Kevin Durant had 22 points and a season-high 11 assists, Amen Thompson scored 23 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Brooklyn Nets 120-96 on Thursday night for their fourth straight victory.
Alperen Sengun had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists after a two-game absence for the Rockets, who started fast in both halves to win in Brooklyn for the first time in seven years. Tari Eason finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard each scored 14 points.
Sengun was 8 for 12 from the floor after sitting out two games with a left calf injury.
Photo: AP
Cam Thomas scored 21 points for the Nets, who dropped their second straight after winning three in a row for the only time this season. Ziaire Williams added 14.
In Detroit, Norman Powell scored 36 points and Bam Abdebayo added 15 points and 14 rebounds as the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to four games with a win over the Detroit Pistons.
Cade Cunningham had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for Detroit and Marcus Sasser scored 18.
Detroit trailed by 22 in the second half and was still down 114-103 with two minutes left, but scored six straight points to make it a five-point game. Powell missed and Javonte Green hit a 3-pointer to get the Pistons within two with 46.4 seconds to play.
However, Jaime Jaquez Jr. hit a short jumper to make it a two-possession game, and Ausar Thompson’s turnover forced the Pistons to start fouling. Powell hit a pair of free throws — his first points of the fourth quarter — to clinch it.
Jaquez scored 19 points for the Heat and Andrew Wiggins added 17.
In Dallas, Tyrese Maxey had 34 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, Joel Embiid scored 22 points and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Dallas Mavericks.
Rookie guard V.J. Edgecombe, the one-and-done player from Baylor playing 160km from his college campus for the first time, scored 23 points two nights after hitting a 3-pointer in the final seconds of a 139-136 overtime victory at Memphis, Tennessee.
Oft-injured Anthony Davis returned for Dallas after missing two games with a sore adductor muscle. The 10-time All-Star finished with 13 points and eight rebounds as the Mavs matched their season worst with a fourth consecutive loss.
Rookie No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg scored 12 points for the Mavericks, who were led by Max Christie’s 18 points.
In Sacramento, California, Jaylen Brown had 29 points and 10 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics pulled away down the stretch to beat the Sacramento Kings.
Brown shot 11 of 25, including 1 for 9 from 3-point distance, but made six free throws and added four assists before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
The four-time All-Star has been on a scoring tear lately, pouring in 20 or more points in 12 of his last 15 games.
Payton Pritchard had 16 points and six assists as Boston improved to 3-1 on its five-game trip. Sam Hauser hit five 3-pointers to finish with 15 points. Anfernee Simons also scored 15.
DeMar DeRozan led Sacramento with 25 points. Dennis Schroder scored 18 and Keon Ellis added 16. The Kings have lost four of five and nine of 11.
In Inglewood, California, Kawhi Leonard scored 45 points, James Harden added 20 and the Los Angeles Clippers recovered from blowing a 21-point lead to beat the Utah Jazz, extending their winning streak to a season-best six games.
Leonard was the only Clippers starter on the floor for much of the fourth quarter. He singlehandedly matched Utah’s points in the period, with blood on his nose from what appeared to be a scratch.
Los Angeles hit seven straight 3-pointers, with Leonard making four, to pull away. Nicolas Batum finished with 14 points and went 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
The Jazz rallied despite being without three starters. They were led by reserve Kyle Anderson with 22 points — his first 20-point game in nearly three years — and Brice Sensabaugh with 20. Anderson’s eight rebounds were a season high. Cody Williams also had 18 points, while Isaiah Collier had 16 points and 10 assists.
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
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Supermaxis Master Lock Comanche and defending champions LawConnect yesterday continued their close duel on the second day of the 80th running of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Just over 27 hours into the race that began on Friday in Sydney Harbour and is to end on the island state of Tasmania, Comanche had a 4 nautical mile (7.4km) lead over LawConnect. LawConnect was forced to contend with a broken mainsheet and halyard overnight, but fixed both issues and remained in pursuit of Comanche, which is skippered by Matt Allen and James Mayo. “We had a few things slow us down and Comanche’s
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