Thunder fend off Magic comeback to win 105-99

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and Jalen Williams scored six straight points in a run in the fourth quarter that helped turned back an Orlando comeback bid as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Magic 105-99 on Thursday night.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) gets off a shot against Orlando Magic guard Cory Joseph (10) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Isaiah Hartenstein had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder. Williams, Aaron Wiggins and Alex Caruso each finished with 11 points.

Anthony Black scored the first nine points in the fourth quarter and matched his career high with 23 points for the Magic.

Goga Bitadze added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Wendell Carter had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando, which lost its third straight and for the fourth time in five games.

WIZARDS 123, HORNETS 114

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jordan Poole scored 27 points and Malcolm Brogdon added 25 in his return from injury as Washington beat Charlotte.

Rookie Alex Sarr had 19 points and nine rebounds for Washington, which led throughout the fourth quarter. The Wizards (4-21) snapped a three-game skid in winning for just the second time in 21 games. Washington’s sluggish start follows a franchise-worst 15-67 record a season ago.

LaMelo Ball had 34 points and 13 assists for Charlotte, which lost its third straight and for the 11th time in 12 games.

Miles Bridges and Mark Williams added 16 points and eight rebounds each for the Hornets. Brandon Miller sat out with a left ankle sprain.

JAZZ 126, PISTONS 119

DETROIT (AP) — Collin Sexton scored 30 points, Lauri Markkanen had 27 points and 14 rebounds and Utah beat Detroit for for their second victory in 10 games.

Keyonte George added 28 points for Utah. The Jazz built a 29-point lead in the first quarter and overcame 27 turnovers to improve to 6-20.

Cade Cunningham had 33 points for Detroit before fouling out in the final minute. Malik Beasley added 23.

Utah led by 15 with 3:54 left, but had five turnovers to help the Pistons pull to 114-109 with 1:45 left. John Collins and George hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 120-109 with 51 seconds to go.

NETS 101, RAPTORS 94

TORONTO (AP) — Cam Johnson hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and finished with 33 points as Brooklyn overcame a 10-point deficit and beat Toronto.

Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton was ejected with 8:46 left in the second after throwing the ball into the stands. Claxton scored seven points in 11 minutes. Nets assistant Juwan Howard prevented Claxton from throwing a cushion before the center left Brooklyn’s bench.

Johnson scored 15 points in the fourth as the Nets won for the second time in eight games.

Ben Simmons and Shake Milton each scored 12 points, and Noah Clowney had 11 for the Nets, who trailed 76-66 late in the third.

Toronto’s Scottie Barnes returned after missing the past two games due to a sprained right ankle, finishing with 16 points in 36 minutes.

Ochai Agbaji led the Raptors with 20 points, and Gradey Dick added 19 as Toronto’s losing streak reached six.

Raptors center Jakob Poeltl remained out after leaving Monday’s loss to Chicago because of a strained left groin. RJ Barrett sat due to illness, and Davion Mitchell was unavailable because of a strained right shoulder.

BULLS 117, CELTICS 108

BOSTON (AP) — Zach LaVine scored a season-high 36 points and Chicago used a fourth-quarter flurry to hold off Boston in the opener of a home-and-home set.

The teams will meet again in Chicago on Saturday night.

Ayo Dosunmu added 17 points and Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 14 rebounds to help Chicago win its season-best third straight.

Chicago outscored Boston 35-22 in the fourth quarter and made 19 3-pointers for the game.

Jayson Tatum had 31 points to lead Boston, which lost for just the fourth time at home this season. Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points and eight rebounds.

Chicago’s big fourth quarter included technical fouls on coach Joe Mazzulla, Jaylen Brown and Tatum that left Boston scrambling for the rest of the game.

ROCKETS 133, PELICANS 113

HOUSTON (AP) — Jalen Green scored 34 points to lead Houston to a win over New Orleans.

Green had a season-high 22 points in the third quarter and shot 13 of 22 in the game, including 4 for 10 from beyond the arc. Green entered shooting 31.3% from long distance this season.

Dillon Brooks scored 26 points, and Alperen Sengun added 23 points and nine rebounds as the Rockets improved to 11-3 at home.

Trey Murphy III scored 28 points, and Herb Jones had 20 for the Pelicans, who have lost five straight and fell to 1-14 on the road.

GRIZZLIES 144, WARRIORS 93

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Santi Aldama had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies set a franchise record with 27 3-pointers in a victory over Golden State, the biggest win in the NBA this season.

Stephen Curry was held without a field goal and finished with two points for the Warriors, who took their worst loss since falling 140-88 at Boston on March 3 last season. Newly acquired point guard Dennis Schroder started alongside Curry and struggled in his Warriors debut, scoring five points on 2-of-12 shooting.

