Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 22 rebounds, Jamal Murray scored 26, and the visiting Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns 120-112 in double overtime on Saturday night.
Michael Porter Jr. had 14 points and 11 rebounds, JaMychal Green scored 16, Monte Morris added 13 and Gary Harris finished with 10 for the Nuggets, who swept the two overtime games in Phoenix on successive nights.
Chris Paul had 21 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds, Jae Crowder also scored 21 points and Deandre Ayton had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Suns before fouling out in the first overtime.
Cameron Johnson scored 19 points and Mikal Bridges had 11 for Phoenix, which played without leading scorer Devin Booker, who suffered a left hamstring strain in the Suns’ overtime loss on Friday night.
Philadelphia 76ers 114 – Detroit Pistons 110
Joel Embiid had 33 points and 14 rebounds to lead Philadelphia past host Detroit, which was without Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose on the second night of a back-to-back.
Ben Simmons supplied 20 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals, while Tobias Harris tossed in 17 points for the Sixers. Seth Curry added 14 points as Philadelphia won its third straight game.
Wayne Ellington led seven Pistons in double figures with 17 points. Svi Mykhailiuk contributed 15 points and Sekou Doumbouya had 13. Jerami Grant was limited to 11 points on 3-for-19 shooting. Grant had scored 20 or more points for 14 consecutive games.
Brooklyn Nets 128 – Miami Heat 124
Kevin Durant scored 31 points as Brooklyn never trailed and survived multiple fourth-quarter comeback attempts by Miami and a career-high 41-point night by Bam Adebayo in a victory at New York.
Kyrie Irving added 18 of his 28 points in the fourth, including 10 in the final 2:41. Joe Harris added 23 and tied a career-high with seven 3-pointers. James Harden did not make a field goal until the fourth quarter and finished with 12 points and 11 assists as Brooklyn shot 53.7 percent, tied a season best with 19 3-pointers, and collected a season-high 34 assists.
Adebayo surpassed his previous career-high of 30 points on Dec. 10, 2019 and made 14 of 20 shots but did not hit a field goal in the final 5 1/2 minutes. Goran Dragic added 19 while Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn finished with 18 apiece as the Heat shot 70 percent in the fourth and 47.2 percent overall.
Los Angeles Lakers 101 – Chicago Bulls 90
Anthony Davis scored a game-high 37 points, and Los Angeles rolled to a win over host Chicago.
The Lakers improved to a perfect 9-0 on the road to start the season. LeBron James notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Los Angeles, which won for the seventh time in their past eight games.
Zach LaVine finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bulls, whose three-game winning streak came to an end. Coby White had 14 points, while Patrick Williams (13) and Lauri Markkanen (12) also scored in double digits.
Minnesota Timberwolves 120 – New Orleans Pelicans 110
Naz Reid scored 20 points to lead six players in double-figures as short-handed Minnesota defeated New Orleans in Minneapolis.
Anthony Edwards added 18 points, Jarred Vanderbilt had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Jarrett Culver and Malik Beasley scored 16 each and Jordan McLaughlin had 11 as the Timberwolves won for just the second time in 13 games.
The Timberwolves played Saturday without Karl-Anthony Towns and Juancho Hernangomez, who are sidelined because of COVID protocols, and D’Angelo Russell, who was resting. Brandon Ingram scored 30 points, Eric Bledsoe added 28 and Zion Williamson had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead New Orleans.
Utah Jazz 127 – Golden State Warriors 108
Steph Curry moved up to No. 2 on the NBA’s all-time 3-pointers list, but that was about the only thing that went Golden State’s way in a blowout loss against Utah in Salt Lake City.
Donovan Mitchell led a balanced and explosive offensive performance for the red-hot Jazz — who led the whole game and by as many as 40 — with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists in just 27 minutes.
Five other players scored in double-figures for Utah, who won their league-leading eighth consecutive game.
Houston Rockets 133 – Dallas Mavericks 108
Eric Gordon and DeMarcus Cousins delivered their best performances of the season as Houston claimed a wire-to-wire victory over host Dallas.
Gordon scored a season-high 33 points on 6-for-9 3-point shooting while Cousins posted his second double-double with season bests in points (28) and rebounds (17).
The Rockets, who led by as many as 26 points prior to extended garbage time, won both ends of a road back-to-back by following up a one-point win at Detroit on Friday with exceptional shooting Saturday, including 16 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media