Thunder rally in fourth to beat Knicks 117-107 for 14th straight win

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied in the fourth quarter to win their 14th straight game, 117-107 over the New York Knicks on Friday night.

Jalen Williams added 20 points and Aaron Wiggins scored 15 of his 19 points in the final period, when Oklahoma City erased an 88-80 deficit by outscoring the Knicks 37-19.

Isaiah Hartenstein, playing against his former team for the first time, contributed 14 rebounds, seven assists and four points for the Thunder (29-5), whose loss to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup championship game on Dec. 17 does not count in the standings.

Mikal Bridges scored 24 points for New York (25-10), which had its nine-game winning streak snapped. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 17 points and 22 rebounds. Jalen Brunson added 22 points, OG Anunoby scored 20 and Josh Hart had 19.

The game was the fourth in the NBA’s 79-year history between teams on winning streaks of nine games or more.

New York led 66-54 at halftime. Oklahoma City outscored the Knicks 26-22 in the third quarter to trim the lead to single digits and set the stage for the team’s third comeback in three games.

PISTONS 98, HORNETS 94

DETROIT (AP) — Tobias Harris had 24 points and 10 rebounds as Detroit held off Charlotte for their fifth win in six games.

Cade Cunningham added 18 points for the Pistons, while Jalen Duren had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Miles Bridges had 20 points and Mark Williams scored 18 for Charlotte, which has lost nine in a row.

The Pistons outscored Charlotte 14-12 in the fourth, hitting 30% (6 of 20) of their shots while Charlotte went 4 for 19 (21.1%).

Charlotte started the period by missing 11 of its first 12 shots and committing five turnovers. That allowed Detroit to build a 92-85 lead with 4:30 to play.

The Pistons continued to foul — a problem they had throughout the game — but Charlotte only made two of their first seven free throws in the quarter.

MAGIC 106, RAPTORS 97

TORONTO (AP) — Tristan da Silva scored a career-high 25 points and Orlando overcame the loss of guard Jalen Suggs to back spasms to beat struggling Toronto.

Goga Bitadze had 11 points and 13 rebounds and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 15 points to help the Magic win for the fourth time in 10. Orlando’s Cole Anthony matched a career high with 11 assists.

Orlando came in as the NBA’s worst shooting team from 3-point range, but made 9 of 14 from distance in the first quarter, tying the franchise record for 3s in a quarter.

Suggs was playing defense late in the second when he stumbled without any contact and fell over clutching at his lower back. He stayed down for several minutes before being helped into a wheelchair. The fourth-year guard covered his face with a towel as he was wheeled off.

Jakob Poeltl scored 25 points for the Raptors. Scottie Barnes added 20, and Immanuel Quickley had 11 points and 11 assists.

CELTICS 109, ROCKETS 86

HOUSTON (AP) — Derrick White had 23 points and Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard added 20 each to lead Boston to a victory over Houston.

The Celtics led by 10 after three and scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to push their advantage to 93-72. White, Kristaps Porzingis and Pritchard made 3s in that stretch to help the Celtics pull away for their third straight victory.

Boston was up by 21 points with about 4 1/2 minutes to go when coach Joe Mazzulla cleared the bench.

Porzingis added 11 points with five rebounds in his return after missing four games with a sprained left ankle.

Jalen Green had 27 points for the Rockets. They lost for the third time in four games.

PELICANS 132, WIZARDS 120

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — CJ McCollum highlighted a career high-tying 50 points with 10 3-pointers, and New Orleans snapped an 11-game losing streak with a victory over Washington.

Trey Murphy scored 17 and rookie center Yves Missi had 12 point and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, which won for just the second time in 22 games.

The Pelicans have the NBA’s worst record at 6-29, but now share with Washington (6-26) the dubious distinction of having the fewest victories in the league.

New Orleans was playing at home for the first time since a deadly New Year’s Day attack in the French Quarter, and a moment of silence was held before tipoff.

