Harden, Nets blow past Magic
Nets 123, Magic 90: Kevin Durant scored 30 points and James Harden had his 59th career triple double in the visiting Nets’ victory over the Magic.
Durant, the NBA’s leading scorer at 29.5 points per game, made 11 of 12 shots, including both of his 3-point attempts, to help Brooklyn win for the sixth time in seven games. Harden had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to help. The two stars sat out the fourth quarter, with the Nets up 94-75 after three.
LaMarcus Aldridge came off the bench with a big second quarter to put Brooklyn in command. He had 21 points and eight rebounds.
Terrence Ross led Orlando with 17 points, and Mo Bamba added 14 points and nine rebounds. The Magic shot 38% and made 4 of 33 3-point shots.
Aldridge hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points in his first eight minutes in the game, helping the Nets pull out to a 19-point lead late in the first half.
Brooklyn led 65-53 after shooting 56% in the first half. The Nets shot 50% overall.
Bucks 112, Knicks 100: Pat Connaughton scored a season-high 23 points, making three late 3-pointers to swing a wild second half back in Milwaukee’s favor, and the visiting Bucks blew a 24-point lead before beating the Knicks.
Less than a week after the Knicks came from 21 down to win 113-98 at Milwaukee, the Bucks opened a 70-46 cushion midway through the third quarter. But the Knicks’ reserves wiped that away and the game was tied with 5 minutes to play.
But Connaughton’s 3-pointers reopened a 10-point lead with 2:05 remaining and Grayson Allen added another pair to put it away.
Jrue Holiday scored 18 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 15 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for the Bucks.
Celtics 104, Raptors 88: Jayson Tatum had 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to lift Boston at home.
Robert Williams III added 16 points and 13 rebounds, with a career-best eight
coming on the offensive glass. Dennis Schroder scored 20 points, Josh Richardson had 15 and Marcus Smart 13.
Scottie Barnes led Toronto with 21 points, Fred VanVleet had 16, and OG Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. each had 14. The Raptors dropped to 4-1 on the road.
In the teams’ first meeting of the season – in Boston’s home opener on Oct. 22 – the Raptors won by 32 points, and Celtics coach Ime Uboka said after that his team got “punked out there.” Boston was booed off the court at halftime.
Boston never trailed, leading by 16 at halftime and 12 after three quarters.
Wizards 97, Cavaliers 94: Kyle Kuzma hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 12 seconds left as the visiting Wizards scored the final five points to win.
Darius Garland missed an open 3 on Cleveland’s subsequent possession, and Corey Kispert made a layup with 0.7 seconds
remaining for Washington. Garland’s desperation 70-footer at the buzzer was well off target.
Kuzma scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers in the final 26 seconds. Montrezl Harrell led the Wizards with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Bradley Beal had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Ricky Rubio scored 20 points for the Cavaliers, but missed one of two free throws with 16 seconds left to keep Washington within 94-92. Kuzma took a quick pass from Beal on the other end, giving the Wizards their only lead of the second half.
Pistons 112, Rockets 104: Jerami Grant scored a season-high 35 points to help the visiting Pistons beat the Rockets in a matchup of two of the worst teams in the NBA.
Grant shot 12 of 23 from the field, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. It was a stark contrast to his last game when he went 0 for 9 from the field, missing four 3s, in a 96-90 loss to Brooklyn on Friday night.
Detroit improved to 2-8, and Houston dropped to 1-10.
The meeting was the first between the top two picks in the July draft. Cade Cunningham, Detroit’s choice as the No. 1 pick, had 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
Houston’s Jalen Green, the No. 2 pick, had 23 points on 8-of-20 shooting.
Bulls 117, Mavericks 107: Zach LaVine scored 23 points and Lonzo Ball made seven of Chicago’s 15 3-pointers, helping the Bulls top the visiting Mavericks.
Five players scored in double figures for Chicago during its second straight victory. Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan finished with 17 points.
Dallas had won three straight and four of five overall, but it couldn’t keep up with LaVine and the Bulls in the second half. Kristaps Porzingis had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks, and Luka Doncic finished with 20 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Dallas trailed by seven in the third quarter before Doncic wrapped the ball around his back and then lobbed to Dwight Powell for a jam over Vucevic with 3:29 left.
Hornets 118, Grizzlies 108: Kelly Oubre Jr. scored a season-best 37 points on 13-of-17 shooting and visiting Charlotte snapped a five-game losing streak.
Oubre matched his career high with seven 3-points on nine attempts and broke the franchise record for points off the bench.
Gordon Hayward added 25 points for Charlotte. LaMelo Ball, who was coming off a triple-double of 25 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists Monday night in an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, fell just short of his second consecutive triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Ja Morant led Memphis with 32 points, 19 of them in the first quarter, and eight assists.
Dillon Brooks added 20 points. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 19.