An exhausted Nikola Jokic had 35 points and 13 rebounds in more than 36 minutes of action to help the Denver Nuggets hold off the Golden State Warriors 108-105.
Reggie Jackson, filling in for an injured Jamal Murray, added 20 points to help the defending champion Nuggets improve to an NBA-best 8-1 overall and 6-0 at home.
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Jokic played the entire third quarter in an effort to help out a struggling bench unit. He also exerted energy trying to fend off Warriors big man Kevon Looney. Jokic had a chance to wrap up the win at the free throw line with 15 seconds left and the Nuggets up 107-105, but missed both.
Stephen Curry’s floater in the lane to tie it up was off the mark and the ball went out of bounds off the Warriors. Jackson hit one of two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining, and Klay Thompson couldn’t get a shot off at the buzzer.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 17 points for Denver, and Aaron Gordon added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Curry, fresh off winning the Western Conference player of the week award, was hounded all night, mostly by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and finished with 23 points. Thompson had 15.
76ERS 106, CELTICS 103
Joel Embiid had 27 points and 10 rebounds as Philadelphia beat Boston for its sixth straight victory after a season-opening loss.
Tyrese Maxey added 25 points for the Eastern Conference-leading 76ers. Kristaps Porzingis led Boston (5-2) with 29 points.
Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, center, goes up for a shot against Boston Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis, right, and Al Horford during the first half of an NBA basketball game. | Photo Credit: Matt Slocum/ AP
The Sixers were amped for the first game between the long-time rivals since their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup last season. The 76ers blew a 3-2 series lead and collapsed in Game 6 and 7 losses that ushered in a summer of upheaval.
Coach Doc Rivers was fired and replaced by Nick Nurse. James Harden soon demanded a trade and never again played for the Sixers.
KNICKS 126, SPURS 105
Victor Wembanyama’s first game at Madison Square Garden was one of the worst of his young career, with the San Antonio rookie managing just one basket in the first three quarters in New York’s victory.
The 7-foot-3 Wembanyama missed his first seven shots and had more airballs (2) than field goals through three quarters, when the Knicks led by as much as 30 points. He was in danger of failing to reach double figures for the first time before scoring eight points in the fourth to finish with 14 on 4-for-14 shooting.
Jalen Brunson scored 25 points for the Knicks. RJ Barrett added 24 points and six assists, while Julius Randle had 23 points and 16 rebounds.
BUCKS 129, PISTONS 118
Damian Lillard scored 34 points, Bobby Portis added 18 and Milwaukee rallied to beat Detroit in a game in which Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was ejected midway through the third quarter.
Antetokounmpo was ejected with nine minutes left after picking up his second technical foul for apparently taunting a defender after scoring on a dunk. Antetokounmpo had 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting and nine rebound.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo is ejected from the game during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons. | Photo Credit: Morry Gash/ AP
Cade Cunningham scored 33 points for Detroit. The Pistons were missing six players due to illness and injury.
SUNS 116, BULLS 115, OT
Jusuf Nurkic powered to the basket for a layup with 7.3 seconds left in overtime and Phoenix outlasted Chicago in Bradley Beal’s Suns debut.
Grayson Allen scored 26 points, hitting a career-high eight 3-pointers, and Kevin Durant added 25 points to help the Suns win their second straight. Nurkic had 20 points. He failed to ice it with a pair of free throws with 0.4 seconds left — missing the first, then missing the rim on the second when he was trying to miss.
Acquired from Washington in June, Beal had 13 points after sitting out the first seven games of the season because of a back injury.
Nikola Vucevic scored 26 points for Chicago.
NETS 100, CLIPPERS 93
Lonnie Walker came off the bench to score 21 points and Brooklyn beat Los Angeles.
Former Nets star James Harden had 12 points and eight rebounds in his second game with Los Angeles since being acquired from Philadelphia on October 30. Paul George led the Clippers with 24 points.
Brooklyn Nets’ Lonnie Walker IV (8) shoots over LA Clippers’ James Harden (1) during the second half of an NBA basketball game. | Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II/ AP
Cam Thomas scored 14 points in the first half for the Nets before leaving early in the third quarter after spraining his left ankle.
THUNDER 128, CAVALIERS 120
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 43 points and Oklahoma City beat Cleveland.
Gilgeous-Alexander made 15 of 22 field goals and 12 of 13 free throws. He fell one point short of his career high and scored at least 40 for the eighth time. He also had seven rebounds and six assists.
Caris LeVert scored 29 points for Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell, who entered as the NBA’s leading scorer at 32.5 points per game, had 20 on 8-for-23 shooting.
HEAT 108, GRIZZLIES 102
Bam Adebayo had 30 points and 11 rebounds and Miami held off Memphis for its first road victory of the season.
Adebayo had 16 points in the fourth as Miami weathered a pair of Memphis rallies. The Grizzlies cut it to 105-102 on Santi Aldama’s 3-pointer with 35.5 seconds left, but Miami rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. countered with a 3 with 18.4 left to seal it.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 28 points.
ROCKETS 128, LAKERS 94
Jalen Green scored 28 points in three quarters and Houston never trailed against Los Angeles.
The Rockets have won four straight after dropping their first three games this season. They’ve won four in a row for the first time since winning seven consecutive games in late 2021.
Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green tries to protect the ball from Los Angeles Lakers’, from left, forward Rui Hachimura, guard D’Angelo Russell and forward Cam Reddish during the first half of an NBA basketball game. | Photo Credit: Michael Wyke/ AP
Rui Hachimura scored 24 for Los Angeles. LeBron James had a season-low 18 in a game in which Los Angeles was without Anthony Davis because of a groin injury.
RAPTORS 127, MAVERICKS 116
Pascal Siakam had 31 points and 12 rebounds, OG Anunoby scored 26 and Toronto beat Dallas to complete a two-game sweep in Texas.
Three nights after Toronto rallied from 22 points down for a win at San Antonio, Siakam and Anunoby combined for all the points on an 11-0 run that broke a 73-all tie in the third quarter.
Luka Doncic scored 31 points and Kyrie Irving had 22 for the Mavericks, who lost for the first time in four home games this season.
TIMBERWOLVES 122, PELICANS 101
Anthony Edwards scored 26 points and had a season-high eight assists and Minnesota beat short-handed New Orleans.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting and Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 20 rebounds to help Minnesota win its fourth straight game.
Brandon Ingram had 24 points for the Pelicans. New Orleans was without its two leading scorers, with Zion Williamson out for personal reasons and CJ McCollum sidelined for the second straight game by a collapsed lung.
PACERS 134, JAZZ 118
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Aaron Nesmith scored 24 points and Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner each added 22 to help Indiana beat Utah.
Tyrese Haliburton scored all 16 of his points in the second half and finished with 13 assists. Jalen Smith had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Jordan Clarkson led Utah with a season-high 33 points. The Jazz lost their fourth in a row and fell to 0-5 on the road.
WIZARDS 132, HORNETS 116
Kyle Kuzma scored 33 points and Washington made 18 3-pointers to beat Charlotte and snap a four-game losing streak.
Danilo Gallinari and Delon Wright each added 18 points and Landry Shamet had 15 as Washington’s reserves outscored Charlotte’s 72-23. LaMelo Ball had a season-high 34 points for the Hornets.
Both teams are 2-5. They will meet again Friday night in Washington in an NBA In-Season Tournament game.
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