Jordan Poole scored 24 points for the Wizards but was affected by a hard fall under the basket with 4:38 left in the third quarter. He scored just five more points after the fall, which sent him to the locker room briefly for treatment for lower back soreness.

Rookie center Alexandre Sarr scored 19 for Washington.

CAVALIERS 134, MAVERICKS 122

DALLAS (AP) — Evan Mobley had 34 points and 10 rebounds as Cleveland ran their winning streak to nine games by beating short-handed Dallas.

The NBA-leading Cavs improved to 30-4, swept a four-game Western Conference road trip and are now 10-0 against the West. All nine wins in the streak have been by double digits.

The Mavericks played without both of their All-Star guards, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Irving missed the game because of illness while Doncic has been sidelined since suffering a calf strain during the Mavericks’ Christmas Day loss to Minnesota.

Caris LeVert scored 17 off the bench for Cleveland.

Quentin Grimes scored 26 points, 20 in the third period, to lead the Mavericks, who have lost four straight to match a season long losing streak. Jaden Hardy added 17 off the bench and Klay Thompson scored 16, all in the first half.

The Cavaliers used a 20-point run to go from a 21-17 deficit late in the first period to a 37-21 lead early in the second. Their largest lead was 27 points.

SPURS 113, NUGGETS 110

DENVER (AP) — Victor Wembanyama stole Nikola Jokic’s pass with 4 seconds left, and San Antonio held on to beat Denver.

Wembanyama finished with 35 points and 18 rebounds to help the Spurs overcome a big night from Jokic. The three-time MVP had 41 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, falling just short of his 15th triple-double.

San Antonio led by one with 17 seconds left and Denver had a chance to win. Jokic tried to pass to a teammate but Wembanyama intercepted it and fed Devin Vassell for a game-sealing dunk.

Michael Porter Jr. missed 34-footer at the buzzer that would have sent it to overtime.

Porter finished with 22 points for the Nuggets, whose three-game winning streak ended.

Wembanyama picked up his fifth foul with 8:46 left but shook it off to hit two deep 3-pointers to give San Antonio a 97-92 lead with 7:52 left.

Denver rallied to lead by five but the Spurs scored six straight points to take a 109-108 lead and set up the final moments.

KINGS 138, GRIZZLIES 133

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Malik Monk scored 31 points, DeMar DeRozan added 29 and Sacramento beat Memphis Grizzlies.

De’Aaron Fox added 23 points for the Kings, who won their third in a row.

Jaylen Wells had 30 and Jarren Jackson Jr. scored 28 for the Grizzlies.

The Kings led 78-72 the half, and 102-100 after three quarters. The Grizzlies took a 110-109 lead on Scottie Pippen Jr.’s two free throws at the 7:56 mark of the fourth quarter.

But the Kings went on a 20-10 run to regain the lead capped with a 3-pointer by Monk with 4:21 remaining.

Zach Edey returned from a two-game absence due to a concussion and had nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Ja Morant (right AC joint strain) and Marcus Smart (right index finger) did not play. Keegan Murray missed his second straight game for the Kings (left ankle soreness).

LAKERS 119, HAWKS 102

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James scored 30 points to become the NBA’s career leader in 30-point games, surpassing Michael Jordan’s record during Los Angeles’ victory over Atlanta.

James hit an 18-foot jumper midway through the fourth quarter to secure the 563rd 30-point game of his 22-year career, breaking the record set in 2003 by his childhood idol.

James had nine points in the fourth quarter for the Lakers, who showed little fatigue while pulling away in the final minutes of their third home game in four nights..

Austin Reaves scored 20 points, and Anthony Davis had 18 points and 19 rebounds after sitting out the Lakers’ 114-106 victory over Portland on Thursday night to rest his sprained left ankle.

Los Angeles has won seven of nine to move into fourth place in the Western Conference.

Trae Young had 33 points and nine assists for the Hawks, who lost their second straight at the midway point of a six-game trip. Jalen Johnson scored 19 points.

Bronny James played the final 1:41 in his first NBA action since Dec. 8.