Durant’s late shot lifts Suns by Mavs
NBA
SUNS 130, MAVERICKS 126
DALLAS — Kevin Durant’s tiebreaker jumper was like so many before — right on target in the closing seconds.
Luka Doncic’s potential tying floater moments later in front of the rim was unlike most of his — spinning around and out.
What happened next was familiar — a little bad blood from last season’s playoff series spilling, with Doncic and Devin Booker nose-to-nose before getting double technicals.
Durant scored 37 points, including the go-ahead shot, to lift the Phoenix Suns to a 130-126 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday in a thrilling showcase of stars for both teams.
The first meeting between Durant and Dallas’ Kyrie Irving since they were traded by Brooklyn before the deadline last month was even at 126-all when Durant pulled up over Tim Hardaway Jr. and Irving, who scrambled over for the double team when Durant went to his left.
Too late. “Nobody’s ever going to retreat when they guard me,” Durant said. “So sometimes I’ve got to veer off instead of straight-line driving it. I felt like I had a good handle on the ball. Once I had it on my hip I felt like I was in good position to stop on a dime.”
Irving scored 30 points exactly four years to the day since the last time he faced Durant, when his Boston Celtics blew out Durant and his Golden State Warriors 128-95.
Doncic had 34 points and 9 rebounds before the pointblank shot that could have tied it. He grabbed Durant for a foul after the rebound with 3.5 seconds remaining.
After the foul, Doncic and Booker, who scored 36 points, pushed and jawed at each other as officials and team personnel separated them before Durant’s two clinching free throws.
It was the 14th technical of the season for Doncic, two away from a one-game suspension.
The teams finished tied 2-2 in the season series, with playoff seedings in the Western Conference wide open below top-seeded Denver.
The bunched-up standings could mean an early rematch from last season’s West semifinals, when Doncic and the Mavs blew out Booker, Chris Paul and the Suns in Game 7 in Phoenix.
A photo of a goofy-grinning Doncic looking at Booker went viral after that series. The last regular-season meeting of 2022-23 brought more tension.
“I loved it,” said Hardaway, who scored 18 of his 21 points in the first half and was 6 of 8 on three-pointers. “I know 77 isn’t going to back down from anybody. It was bound to happen at some point, them coming face to face. Just happy it happened here at home.”
Booker said he was talking to the official, but Doncic was skeptical.
“Based on the words, I don’t think so,” Doncic said.
Because Booker said he was talking to an official, the Phoenix star believed Doncic said something first with his expletive-laced message.
“You guys say you don’t want everybody to be friendly-friendly, there you go,” Booker said.
Paul scored eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter for one of several tiebreaking or go-ahead buckets for both teams.
LAKERS 113, WARRIORS 105
LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis scored 39 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles held on for a victory over Golden State despite Stephen Curry’s 27 points in his return to the lineup.
The Lakers led most of the game but a three-pointer by Golden State’s Anthony Lamb tied it at 91-91 with 5:37 remaining in the game. Los Angeles ran off seven straight points and would go up 103-95 before three-pointers by Klay Thompson and Curry made it a twopoint game with 1:46 remaining.
That would be as close as the Warriors would get though as they missed three straight from beyond the arc and the Lakers converted at the foul line.
Austin Reaves (Cedar Ridge) scored 16 points and Troy Brown 14 for the Lakers, who have split their four games with LeBron James out of the lineup due to a foot tendon injury.
Curry, who missed 11 games due to a left leg injury, was 3 of 11 from the field with 8 points after 3 quarters but scored 19 in the final 12 minutes. Thompson added 22 points as the Warriors had their five-game winning streak snapped.
PACERS 125, BULLS 122
CHICAGO — Tyrese Haliburton scored 29 points, including a three-pointer with 2.7 seconds left, to give Indiana a victory over Chicago.
Haliburton’s game-winning shot occurred after Zach LaVine missed a free throw that would have given the Bulls the lead with 22.6 seconds left. LaVine, who scored a game-high 42 points, was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Bennedict Mathurin and converted the first two free throw tries.
