Durant scores 44 as Warriors edge Kings
Season-high output caps winning effort against Sacramento
Klay Thompson put back his own miss with five seconds left, Kevin Durant scored a season-high 44 points, and the Golden State Warriors barely held off the Sacramento Kings 117-116 on Saturday night in a wild finish between the Northern California neighbors.
De’aaron Fox made two free throws with 26 seconds remaining to put the Kings ahead after Thompson missed a 33-footer moments earlier.
Durant tipped a jump ball to the backcourt in the waning seconds and the buzzer sounded, but a replay review was held to determine whether the Kings had called timeout — which was granted with 0.3 seconds on the clock.
The Warriors subsequently called their own, and the Kings failed to get a shot.
Durant converted two free throws with 1:27 left and also had 13 rebounds and seven assists, while Thompson wound up with 31 points — the second straight night the two both scored 30 or more.
Buddy Hield had 28 points on 12-for-21 shooting and seven rebounds. Rookie Marvin Bagley III contributed 20 points and a season-best 17 rebounds off the bench, but missed the first of two free throws with 1:08 remaining. Mavericks 113, Celtics 104: J.J. Barea scored 20 points with a key 3-pointer that helped put Dallas in control in the fourth quarter, and the Mavericks won their sixth straight home game. Harrison Barnes also had 20 points, teenage rookie Luka Doncic totaled 15 points and matched Barea with eight assists while starting at point guard with Dennis Smith Jr. sidelined by a wrist injury as the Mavericks (9-9) got back to .500 with their seventh win in nine games. It’s the latest Dallas has been .500 or better since the end of the 2015-16 season, and it’s the first six-game home winning streak for the Mavericks in almost two years. Jayson Tatum scored 21 points and Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart had 19 apiece for the Celtics, who followed a win with a loss in a back-to-back for the third straight time this season.
Cavaliers 117, Rockets 108: Rookie Collin Sexton scored a season-high 29 points and Cleveland overcame 40 points by Houston’s James Harden to win consecutive games for the first time this season. Sexton, taken with the eighth pick in the draft, was 14-for-21 from the floor and hit several key baskets in the second half as the Cavaliers held off multiple runs from the Rockets.
Wizards 124, Pelicans 114: Otto Porter Jr. scored a seasonhigh 29 points and John Wall had 22 points and eight assists to lead Washington to a win.
Nuggets 105, Thunder 98: Jamal Murray scored 22 points to help Denver beat Oklahoma City. Nikola Jokic and Trey Lyles each scored 16 points and Juancho Hernangomez added 15 for the Nuggets, who won their third straight.
Timberwolves 111, Bulls 96: Karl-anthony Towns had 35 points and 22 rebounds, Derrick Rose scored 22 points off the bench and Minnesota pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Bucks 135, Spurs 129: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 18 rebounds, rallying Milwaukee from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter.