Rockets 117, Suns 98

Amen Thompson and Kevin Durant combined for 59 points to power a blistering shooting performance as the Houston Rockets rolled to a 117-98 home win over the Phoenix Suns.

Durant scored 17 of his 28 points in the second quarter to flip the game and became the eighth player in NBA history to eclipse 31,000 career points. He added eight assists. Thompson went for a season-high 31 points on 12-for-17 shooting as Houston thrived despite the absence of Alperen Sengun (illness), hitting 59.2 percent from the field in a game that jumped off the NBA odds and scores page.

Dillon Brooks paced the Suns with 23 points while Jamaree Bouyea scored a career-high 18. Playing without leading scorer Devin Booker (groin), Phoenix went just 5-for-36 (13.9 percent) from 3-point range.

Thunder 132, Mavericks 111

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points in three quarters to lead Oklahoma City to a dominant home win over Dallas.

The Thunder have now won 14 straight games and 22 of their first 23 to start the season. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 10-for-12 from the field and added six assists and five rebounds, scoring 16 of his points in the third quarter as Oklahoma City blew the game open.

Dallas had its three-game winning streak snapped. Jaden Hardy led the Mavericks with 23 points off the bench, including 12 in the third quarter.

Nuggets 134, Hawks 133

Nikola Jokic poured in 40 points to go with nine rebounds and eight assists, and visiting Denver erased a 23-point deficit to beat Atlanta.

Jamal Murray added 23 points and 12 assists for Denver, which notched its ninth straight road win. The Nuggets surged behind a huge third-quarter push and then got the final stop when Murray blocked a late 3-point attempt from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, forcing him into a layup with 2.2 seconds left before Denver ran out the clock.

Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson became just the fifth player in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) to record a first-half triple-double, finishing with 21 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists. Alexander-Walker scored 30 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 25 as the Hawks dropped their third straight.

Celtics 126, Lakers 105

Jaylen Brown posted 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as Boston extended its winning streak to four games with a comfortable home win over short-handed Los Angeles.

Derrick White added 19 points, Jordan Walsh scored 17 and Payton Pritchard had 15 for the Celtics, with Walsh now having made 18 of his last 19 field-goal attempts over a three-game span.

The Lakers played without Luka Doncic (personal), LeBron James (sciatica and foot) and Marcus Smart (lumbar). Austin Reaves kept them competitive with 36 points, and Gabe Vincent chipped in 18.

Cavaliers 130, Spurs 117

Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points and Jaylon Tyson poured in 16 of his 24 after halftime as Cleveland pulled away from visiting San Antonio with a huge third quarter.

Tyson fueled a 31-7 run in the third period, scoring 11 points in the surge that gave the Cavaliers a 98-81 lead they never relinquished. Evan Mobley added 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as Cleveland snapped a two-game home skid.

Devin Vassell matched Mitchell with 28 points, while De’Aaron Fox had 25 points and nine assists for the Spurs, who fell to 4-3 on their grueling nine-city, 18-day road trip.

Pistons 122, Trail Blazers 116

Cade Cunningham went for 29 points and nine assists as Detroit held off visiting Portland.

Jalen Duren supplied 18 points and eight rebounds, Ron Holland II came off the bench to score 17 and Ausar Thompson added 15 as the Pistons won for the third time in four games. The whistle was constant in a game that featured 64 fouls and 83 free throws.

Deni Avdija led the Trail Blazers with 35 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Jerami Grant scored 29 and Shaedon Sharpe added 28 in the loss.

Knicks 146, Jazz 112

Jalen Brunson scored 33 points in three quarters as New York used a historic start to bury visiting Utah.

The Knicks raced to a 23-0 lead, their longest game-opening run since at least 1996-97, when the NBA began tracking play-by-play. New York never led by fewer than 19 the rest of the way while securing a second straight wire-to-wire victory. Miles McBride came off the bench to score 22 points on 7-for-10 shooting from deep, reflecting the kind of perimeter outburst emphasized in how to bet on basketball when evaluating totals and side angles.

Lauri Markkanen and Keyonte George scored 18 points apiece before sitting the fourth quarter for Utah, which saw its two-game winning streak snapped. Ace Bailey and Isaiah Collier had 13 points each.

Magic 106, Heat 105

Franz Wagner dropped 32 points to help Orlando hold off a late Miami rally for a home win.

The Magic led by double digits in the fourth before the Heat sliced the deficit to one on back-to-back buckets by Norman Powell. On Miami’s final inbounds play with under a second left, Orlando forced a contested 3 from Bam Adebayo that missed badly.

Paolo Banchero returned from a groin strain that sidelined him 10 games and scored nine points in 20 minutes. Powell led Miami with 28 points and Adebayo delivered 24 points and 15 rebounds.

Hornets 111, Raptors 86

Rookie Kon Knueppel tallied 21 points and seven assists to lead Charlotte past host Toronto.

Tidjane Salaun added a career-best 21 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, and Miles Bridges contributed 15 points and nine boards. LaMelo Ball scored 11 before leaving in the third quarter with left ankle soreness. The Hornets, who were 1-3 in their previous four, took full advantage of a Raptors team showing the kind of fatigue and regression highlighted in Sportshub’s breakdown of NBA betting trends.

Immanuel Quickley scored 31 points for Toronto, which has dropped four of five. Scottie Barnes added 13 as the Raptors struggled to recover from Thursday’s buzzer-beater loss to the Lakers.

Pacers 120, Bulls 105

Pascal Siakam erupted for 36 points and 10 rebounds and Bennedict Mathurin scored 28 as Indiana rolled past struggling Chicago on the road.

The Pacers snapped a two-game slide while sending the Bulls to a season-worst sixth consecutive loss. Andrew Nembhard added 15 points and Jay Huff and Ethan Thompson chipped in 11 apiece as Indiana shot 53.6 percent from the field.

Coby White led Chicago with 22 points. Matas Buzelis posted 19 points and 12 rebounds, but the Bulls — losers of 12 of their past 15 — couldn’t keep up offensively.

76ers 116, Bucks 101

Quentin Grimes scored 22 points and Paul George added 20 to lead visiting Philadelphia past Milwaukee.

It was an unusual scoring distribution for the 76ers, with Tyrese Maxey limited to 12 points while the bench contributed 61. Maxey’s previous season low was 20 points, but the depth scoring allowed Philadelphia to control the game comfortably.

Bobby Portis led the Bucks with 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Kevin Porter Jr. nearly posted a triple-double with 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, while Myles Turner added 19.

Grizzlies 107, Clippers 98

Rookie Cedric Coward put up 23 points and 14 rebounds, delivering four points and a key steal in the final 2:17 to lift Memphis over visiting Los Angeles.

Jaylen Wells and Cam Spencer scored 17 points apiece for the Grizzlies, who have won six of eight. Jaren Jackson Jr. was held to two first-half points but finished with 13 as Memphis continued to show the kind of form bettors track closely when lining up basketball picks.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists. James Harden added 18 points and seven assists, but Los Angeles has now lost nine of its last 11.