The Washington Wizards withstood a 44-point effort from Kemba Walker and a fourth-quarter rally from the Knicks, beating New York 124-117 on Thursday night.
The Knicks had pulled within two points with 2:40 left in the game, but Kyle Kuzma had consecutive 3-pointers to give Washington an insurmountable lead.
Brandon Ingram scored 31 points, Josh Hart hit two clutch 3-pointers in the second half to thwart an Orlando rally, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Magic 110-104 on Thursday night.
The Pelicans have won four straight and five of six. New Orleans started the season 1-12 but is 11-9 since.
LeBron James finished playing back-to-back road games in the Midwest on Friday, flew to Phoenix on Saturday to watch his son play, and then dropped a triple-double on the Orlando Magic back in LA on Sunday night.
What’s this soon-to-be 37-year-old’s secret, other than spectacular talent and decades of hard work?
Tyler Herro scored 29 points, Max Strus added 26 and the Miami Heat rallied to beat the short-handed Detroit Pistons 115-112 on Thursday night.
Strus’ fifth 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining gave the Heat their final margin.
Cory Joseph’s game-tying 3-point attempt with two seconds left bounced off the rim and was rebounded by Miami reserve forward Udonis Haslem.
Kevin Durant scored an NBA season-high 51 points in the Brooklyn Nets’ 116-104 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
With James Harden resting, Durant scored at least 10 points in all four quarters.
“I knew I probably needed to pick up a little more of the scoring tonight,” said Durant, who had his seventh 50-point game of his career. “We were turning the ball over more than we should, and I was doing as much of that as anyone, so I figured I better just keep shooting.”
The 10 NBA teams with games scheduled on Christmas were told by the league Tuesday that shifting some game times is a possibility for the planned five-game slate, if virus-related issues force changes to the lineup.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a five-game losing streak with a 116-111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
Anthony Edwards had 24 points for Minnesota, which also ended an eight-game losing streak in Portland.
Anthony Davis is injured and out for at least a month. Klay Thompson’s incredibly long recovery is not quite finished. Kyrie Irving is almost certainly not going to be ready to make his season debut.
The NBA’s Christmas lineup was already going to be missing some stars.
Kevin Durant and James Harden carried the heavy scoring load for the Brooklyn Nets, as usual.
Coach Steve Nash also credited his “bullpen” for closing out New Jersey’s win over Atlanta.
Durant scored 31 points, including a go-ahead jumper midway through the fourth quarter, and the Nets proved to be resilient once again, beating the Hawks 113-105 on Friday night.
