Durant burns Pistons with 51; Mavs win minus Doncic

DETROIT — Kevin Durant scored an NBA season-high 51 points in the Brooklyn Nets’ 116-104 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.

Cade Cunningham had 26 and Frank Jackson added 25 for Detroit, which lost its 12th straight. The Pistons’ last win was Nov. 17 against the Pacers, and they still haven’t won back-to-back games this season.

Patty Mills added 18 points for the Nets, who outscored Detroit 30-13 in the fourth quarter.

On the same day Durant was fined $25,000 for using multiple expletives at a fan who yelled “Durant, stop crying,” on Friday during a game in Atlanta, he also bested Stephen Curry’s 50-point total for the league high this season. It was Durant’s seventh 50-point game of his career.

MAVERICKS 103 THUNDER 84

Jalen Brunson had 18 points and nine rebounds while starting in place of injured star Luka Doncic, leading Dallas to victory at Oklahoma City.

It was the first time this season the Mavericks won without Doncic in the lineup.

Doncic experienced a flareup of a previous ankle injury in Friday’s game against Indiana and is being held out for back-toback games. Dallas had been 0-4 without the AllStar guard this season.

Maxi Kleber scored 16 points off the Mavericks’ bench and fellow reserve Moses Brown added 15 against his former team.

BUCKS 112, KNICKS 97

Khris Middleton scored 24 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo just missed a triple-double to lead Milwaukee to victory at New York.

Antetokounmpo had 20 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds. Bobby Portis Jr. added 19 points, Rodney Hood had 14, Jrue Holliday chipped in 13, Grayson Allen contributed 12 and Pat Connaughton netted 10 as the Bucks had seven figures in double-digit scoring.

Milwaukee never trailed as it won its second straight game and 10th out of 12 overall. New York has lost three in a row and seven of 10.

In his first NBA start, Quentin Grimes, a rookie from the University of Houston, scored 27 for the Knicks. He set a team record for the most 3pointers made in a game by a rookie with seven.

SPURS 112, PELICANS 97

Jakob Poeltl had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Derrick White added 24 points, and host San Antonio beat New Orleans.

Dejounte Murray added 10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for San Antonio.

LAKERS 106, MAGIC 94

LeBron James scored 14 of his 30 points during Los Angeles’ spectacular third quarter, and he added 11 rebounds and 10 assists as the host Lakers rolled to their fifth victory in seven games.

Talen Horton-Tucker scored seven of his 19 points as Los Angeles utterly dominated a close game out of halftime, scoring 23 consecutive points while holding the Magic to 2-for-23 shooting in the third quarter with their field goals scored nearly 10 minutes apart.

TIMBERWOLVES 116 TRAIL BLAZERS 111

Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Minnesota snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory at Portland.

Anthony Edwards had 24 points for Minnesota, which also ended an eightgame losing streak in Portland.

The loss was Portland’s fifth straight.