Rockets beat Bucks 122-115 behind Durant’s 31 points and clutch finish

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 31 points and made a tiebreaking basket with 1:42 remaining to put the Houston Rockets ahead for good in a 122-115 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

Houston bounced back from a 121-110 loss at San Antonio two nights earlier as it ended a three-game trip. The Rockets, who have won six of their last seven, are now at home for their next three games.

Durant shot 11 of 15 from the floor and had a season-high seven assists. Alperen Sengun had 23 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Jabari Smith and Reed Sheppard added 16 points each.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 37 points and eight rebounds for Milwaukee, but went 1 of 4 from the foul line in the game’s final 89 seconds. Rollins scored 19 for Milwaukee.

The Rockets trailed most of the way before outscoring the Bucks 22-7 over the last 4 minutes, 33 seconds.

CELTICS 111, MAGIC 107

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 27 points, and Derrick White and Jordan Walsh hit 3-pointers in the final minute to send Boston to a win over Orlando.

White, who finished with 21 points, hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to give the Celtics a four-point lead. Walsh made a 3 with 13 seconds remaining to extend Boston’s lead to 110-105.

Paolo Banchero, slowed by foul trouble in the second half, scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter for Orlando. Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs scored 20 points apiece.

Boston’s Anfernee Simons scored 25 points in the first half.

Simons hit three 3-pointers and scored Boston’s first 14 points of the second quarter, helping the Celtics to an 11-point lead.

The Magic pulled even by halftime and led 85-83 when Suggs scored on an inside runner early in the fourth quarter. Luka Garza (16 points, eight rebounds in 17 minutes) and Hugo Gonzalez then combined for nine points as part of a 13-0 bench surge, giving Boston an 11-point edge with 5:58 left.

THUNDER 114, GRIZZLIES 100

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, including a nine-point outburst in the fourth quarter, to help Oklahoma City beat Memphis.

Memphis was still within single digits with just more than four minutes left when Gilgeous-Alexander converted consecutive 3-pointers and completed a three-point play to stretch the lead to double-figures, helping seal the win for the defending NBA champions. Oklahoma City improved to 6-1 on the road and 10-1 overall, with its only loss coming Wednesday at Portland.

Chet Holmgren and Ajay Mitchell each scored 21 points for the Thunder. Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 17 points. Cedric Coward had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Wells and Sant Aldama scored 12 apiece. Ja Morant was limited to 11 points on 3-for-18 shooting from the field.

Oklahoma City overcame poor shooting and a 19-point deficit in the first half by outscoring Memphis 34-18 in the third and erase the Grizzlies’ advantage. The Thunder went on to outscore Memphis 63-38 in the second half.

KNICKS 134, NETS 98

NEW YORK (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and New York routed Brooklyn to win their fourth straight and improve to 6-0 at home.

Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each added 19 points for the Knicks, who matched the longest winning streak in series history at 11 games. Mikal Bridges had 16, Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson 11 apiece and Mitchell Robinson finished with eight points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 for the Nets, who have dropped two straight since their lone victory and fell to 1-9.

After scoring a season-high 137 points in their last game, the Knicks kept rolling offensively, shooting 54.5% from the field and racking up an 18-4 advantage in fast-break points.

The Knicks raced to an 8-0 lead, then closed the first quarter with an 11-0 burst to lead 40-22. They were 7 for 11 from 3-point range in the period and the Nets were 1 for 10.

New York led 77-62 at halftime. That came after the Knicks scored 83 points in the second half of their victory over Minnesota on Wednesday, giving them 160 points over their last four quarters.

PISTONS 111, 76ERS 108

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cade Cunningham made two clutch baskets down the stretch and finished with 26 points, Jalen Duren had 21 points and 16 rebounds and the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons extended their winning streak to six games with a victory over Philadelphia.

Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points for Philadelphia, which played without Joel Embiid. Andre Drummond, starting for Embiid, had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers.

Embiid did not play in the second game of a back-to-back after scoring 29 points in Philadelphia’s 130-120 win over Toronto on Saturday night. Embiid has played in six of 10 games as he continues to recover from offseason left knee surgery. He is averaging 19.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in 23.3 minutes.

Detroit led by as many as five points in the fourth quarter but trailed 101-100 with 4:54 remaining after a Maxey 3-pointer.

Cunningham capped a 9-3 Detroit run with a dunk over Drummond and then converted the free throw after being fouled to give the Pistons a 109-104 lead with 1:51 left.

WARRIORS 114, PACERS 83

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jimmy Butler had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Quinten Post contributed 14 points and seven rebounds, and Golden State beat short-handed Indiana.

Stephen Curry missed his third straight game with a bad cold and had been listed as questionable with an illness. He was set to go through a workout Sunday and again Monday, then travel with the team in hopes he would return Tuesday at Oklahoma City.

Al Horford added 12 points and four rebounds off the bench and Golden State used a 13-0 spurt spanning the third and fourth quarters and 21-7 run to pull away down the stretch.

Andrew Nembhard scored 14 points and dished out four of his nine assists in the second quarter for Indiana.

Indiana rested power forward Pascal Siakam for the second game of a tough road back-to-back and also missed forward Aaron Nesmith after he bruised his right forearm going for a rebound in a 117-100 defeat Saturday at Denver. Nesmith scored a career-best 31 points on 10-for-19 shooting in the earlier matchup with the Warriors.

TIMBERWOLVES 144, KINGS 117

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Anthony Edwards had 26 points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and led Minnesota to a win over Sacramento.

Edwards shot 7 for 16 from the field, 5 for 11 from 3-point range and made 7 of 8 shots from the line. He was coming off a 37-point effort in a 137-97 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday. In his last two games, Edwards has hit 12 of 23 shots from 3-point distance.

Jaden McDaniels scored 21 points and Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert added 19 points apiece for the Timberwolves (6-4). Naz Reid scored 13 points off the bench. Gobert added 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Zach LaVine scored 26 points, and DeMar DeRozan added 22 for the Kings (3-7), who lost for the third time in four games. Domantas Sabonis had 20 points and 13 rebounds after missing the last two games due to rib soreness.