DALLAS — Cooper Flagg scored 22 points, Anthony Davis had 17 points and 17 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks extended their first winning streak of the season to three games with a victory over the Miami Heat.
Undrafted rookie Ryan Nembhard scored 15 points and had a season-high 13 assists after scoring a career-high 28 points in the previous game in a 131-121 win over Denver. Klay Thompson scored 17 points in his relatively new role off the bench.
Kel'el Ware had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, and Tyler Herro scored 20 points but was sidelined after halftime in his fifth game of the season after undergoing surgery to correct a problem affecting his left ankle and foot.
INDIANAPOLIS — Jamal Murray scored a season-high 52 points and Nikola Jokic was one more triple-double short of helping the Denver Nuggets hold off the shorthanded Indiana Pacers 135-120 on Wednesday night.
Murray was 19 of 25 from the field and an even better 10 of 11 from 3-point range, despite being listed as questionable after spraining his right ankle late in the afternoon. He was three points shy of his career high.
Jokic had 24 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists while playing in front of NBA commissioner Adam Silver. He was two rebounds shy of back-to-back triple-doubles in early December, but still holds the league lead with 11 rebounds this season.
Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Peyton Watson finished in double figures as the Nuggets won for the third time in five games.
MILWAUKEE — Kevin Porter Jr. scored 26 points, Ryan Rollins added 22 and the Milwaukee Bucks overcame the loss of Giannis Antetokounmpo to injury three minutes into the game to beat the Detroit Pistons.
AJ Green scored 19 points and Jericho Sims finished with a career-high 15 points and set a career-best 14 rebounds as Milwaukee won for just the second time in 10 games.
Antetokounmpo left with a right calf sprain, according to the Bucks, shortly after coach Doc Rivers said before the game that there had been no discussions between team officials and the two-time MVP about a potential departure from Milwaukee.
ATLANTA — James Harden had 27 points and nine assists and the Los Angeles Clippers ended a five-game losing streak with a win over the Atlanta Hawks in their first game since deciding to move on without Chris Paul.
Kawhi Leonard had 21 points, six rebounds and five assists. Ivica Zubac had 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Clippers, who won for just their sixth time this season.
Earlier in the day, the Clippers sent home 12-time All-Star Paul, who averaged 2.3 points in what is expected to be the last season of his 21-year NBA career. Returning to the franchise, he played in 16 of the Clippers' 21 games, where he had some of the best years of his career.
NEW YORK — Karl-Anthony Towns had 35 points, 18 rebounds and five assists, Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and the New York Knicks beat the Charlotte Hornets.
Mikal Bridges scored 16 points, Deuce McBride had 15 and Josh Hart had 15 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. New York (14-7) improved to 11-1 at Madison Square Garden this season.
LaMelo Ball had 34 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while Tidjan Salaun and Kon Knuppel each had 13 points. Charlotte (6-16) fell to 1-10 on the road and immediately fell to ninth place on the road.
CHICAGO — Michael Porter Jr. had 33 points and 10 rebounds and the Brooklyn Nets won back-to-back games for the first time this season, defeating the depleted Chicago Bulls.
Noah Clowney scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half to help the Nets improve to 5-16. Nic Claxton had 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Josh Giddey had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his fifth triple-double of the season for Chicago. The Bulls dropped to 9–12 with their fifth straight loss.
HOUSTON — Alperen Sengun had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Durant scored 24 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings.
Amen Thompson finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Rockets, who bounced back from their loss to Utah to not lose back-to-back games for the first time since the first two games of the season.
Thompson made 8 of 16 field goals and 4 of 4 from the free throw line. Sengun also had four steals and Durant had eight assists.
Maxime Raynaud finished with 25 points and six rebounds for the Kings. Malik Monk had 25 points, five assists and two steals.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Luke Kornet blocked Franz Wagner's last-second layup, De'Aaron Fox scored 31 points and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Orlando Magic.
Fox scored the Spurs' final 10 points, the last on two free throws with 1.4 seconds left after fouling Orlando's Jonathan Isaac. Orlando passed the ball to Wagner under the basket, but Kornet knocked it out of bounds as the buzzer sounded, his third block of the game.
San Antonio won seven of nine, with Victor Vembanyama out with a left calf strain.
TRAIL BLAZERS 122, CAVALIERS 110
CLEVELAND — Deni Avdija scored 27 points, Caleb Love and Shadon Sharpe each added 20 points off the bench and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 33 points, and Evan Mobley had 23 points and 10 rebounds. The Cavaliers have lost four of five, their first loss this season to a team with a losing record.
The Trail Blazers had six players in double figures as they went from the line 34 of 39 times. Avdija was 16 of 17.
