Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun combined for 65 points and the Houston Rockets rode a scorching second quarter to a 125-111 victory over visiting Oklahoma City on Friday, ending the Thunder’s 11-game winning streak.
Green scored 34 points, Sengun added 31 and the Rockets (51-27) won for the 14th time in 16 games. Houston posted a 48-33 rebounding margin to maintain control after building a 23-point lead late in the second quarter.
Houston’s Amen Thompson posted 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Jalen Williams paced the Thunder with 33 points on 13-for-21 shooting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander notched 22 points and eight assists.
Celtics 123, Suns 103
Jaylen Brown tossed in 31 points and Boston broke the NBA record for made 3-pointers in a season during a victory over visiting Phoenix.
The Celtics set the record on their eighth trey of the game, a 26-footer by Payton Pritchard with 8:19 remaining in the second quarter. It gave Boston a 44-26 lead. The 2022-23 Golden State Warriors set the previous record (1,363).
The Celtics made 14 of 39 shots from behind the 3-point arc, and they ended the night with 1,370 treys on the campaign. Boston’s Jayson Tatum added 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Devin Booker scored a game-high 37 points for the Suns, who have lost five in a row.
Lakers 124, Pelicans 108
Luka Doncic scored 35 points and Austin Reaves added 30 as Los Angeles helped its prospects for a top-four finish in the Western Conference with a victory over New Orleans.
LeBron James produced 27 points and eight assists and Jaxson Hayes had 12 rebounds with six points as the Lakers won in advance of a back-to-back road set against the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday and Tuesday. The Lakers pulled a half-game ahead of the fourth-place Denver Nuggets.
Jose Alvarado scored 27 points and Karlo Matkovic added 15 for the Pelicans, who have just three wins in the past 11 games. Yves Missi contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Pistons 117, Raptors 105
Jalen Duren had 21 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks and visiting Detroit clinched a playoff berth by completing a four-game season sweep over Toronto.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 23 points and Malik Beasley scored 21 for the Pistons. Detroit’s Cade Cunningham (calf), Tobias Harris (heel) and Isaiah Stewart (suspension) did not play.
Ja’Kobe Walter scored 22 points for the Raptors. Jakob Poeltl had 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Kings 125, Hornets 102
Zach LaVine poured in 25 points to go with 10 rebounds and Domantas Sabonis racked up 24 points and 11 rebounds to help Sacramento snap a three-game losing streak with a win at Charlotte.
DeMar DeRozan put up 22 points for the Kings. Ex-Hornets guard Malik Monk had 17 points off the bench as Sacramento won for the second time in nine games.
The Hornets lost for the seventh time in their last eight games despite 22 points from Miles Bridges. Moussa Diabate finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Pacers 140, Jazz 112
Myles Turner scored 26 points and Pascal Siakam added 22 to lead Indiana past Utah in Indianapolis for its third straight win.
The Pacers have won nine of 11 while keeping a solid hold on the No. 4 spot of the Eastern Conference standings. Turner also grabbed seven rebounds and swatted six shots, while Siakam contributed five boards, five assists, four blocks and three steals.
Utah dropped an eighth consecutive game for the third time this season. The Jazz, who have the worst record in the NBA, have lost 18 of their past 19 contests. Collin Sexton led all scorers with 27 points.
Bulls 118, Trail Blazers 113
Coby White and Nikola Vucevic each scored 31 points and Josh Giddey notched his sixth triple-double of the season as Chicago beat visiting Portland.
Giddey racked up 15 points, a career-best 19 rebounds and 12 assists as the Bulls pulled level with the Miami Heat for ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Deni Avdija posted 37 points and 11 rebounds and Dalano Banton contributed 21 points for the Blazers, who finished a 2-3 road trip.
Warriors 118, Nuggets 104
Stephen Curry bombed in a game-high 36 points, Brandin Podziemski and Jimmy Butler III combined for 45 more and Golden State dumped Denver in San Francisco.
The Warriors earned their fifth straight win to climb within a half-game of the fourth-place Nuggets in the Western Conference playoff chase. Podziemski had 26 points to complement Curry’s third straight game with 36 or more.
A third straight loss dropped Denver four games behind the second-place Houston Rockets with just four games remaining. Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 33 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Cavaliers 114, Spurs 113
Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and Evan Mobley added 25 points and 12 rebounds as Cleveland did just enough to beat host San Antonio.
The Cavaliers won their third straight contest and reduced their magic number to clinch the best record in the Eastern Conference to one. Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 24 points. Harrison Barnes added 23.
Cleveland was up by 23 points late in the second quarter and by 17 at halftime before the Spurs cut it to 88-82 in the third. In the fourth, Barnes poured in back-to-back 3-pointers to bring San Antonio within a point with 28.6 seconds to play, but Barnes missed a contested, driving layup at the buzzer.
Clippers 114, Mavericks 91
Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and sparked a key early run as Los Angeles sailed past Dallas in Inglewood, Calif.
The Clippers have won 10 of their past 12 games. Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell each had 14 points for Los Angeles, and Zubac grabbed 13 rebounds. The Mavericks produced their lowest point total of the season.
Dallas played without Anthony Davis, who was a late scratch due to an adductor strain, and Klay Thompson and Jaden Hardy exited because of injuries. Naji Marshall led the Mavericks with 22 points.
–Field Level Media
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