Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, left, and Suns forward Kevin Durant walk down the court during the second half the Suns’ 130-126 win on Sunday in Dallas. Gareth Patterson/Associated Press
DALLAS — Kevin Durant scored 37 points, including the tiebreaking jumper with 11 seconds to go, to lift the Phoenix Suns to a 130-126 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday in a thrilling showcase of stars for both teams.
The first meeting between Durant and Dallas’ Kyrie Irving since they were traded by Brooklyn before the deadline last month was even when Durant pulled up over Tim Hardaway Jr. and Irving for the lead.
Luka Doncic had 34 points for Dallas, but his point-blank shot for a tie rimmed out before he fouled Durant after the rebound with 3.5 seconds remaining.
After the play was over, Doncic and Devin Booker, who scored 36 points, ended up nose-to-nose and both were issued technical fouls before Durant hit two free throws to clinch the victory.
It was the 14th technical of the season for Doncic, two shy of the threshold for a one-game suspension.
Irving scored 30 points exactly four years to the day since the last time he faced Durant, when his Boston Celtics blew out Durant and his Golden State Warriors 128-95.
BUCKS 117, WIZARDS 111: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 23 points, had a season-high 13 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fourth-triple double of the season, and the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks won in Washington.
Jevon Carter added 20 points while shooting 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, and Jrue Holiday scored 19 in Milwaukee’s victory a night after a home loss to Philadelphia snapped a 16-game win streak.
The Bucks made 22 of their 49 attempts beyond the arc, the most allowed by the Wizards this season. Milwaukee began the night a half-game ahead of Boston for first in the Eastern Conference.
LAKERS 113, WARRIORS 105: Anthony Davis scored 39 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles held on for a victory over Golden State in Los Angeles despite Stephen Curry’s 27 points in his return to the lineup.
The Lakers led most of the game but a 3-pointer by Golden State’s Anthony Lamb tied it at 91 with 5:37 remaining in the game. Los Angeles ran off seven straight points and would go up 103-95 before 3-pointers by Klay Thompson and Curry made it a two-point game with 1:46 remaining.
That would be as close as the Warriors would get though as they missed three straight from beyond the arc and the Lakers converted at the foul line.
Austin Reaves scored 16 points and Troy Brown Jr. 14 for the Lakers, who have split their four games with LeBron James out of the lineup due to a foot tendon injury.
Curry, who missed 11 games due to a left leg injury, was 3 of 11 from the field with eight points after three quarters but scored 19 in the final 12 minutes.
PACERS 125, BULLS 122: Tyrese Haliburton scored 29 points, including a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left, to give Indiana a win in Chicago.
Haliburton’s game-winning shot occurred after Zach LaVine missed a free throw that would have given the Bulls the lead with 22.6 second left. LaVine, who scored a game-high 42 points, was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Bennedict Mathurin and converted the first two free throw tries.
After Haliburton’s 3-pointer, a game-tying shot attempt by Nikola Vucevic bounced off the rim.
Mathurin added 17 points for the Pacers (29-36), while DeMar DeRozan scored 23 for the Bulls (29-36), who lost despite shooting 60.8% (45-for-74) from the field.
TRAIL BLAZERS 122, MAGIC 119: Damian Lillard scored eight of his 41 points from the foul line in the final three minutes Sunday night to the lead Portland to a win in Orlando, Florida.
Jerami Grant added 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Blazers and Cam Reddish added 16 points.
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 26 points. Franz Wagner added 24, and Markelle Fultz finished with 15 points, eight assists and four steals.
Two 3-pointers by Lillard and one by Shaedon Sharpe filled a run late in the third quarter that broke an 83-all tie and left Portland with a nine-point lead, the largest of the game.
NES 102, HORNETS 86: Mikal Bridges went 9 for 9 in a 19-point first quarter, finishing with 33 to lead Brooklyn to a victory over Charlotte in New York.
Two nights after coming from 28 down to beat Boston in the biggest comeback in the NBA this season, the Nets led by as much as 37 after Bridges’ fast start in the highest-scoring quarter of his career.
ROCKETS 142, SPURS 110: Jalen Green scored 31 points and Houston beat the Spurs in Houston, beating San Antonio for the second straight night in a matchup of the Western Conference’s worst teams.
The Rockets snapped an 11-game skid with a 122-110 win Saturday night in San Antonio and picked up where they left off at home Sunday, leading by as many as 32.
They were up by 10 at halftime, used a 35-point third quarter to lead by 21 and to start the fourth and cruised to the victory.
THUNDER 129, JAZZ 119: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 38 points and seven rebounds in his return from a five-game absence and host Oklahoma City led all the way to beat Utah.
Rookie Jalen Williams added a career-high 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting and Josh Giddey just missed a triple-double with 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for Oklahoma City, which beat the Jazz for the second time in three days. The Thunder also won in blowout fashion on Friday, 130-103.
Utah trailed by double digits for the final 42 minutes of Sunday’s game. Jordan Clarkson led Utah with 18 points but missed all five of his 3-point attempts. The Jazz played without All-Star Lauri Markkanen, who sat out with what the team said was a low-back strain.
NOTES
GRIZZLIES: There’s no timetable for Ja Morant to return to the Memphis Grizzlies, and the All-Star guard knows he’s made “difficult decisions and poor choices” that he has to be accountable for, Coach Taylor Jenkins said Sunday night.
Morant was not with the team in Los Angeles for games against the Clippers on Sunday and the Lakers on Tuesday while the NBA investigates a social media post in which Morant appeared to be holding a gun.
“Very tough moment, for sure,” Jenkins said of the video.
Morant streamed the video on his Instagram account early Saturday of himself holding what appeared to be a gun at a nightclub, hours after playing in Denver. He said in a statement through the agency that represents him that he takes “full responsibility” for his actions and that he was going to “take some time away to get help.”
“He understands he’s made some difficult decisions and poor choices in the past that he’s got to account for,” Jenkins said. “He’s definitely embracing the mistakes that he’s made but only time will tell. We’re going to support him and we’re going to hold him accountable to make those changes.”
Jenkins declined to outline the steps Morant needs to take to rejoin the team, saying, “We love him, we want what’s best for him, we support him. It’s going to be a difficult process but we’ve got a great group to get through this.”
He called it “an ongoing healing process.”
The league, if it finds wrongdoing, could fine or suspend Morant.
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