After Haliburton’s 3-pointer, a game-tying shot attempt by Nikola Vucevic bounced off the rim.
Mathurin added 17 points for the Pacers (29-36), while DeMar DeRozan scored 23 for the Bulls (29-36), who lost despite shooting 60.8% (45-for-74) from the field.
NETS 102, HORNETS 86
NEW YORK — Mikal Bridges went 9 for 9 in a 19-point first quarter, finishing with 33 to lead the Brooklyn Nets past the Charlotte Hornets.
Two nights after coming from 28 down to beat Boston in the biggest comeback in the NBA this season, the Nets led by as much as 37 after Bridges’ fast start in the highest-scoring quarter of his career.
He didn’t attempt a shot in the second quarter but did make a pair of free throws. His first miss of the night, a three-pointer from the right wing, came in the opening seconds of the third quarter. Spencer Dinwiddie added 24 points for the Nets, who have won two straight. Cam Johnson chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Joe Harris had 12 points.
Kelly Oubre had 17 points and Mark Williams added 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets, who have lost three consecutive games.
TRAIL BLAZERS 122, MAGIC 119
ORLANDO, Fla. — Damian Lillard scored eight of his 41 points from the foul line in the final three minutes to lead the Portland Trail Blazers over the Orlando Magic.
Jerami Grant added 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Blazers and Cam Reddish added 16 points.
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 26 points. Franz Wagner added 24, and Markelle Fultz finished with 15 points, 8 assists and 4 steals.
ROCKETS 142, SPURS 110
HOUSTON — Jalen Green scored 31 points and the Houston Rockets got a lopsided victory over San Antonio, beating the Spurs for the second straight night in a matchup of the Western Conference’s worst teams.
The Rockets snapped an 11-game skid with a 122-110 win Saturday night in San Antonio and picked up where they left off at home Sunday, leading by as many as 32.
They were up by 10 at halftime, used a 35-point third quarter to lead by 21 and to start the fourth and cruised to the victory.
It’s the first time Houston has won consecutive games since Jan. 28 and Feb. 1 and leaves the team tied with Detroit for the NBA’s worst record at 15-49. The Spurs are just ahead of the Rockets at the bottom of the Western Conference standings at 16-49.
THUNDER 129, JAZZ 119
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 38 points and seven rebounds in his return from a five-game absence and the Oklahoma City Thunder led all the way while beating the Utah Jazz.
Rookie Jalen Williams added a career-high 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting and Josh Giddey just missed a triple-double with 24 points, 9 rebounds and ni9ne assists for Oklahoma City, which beat the Jazz for the second time in three days. The Thunder also won in blowout fashion on Friday, 130-103.
Utah trailed by double digits for the final 42 minutes of Sunday’s game. Jordan Clarkson led Utah with 18 points but missed all five of his three-point attempts. The Jazz played without All-Star Lauri Markkanen, who sat out with what the team said was a low-back strain.
BUCKS 117, WIZARDS 111
WASHINGTON — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 23 points, had a season-high 13 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fourth-triple double of the season, and the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks outlasted the Washington Wizards.
Jevon Carter added 20 points while shooting 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, and Jrue Holiday scored 19 in Milwaukee’s victory a night after a home loss to Philadelphia snapped a 16-game win streak.
The Bucks made 22 of their 49 attempts beyond the arc, the most allowed by the Wizards this season.
KNICKS 131, CELTICS 129, 2OT
BOSTON — Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 38 points, playing 55 minutes in place of injured starter Jalen Brunson, and the New York Knicks outlasted the Boston Celtics in two overtimes for their season-high ninth straight victory.
Quickley had 7 points in the second overtime and added 8 rebounds and 7 assists with Brunson sidelined because of soreness in his left foot.
Julius Randle had 31 points and nine rebounds, and RJ Barrett finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who held on when Boston’s Al Horford front-rimmed a three-pointer from the right corner just before the final buzzer.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Horford finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds.