MINNEAPOLIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics were the last team to fall from the ranks of the undefeated and James Harden made his debut with the LA Clippers on a busy Monday night in the NBA.
Timberwolves 114, Celtics 109 (OT)
Anthony Edwards scored a game-high 38 points in as Minnesota prevailed in overtime to hand Boston its first loss of the season.
Edwards, who also had nine rebounds and seven assists, came through in OT by making jump shots on three consecutive possessions. Jaden McDaniels had a 20-point performance for the Timberwolves, who received 14 points and 12 rebounds from Rudy Gobert.
Jayson Tatum scored a team-high 32 points for the Celtics, who got 26 points from Jaylen Brown and 20 from Kristaps Porzingis.
Knicks 111, Clippers 97
RJ Barrett, returning from a two-game absence caused by a sore left knee, scored 11 points during a fourth-quarter surge as the host New York Knicks broke open a tie game and cruised to a 111-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
The Knicks outscored the Clippers 35-21 in the fourth quarter and 69-51 in the second half, spoiling the debut of new Los Angeles acquisition James Harden.
Barrett finished with 26 points while Julius Randle posted a season-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who won at home for the first time in three tries this season. Mitchell Robinson (13 points, 15 rebounds) also had a double-double for New York.
Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points while Harden finished with 17 points in 31-plus minutes in his first action since the Philadelphia 76ers dealt him to the Clippers on Oct. 31.
Nuggets 134, Pelicans 116
Nikola Jokic had 35 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, rookie Julian Strawther scored a career-best 21 points and host Denver rallied from a 20-point deficit to rout New Orleans.
It was Jokic’s 108th career triple-double, fourth most on the all-time list. Rookie Jordan Hawkins scored a career-high 31 points and Brandon Ingram added 22 for the Pelicans.
New Orleans guard CJ McCollum was out after an MRI on Sunday revealed he had a collapsed lung and would likely miss multiple games. The Nuggets were missing guard Jamal Murray, who will be out for an extended period of time due to a hamstring injury.
Warriors 120, Pistons 109
Stephen Curry had 34 points and visiting Golden State defeated slumping Detroit.
Chris Paul finished with 17 points, six assists and five rebounds off the bench, and Klay Thompson had 17 points. Dario Saric added 12 points, while Jonathan Kuminga and Kevon Looney chipped in 10 apiece.
Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes each had 21 points and combined for 12 assists for Detroit, which has lost five straight games. Isaiah Stewart contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Ausar Thompson had 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
Pacers 152, Spurs 111
Tyrese Haliburton scored 23 points, 20 of them in a dominating first half, and Myles Turner added 15 points and 11 rebounds as Indiana rolled past San Antonio in Indianapolis.
Indiana has won two of the first three games on its current homestand and ran the Spurs and rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama out of the building while forging a 25-point lead by halftime and a 39-point advantage late in the third quarter. Indiana finished with its highest-scoring game of the season.
Doug McDermott led San Antonio with 17 points off the bench. Keldon Johnson added 16, Zach Collins had 14, Wembanyama produced 13 points and 10 rebounds and Charles Bassey scored 10 points for the Spurs, who were playing the second game of a home-road back-to-back.
Mavericks 117, Magic 102
Luka Doncic poured in 29 points and Kyrie Irving scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half as Dallas improved to 6-1 with a big comeback win over host Orlando.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 21 points for Dallas, which trailed by as many as 15 points in the second quarter before outscoring Orlando 64-36 in the second half.
Paolo Banchero scored 22 points to lead Orlando. Moe Wagner and Cole Anthony had 19 points apiece off the bench for the Magic, who missed their first 13 3-point attempts in the second half.
76ers 146, Wizards 128
Joel Embiid had 48 points, 11 rebounds and six assists to lift host Philadelphia over Washington.
Tyrese Maxey added 22 points and a career-high 11 assists, Tobias Harris contributed 18 points and De’Anthony Melton had 14 for the Sixers, who won their fifth game in a row after a season-opening loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Kyle Kuzma led the struggling Wizards with 28 points, while Jordan Poole added 23 and Deni Avdija followed with 16.
Heat 108, Lakers 107
Bam Adebayo recorded a triple-double of 22 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists, Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 28 points and Miami survived a late-game surge to beat visiting Los Angeles.
Tyler Herro finished with 22 points despite going just 2-for-10 from 3-point range on a night when the Heat collectively went just 12-for-37 from beyond the arc. The Miami defense forced Los Angeles into an even worse shooting performance from deep, however, limiting the Lakers to 8 of 26 from long range.
LeBron James scored seven of his game-high 30 points in a 1:19 stretch late in the fourth quarter, helping trim a 10-point Miami lead to one. His last points of the burst, a three-point play with 2:39 remaining, capped the game’s scoring.
Bucks 129, Nets 125
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 36 points and hit the tiebreaking basket with 71 seconds remaining as Milwaukee outlasted Brooklyn in New York.
Antetokounmpo shot 15 of 27 from the field and scored nine points in the final six-plus minutes to help the Bucks get their second straight win. Damian Lillard added 21 points and seven assists for Milwaukee.
Cam Thomas led all scorers with 45 points and Mikal Bridges added 31 in the loss. Ben Simmons grabbed 15 rebounds for the Nets.
Bulls 130, Jazz 113
Zach LaVine scored 24 points and DeMar DeRozan added 21 as Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over visiting Utah.
Coby White hit 7 of 9 shots to finish with 18 points and had seven assists for the Bulls, who had eight players score in double figures as they successfully opened a three-game homestand with their top offensive output of the season.
Lauri Markkanen had a game-high 29 points, including five 3-pointers, but the Jazz posted a third consecutive loss.
Rockets 122, Kings 97
Jalen Green scored a game-high 23 points while Alperen Sengun posted a double-double as Houston dismantled visiting Sacramento for the second time in three days.
Green needed only nine shot attempts to pace the Rockets in scoring, doing most of his damage at the free-throw line, where he finished 10 of 12. Sengun, meanwhile, was the offensive linchpin, pairing a career-high 12 assists with 17 points to help Houston to its third consecutive victory.
The Kings, playing their third straight game without guard De’Aaron Fox (ankle), lost for the third straight time. They fell 107-89 at Houston on Saturday.
Thunder 126, Hawks 117
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points to lead Oklahoma City past visiting Atlanta, ending the Thunder’s two-game skid while also ending the Hawks’ four-game winning streak.
Gilgeous-Alexander missed Friday’s loss to Golden State with a sprained left knee. Trailing by 19 entering the fourth quarter, the Hawks didn’t go away quietly and steadily cut into the Thunder’s lead, eventually getting it down to six with a minute remaining.
But rookie center Chet Holmgren grabbed a rebound of Gilgeous-Alexander’s miss and laid it in, then was fouled by Onyeka Okongwu and made the free throw to finally put the game away.
–Field Level Media