk made it 96-93 with 8.4 left, Maxey made two free throws with 7.2 on the clock, and Anunoby's step-back three to cut it to two missed at 3.6.

Maxey finished with 27 on 10-of-19, Simons scored 21 off the bench with 5-of-8 from three, James had 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Edgecombe added 13 and eight. Joel Embiid went 3-of-12 for 10 points but had seven rebounds and seven assists. Philadelphia shot 37-of-75 and 12-of-34 from three. Brunson led New York with 24 on 8-of-22, Towns had 22 and 12, and Bridges scored 12. The Knicks shot 35-of-86, 13-of-41 from three, and 10-of-14 at the line. Philadelphia is 5-1; New York is 2-4.

Houston Rockets 111, Dallas Mavericks 116

Houston played without Alperen Şengün and Reed Sheppard, both out with low back soreness, and Clint Capela started at center. Dallas led 27-20 after one quarter, and then the Rockets took the game over: a 31-17 second quarter put Houston up 51-44 at the half, Kevin Durant's dunk made it 71-61 with 5:02 left in the third, and Amen Thompson's alley-oop from Marcus Smart with 33.7 seconds left in the quarter gave Houston its biggest lead at 84-73. Zaccharie Risacher's three cut it to 84-76 going into the fourth.

The fourth was 40-27 Dallas. Kyrie Irving scored seven points in under a minute to get the Mavericks within 86-85 at 8:46, Caleb Martin's three tied it 88-88 at 7:43, and Irving's 28-footer at 7:01 gave Dallas its first lead since the second quarter. Fred VanVleet kept answering, tying it 96-96 with a three at 4:21 and 100-100 with a floater at 2:26. Irving's pull-up at 2:08 and Cooper Flagg's floater and free throw at 1:40 made it 105-100, Durant pulled Houston within 107-105 with 59.9 seconds left, and P.J. Washington threw it away with 43.5 on the clock, but Flagg's 13-foot turnaround at 24.3 made it 109-105 and Dallas made all seven of its free throws from there. Jabari Smith Jr.'s three at 15.8 cut it to one; Irving's last two free throws at 3.1 ended it.

Irving finished with 35 points on 12-of-19, 5-of-8 from three, and nine assists, and Flagg had 33 on 13-of-19 with nine rebounds and six assists. Daniel Gafford scored 18 on 6-of-7, Risacher added 12, and Dallas scored 28 points on the break. The Mavericks shot 42-of-81. Durant led Houston with 28 on 9-of-20, Smith scored 22, VanVleet 16 on 6-of-17, Thompson had 15 points, six assists and four steals, and Tari Eason had 11 and 13 off the bench. Houston shot 40-of-96 and made 7 of 29 threes. Houston is 5-1; Dallas is 4-2 and has now beaten Oklahoma City and Houston in the same week.

Los Angeles Lakers 95, Golden State Warriors 112

Luka Dončić was back from the back tightness that kept him out Wednesday, and for a quarter it looked like a rerun of opening night. He scored 21 points in the first quarter, more than Golden State's whole team, the Lakers raced out 17-5 and led by as many as 25, and it was 38-15 after one. Then the Warriors opened the second on an 18-4 run with Dončić on the bench, Stephen Curry and Georges Niang got hot from three, and Golden State won the quarter 38-15 to tie it 53-53 at the half.

The Lakers rebuilt a nine-point lead in the third, and the Warriors answered with a run that gave them their first lead of the night and an 85-80 edge going into the fourth. Curry's step-back threes at 8:12 and 6:57 made it 95-80 and 101-84, and Golden State won the fourth 27-15. A Warriors team without Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody and Kristaps Porziņģis outscored the Lakers 97-57 over the last three quarters. Golden State is 3-3; the Lakers are 4-2.

Washington 95, Charlotte 79: Charlotte led 22-12 with 3:32 left in the first and 26-22 after one, and then shot its way out of the game: 30-of-101 from the floor and 12-of-56 from three. Anthony Davis's layup with 6:32 left in the second put Washington ahead 39-38, the Wizards led 51-46 at the half, and Kyshawn George's threes at 11:38 and 11:07 of the third opened a 28-13 quarter that had it 79-59 going to the fourth. The lead reached 25. Davis had 25 and 13, Trae Young 21 points and nine assists with 12-of-14 at the line, and AJ Dybantsa 17 and eight; Washington went 29-of-35 from the line. Brandon Miller led Charlotte with 19 on 7-of-24. Both teams are 3-3.

Boston 125, Chicago 111: The rematch of Monday's 35-point Boston win was over by the end of the first quarter. Payton Pritchard's three with 1:58 left in the first made it 38-20, Boston led 44-25 after one and 78-49 at the half, and the lead reached 32 before Chicago won the fourth 37-26 against the reserves. Pritchard scored 30 off the bench on 9-of-17 with 9-of-9 at the line, Jayson Tatum had 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Paul George added 18 and eight assists. Boston scored 58 in the paint and shot 42-of-82. Caleb Wilson led Chicago with 23 on 6-of-11 from three; the Bulls shot 35-of-92 and took 50 threes. Boston is 4-1; Chicago is 1-5.

