DURANT INJURES KNEE IN EASY WIN

James Harden believes the Brooklyn Nets may be experiencing some bad luck despite their standing near the top of the Eastern Conference.

The All-star guard had 27 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds as the Nets cruised to a 120-105 victory over the visiting New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, despite losing NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant in the first half to a left knee sprain.

“Tonight what happened to KD and then Ky (Kyrie Irving) being able to play road games only and Joe (Harris), Nic (Claxton), Lamarcus (Aldridge), but we’ve been a resilient group all year, since I’ve been here,” Harden when asked if the Nets were snakebitten. “And we just got to keep going, keep pushing, keep pushing.”

Durant was hurt with 5:44 left in the second quarter when New Orleans forward Herbert Jones was driving down the court and crashed into Nets backup guard Bruce Brown, who fell backward into Durant’s knee.

Durant briefly limped around the court before asking to be taken out of the game. He finished with the 12 points and was walking with a limp when he left the arena midway through the fourth quarter.

Harden and coach Steve Nash said he will have an MRI exam today.

Nuggets 133, Lakers 96:

Nikola Jokic had 17 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds for his eighth triple-double of the season, and host Denver routed Los Angeles. The Lakers have lost three straight after winning four in a row. Lebron James had 24 points and nine rebounds, but made just 9 of 23 field goals. Russell Westbrook, who was just 15for-59 shooting in the previous four games, had 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

Raptors 103, Bucks 96:

Pascal Siakam had 30 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his second career triple-double and visiting Toronto overcame an early 15-point deficit to beat cold-shooting Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 30 points.

Cavaliers 106, Thunder 102: Darius Garland had 27 points and a career-high 18 assists as Cleveland overcame an 18-point deficit to beat host Oklahoma City for its fourth straight victory. Lauri Markkanen made a 3-pointer with 11.4 seconds remaining to secure the victory.

76ers 109, Heat 98: Joel Embiid scored 25 of his 32 points in the second half and visiting Philadelphia beat Miami. Listed as questionable to play because of right elbow soreness, Embiid helped the 76ers outscore Miami 66-48 in the final two periods.

Spurs 101, Clippers 94: Derrick White had 19 points in his return from a five-game absence, Dejounte Murray added 18 points and host San Antonio beat Los Angeles to snap a five-game skid. Amir Coffey had 20 points, and Marcus Morris Sr. added 15 points for the Clippers.

Celtics 112, Bulls 106: Robert Williams hit a pair of free throws with 9.7 seconds left and host Boston scored the final eight points to edge Chicago. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Knicks 117, Hawks 108: RJ Barrett scored 26 points, Julius Randle added 24 and New York beat host Atlanta for its third straight victory. Trae Young led Atlanta with 29 points, and Danilo Gallinari had 17. The Hawks have dropped five straight and nine of 11 to fall to 17-26.

Trail Blazers 115, Wizards 110: Anfernee Simons scored 31 points and tied a career high with 11 assists, Jusuf Nurkic had 23 points and 14 rebounds and visiting Portland beat Washington. Spencer Dinwiddie had 27 points for Washington.

Mavericks 108, Magic 92: Kristaps Porzingis scored 12 of his 19 points in the first quarter of his first game in two weeks and host Dallas cruised past Orlando.

Nets 120, Pelicans 105