Jake LaRavia scored 19 points and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 17 for the Grizzlies, who have won 11 of 13. Aldama and Luke Kennard (15 points) each made five 3s.

Brandin Podziemski finished with 21 points and Andrew Wiggins had 19 for the Warriors, who have lost eight of 10.

SPURS 133, HAWKS 126, OT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama scored eight of his 42 points in overtime and San Antonio outlasted Atlanta.

Wembanyama was 13 for 24 from the field, going 7 of 15 on 3-pointers. He also had six rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals.

De’Andre Hunter scored 27 points for Atlanta. Trae Young had 23 points and 16 assists and Jalen Johnson added 22 points.

Devin Vassell added 23 points for San Antonio, and Jeremy Sochan had 20. Chris Paul scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including a four-point play that helped the Spurs reach overtime.

Vassell returned to the starting lineup for the first time this season after missing the first nine games of the season following offseason foot surgery. His return allowed San Antonio to open with its projected starting lineup for the first time this season.

CLIPPERS 118, MAVERICKS 95

DALLAS (AP) — Norman Powell scored 29 points, James Harden added 24 and Ivica Zubac had 21 points and 15 rebounds as Los Angeles beat Dallas in their first game this season playing without star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Doncic sat out with a left heel contusion, Irving with right shoulder soreness, in the first of a two-game series against Los Angeles that will conclude Saturday night.

First-year Maverick Klay Thompson scored 22 points, his first game leading the team in scoring. Spencer Didwiddie added 19 making his first start of the season.

The Clippers took a 50-49 lead into the second half and outscored the Mavericks 39-28 in the third period, hitting 69.6% (16 for 23) of their field-goal attempts while Dallas shot 40% (8 of 20) in the quarter.

Clippers guard Kris Dunn was ejected for committing a flagrant 2 foul against Jazian Gortman late in the third period.

PACERS 120, SUNS 111

PHOENIX (AP) — Pascal Siakam had 25 points and 18 rebounds, Myles Turner added 19 points and Indiana beat Phoenix.

Indiana used a 15-4 run to lead 97-83 after three quarters and stretched it to 105-86 early in the fourth. The Pacers shot 16 of 41 from 3-point range to win for the fourth time in five games.

Tyrese Halliburton added 13 points and 12 assists, hitting 4 of 9 from 3. Andrew Nembhard added 19 points and Indiana had 25 fast-break points.

Kevin Durant led the Suns with 37 points and 10 rebounds. Bradley Beal added 16 points after missing two games because of a swollen right knee.

Devin Booker had 17 points, but went out in the third quarter with groin tightness. The Suns shot 9 of 30 from 3.

KNICKS 133, TIMBERWOLVES 107

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points and 20 rebounds in his return to Minnesota, leading the inspired New York Knicks to a win.

Mikal Bridges scored 29 points for the Knicks, who built a lead as big as 36 points in the third quarter and won for the 12th time in 16 games.

Towns was the star, the subject of a loud ovation and a tribute video before the game highlighting his nine seasons with Minnesota after being picked first overall in the 2015 draft.

Traded to New York just before training camp began for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, Towns clearly had fun from start to finish as the Knicks romped to 73-point first half.

Randle had 24 points for the Timberwolves, who were outscored 37-8 over the first nine minutes of the second quarter. Towns had 19 points in that period, his highest in any quarter this season.

LAKERS 113, KINGS 110

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — LeBron James had 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists while breaking the NBA record for regular-season minutes, helping the Los Angeles beat the Sacramento Kings 113-100 on Thursday night.

James spent 34 minutes on the court against the Kings to give him 57,471 in his career, moving past Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (57,446) for the record.

Anthony Davis had 21 points and 20 rebounds in the opener of a two-game set at Golden 1 Center. Austin Reaves scored 35 points and D’Angelo Russell added 16 points to help the Lakers (15-12) to their third win in four games.

The Kings trailed most of the game then closed within 93-90 on De’Aaron Fox’s jumper with eight minutes remaining. Reaves’s short bank shot and two free throws from Davis sparked a 10-2 run that helped the Lakers pull away.

Fox had 26 points, five assists and three steals for the Kings. Domantas Sabonis added 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Malik Monk scored 17 points.

TRAIL BLAZERS 122, NUGGETS 120

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Anfernee Simons made a driving layup at the buzzer to give Portland a victory over Nikola Jokic and Denver.

Simons drove to his right and got past defender Russell Westbrook, lofting the ball high off the glass as the horn sounded. He finished with 28 points and 10 assists.

Shaedon Sharpe scored 27 points for the Blazers, who snapped a six-game skid. Deni Avdija added 19 points and Deandre Ayton had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Jokic had 34 points and eight assists for Denver. Jamal Murray added 24 points and 10 assists, and Westbrook scored 19 points.