Detroit 110, Brooklyn 94: Brooklyn scored the first eight points, led 28-21 after one and 33-23 on Julius Randle's free throws with 10:44 left in the second, and then Detroit outscored the Nets 69-33 over the rest of the first three quarters. Duncan Robinson's free throws at 4:51 of the second gave the Pistons their first lead at 44-42, it was 56-49 at the half, and a 36-17 third quarter, with Ronald Holland II scoring 10 of it, had it 92-66 after Daniss Jenkins's 28-footer with 0.4 seconds left. The lead reached 30. Cade Cunningham had 20 with 7-of-7 at the line, Holland 18 and four steals off the bench, Robinson 17, and Ausar Thompson 11, eight and six. Brooklyn turned it over 23 times, and Detroit scored 27 on the break. Moritz Wagner led the Nets with 16. Detroit is 5-1; Brooklyn is 0-5.

Orlando 121, Toronto 114: Two nights after losing by 30 on the same floor, Orlando, still without Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs, led 31-27, 64-55 and 95-88 at the quarter breaks. Scottie Barnes scored nine of Toronto's first 11 points of the fourth, and Immanuel Quickley's three at 8:38 gave the Raptors their first lead since the opening minutes, 102-100. Jamal Cain tied it at 7:33, Anthony Black's 28-footer at 6:56 put Orlando back ahead 105-103, and Franz Wagner scored Orlando's next five points for 110-105 at 5:53. Toronto never got closer than three again. Barnes finished with 41 on 19-of-34, Quickley 17 and eight assists. Desmond Bane had 28 with 6-of-12 from three, Wagner 26 and 11 assists, Wendell Carter Jr. 20, and Black 17 and 10 assists; Orlando shot 39-of-74 and 18-of-34 from three. Toronto is 3-2; Orlando is 2-3.

Miami 145, Indiana 125: Indiana, without Tyrese Haliburton, led 42-36 after one and 54-46 on Quenton Jackson's three with 7:21 left in the second, and Miami closed the half 22-7 to lead 68-61. Klay Thompson hit five threes in the third, the last at 2:26 for 98-75, Miami took a 103-88 lead into the fourth and scored 42 more. The lead reached 25. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists on 13-of-19 in 31 minutes, Bam Adebayo 27 on 11-of-14, Thompson 25 with 7-of-12 from three, and Davion Mitchell 15 and 11 assists. Miami shot 54-of-93, had 38 assists and scored 64 in the paint. Jackson scored 24 off the bench and Andrew Nembhard 22 with nine assists for Indiana; Pascal Siakam went 5-of-17. Both teams are 2-4.

Minnesota 127, LA Clippers 101: In its second game without Anthony Edwards, Minnesota scored 34 in the first quarter, led 69-56 at the half and 98-81 after three, and Joan Beringer's layup with 2:54 left made it 121-92, the biggest lead at 29. LaMelo Ball scored 24 with six threes and seven assists, Jaden McDaniels had 23 on 11-of-15 with seven assists, Bones Hyland 19 and eight assists off the bench, Ayo Dosunmu 15, and Rudy Gobert nine and 13. The Wolves shot 51-of-96, made 18 of 43 threes and had 32 assists. Darius Garland led the Clippers, who were without Brandon Ingram and Bradley Beal, with 24 on 10-of-22; Isaiah Jackson had 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Minnesota is 4-2; the Clippers are 1-4.

Denver 123, Phoenix 110: Phoenix led 37-32 after one quarter, Denver took a 71-67 lead at the half and a 103-93 lead after three, and the Nuggets never trailed in the fourth. Jamal Murray scored 39, 28 of them after halftime, on 10-of-18 with 7-of-9 from three, Christian Braun added 31, and Nikola Jokić had 18 points and 10 assists; all five Denver starters scored in double figures, and the Nuggets made 20 threes. Dillon Brooks, who had a team-high 22 at the time, was ejected in the third quarter after kicking Murray on a turnaround jumper. Miles Bridges led Phoenix with 24, Devin Booker had 20 on his 30th birthday, and Collin Gillespie added 16 points and 10 assists off the bench. Denver is 3-2; Phoenix is 1-3.

Saturday brings seven games, starting with Portland at Utah at 3:00 PM ET. Philadelphia takes its 5-1 start to Charlotte, Atlanta visits New Orleans, Sacramento is in Memphis, Cleveland plays at Milwaukee, Minnesota is at San Antonio, and the night ends with Oklahoma City at Houston, two teams that both lost in Dallas this week. We'll have the preview, the card, and both leans before tip-off.

Tome Collective is an informational publication. The Card and The Record describe how our number compared with the market; they are not advice.