Royce O’Neale capped his first career triple-double by converting the tiebreaking tip-in with 0.7 second remaining as the visiting Brooklyn Nets earned a 109-107 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.
O’Neale totaled 11 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds -- and no play was bigger than how he finished Brooklyn’s last possession. After Jusuf Nurkic converted a tying 3-point play with 6.5 seconds left, Kevin Durant missed a 21-footer from the left elbow and O’Neale jostled around Damian Lillard and Josh Hart to convert the dramatic layup.
Following O’Neale’s clutch hoop, he got his hands on Justise Winslow’s inbounds pass and, following a replay review, officials put 0.1 second on the clock. The game ended when Durant knocked away the inbounds pass.
Durant scored 35 points and became the 19th player to reach 26,000 career points early in the third. Yuta Watanabe added 20, including a 3-pointer that put Brooklyn up 106-101 with 1:47 remaining.
Ben Simmons posted his first double-double as a Net, collecting 15 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out. Joe Harris added 15 points as the Nets shot 50.6 percent and won for the fifth time in eight games after allowing 153 points Tuesday in Sacramento.
Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 25 points and 11 assists but also shot 8 of 24. Simons added 24 points and rookie Shaedon Sharpe contributed a career-high 20.
Kings 130, Spurs 112
De’Aaron Fox scored a team-high 28 points, Malik Monk chipped in with 26 -- including two key 3-pointers in a run that bridged the third and fourth quarters -- and the Sacramento Kings made it five wins in a row with a 130-112 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs.
Domantas Sabonis and Harrison Barnes contributed 16 points apiece as the Kings have scored at least 120 points in all five games in the streak.
Devin Vassell went for a game-high 29 points for the Spurs, who lost their third straight to open a five-game trip.
After rallying from as many as 16 points down to forge three ties late in the third quarter, the Spurs watched as the Kings regained command by scoring the period’s final seven points. Fox had two hoops to begin the pull-away, and when Monk hit a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in the quarter, all of a sudden Sacramento was back up by seven at 89-82.
The run didn’t stop there. Trey Lyles made it an eight-point game with a free throw before Monk connected again from deep, creating a double-digit advantage in the first minute of the fourth period.
San Antonio never got closer than 10 after that.
Clippers 96, Pistons 91
Reggie Jackson scored 23 points, Marcus Morris Sr. and Paul George added 16 each and the Los Angeles Clippers welcomed back Kawhi Leonard by rallying for a 96-91 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons.
Norman Powell scored 14 points and Ivica Zubac tied a career high with 18 rebounds as the Clippers extended their winning streak over the Pistons to seven games.
Leonard played in just this third game this season, scoring six points in 25 minutes while making his first start. The five-time All-Star last played Oct. 23. He had missed the last 12 games with residual knee soreness from ACL surgery in July 2021.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 26 points and Jaden Ivey added 18 as Detroit dropped a season-high sixth consecutive game; the Pistons are 1-8 since Oct. 31.
Saddiq Bey tallied 11 points and eight rebounds in his return to Detroit’s starting lineup. He was dropped to the second unit in a loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday but was back with the starters again after Isaiah Stewart came away with a sprained big toe.
With the Pistons leading 73-70 and 9:45 remaining, the Clippers brought back their entire starting five from the bench. A 13-4 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Morris, gave Los Angeles an 83-77 lead with 6:25 remaining.
Leonard’s driving layup extended the advantage to 87-79 with 4:04 to play, and Los Angeles closed it out from there.
On a poor shooting night for both teams, the Pistons took a 23-15 lead after one quarter by holding the Clippers to 28.8 percent (6 of 21) in the opening 12 minutes. The Pistons led by 12 in the first half and took a 50-42 lead into the break.
The Clippers pushed in front 68-67 after three quarters with a 26-17 advantage in the third period. Both teams were shooting under 40 percent through three quarters. Los Angeles finished at 40.7 percent for the game; Detroit shot 37.5 percent.
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