James Harden scored 25 points and matched his career high of 17 assists to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 116-112 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
Jeff Green scored 20 points and Joe Harris added 17 as the Nets won for the 16th time in the past 18 games. Nicolas Claxton recorded 16 points and nine rebounds and fellow reserve Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot added 11 points as Brooklyn prevailed in the opener of a three-game road trip.
The Nets were without Kyrie Irving, who is skipping the trip due to a family matter. Kevin Durant remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Damian Lillard scored 22 points with nine assists and Enes Kanter registered 19 points, 19 rebounds and six assists for Portland. The Trail Blazers lost their second straight following a stretch in which they won seven of nine.
New York Knicks 131 – Washington Wizards 113
Julius Randle scored 37 points as host New York rolled past struggling Washington, handing the Wizards their seventh loss in eight games.
It was Randle’s fifth time scoring at least 30 points this season, and his big performance helped the Knicks bounce back from an overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. Randle made 13 of 24 shots and tied a career with seven 3-pointers.
Bradley Beal scored 22 points for the Wizards, who got 14 points and 12 assists from Russell Westbrook.
Denver Nuggets 110 – Orlando Magic 99
Nikola Jokic collected his second triple-double in as many games with 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists as visiting Denver beat Orlando.
Jamal Murray had 21 points, Will Barton added 17 and Michael Porter Jr. chipped in with 18 for the Nuggets, who have won nine of their past 11 games and nine straight against Orlando. P.J. Dozier had 14 points off the bench to help Denver extend its road winning streak to six games by taking the opener of the three-game trek.
Evan Fournier sank five 3-pointers to highlight his season-high-tying, 31-point performance for the Magic, who have dropped 11 of their last 12 games. Nikola Vucevic had 18 points (on 8-for-25 shooting) and Al-Farouq Aminu added 17 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.
New Orleans Pelicans 128 – Los Angeles Lakers 111
Brandon Ingram scored 36 points and Zion Williamson added 27 as host New Orleans routed depleted Los Angeles, which played again without injured All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 18 points, Kira Lewis Jr. had 16, Jaxson Hayes had 15 and Steven Adams scored 12 as the Pelicans ended a seven-game losing streak against the Lakers. New Orleans won its second straight game despite the absence of Lonzo Ball (hip flexor strain) for both contests.
Montrezl Harrell scored 18 points while Kyle Kuzma had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles.
Philadelphia 76ers 108 – Golden State Warriors 98
Tobias Harris scored five of his game-high 25 points in a 9-0 flurry late in the game that allowed Philadelphia to break from a tie and emerge with a win over Golden State in San Francisco.
Ben Simmons chipped in with 22 points with eight rebounds and Tony Bradley, starting in place of Joel Embiid, put up 18 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers. Philadelphia won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had a team-high 24 points with 10 rebounds and Jordan Poole added 19 points in place of injured Stephen Curry for the Warriors, who fell back to .500 with a second straight loss.
Phoenix Suns 110 – Miami Heat 100
Devin Booker scored 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting to lead visiting Phoenix to a victory over Miami.
The Suns took the lead with 5:43 left in the first quarter as part of an early 10-0 run and never trailed again. They won their third consecutive game.
Kendrick Nunn led Miami, scoring 17 of his 25 points in the second half and shooting 10 of 19 — including 5-for-9 from 3-point range — for the game. But the Heat again struggled to maintain consistency on offense as they lost their fourth consecutive game.
—Field Level Media
