Gilgeous-Alexander scores 40, Thunder pull away for 132-111 win over Wizards after early scuffle

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points and the Oklahoma Thunder pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Washington Wizards 132-111 on Saturday night for their 11th straight win, a game during which four players were ejected following a scuffle in the first half.

Gilgeous-Alexander extended his NBA record of 63 consecutive road games with at least 20 points.

Oklahoma’s Jaylin Williams and Washington’s Justin Champagnie began shoving each other after a basket by the Wizards with 27 seconds left in the second quarter. Several players joined in and the scrum spilled into the stands behind the basket.

In addition to Williams and Champagnie, Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace of the Thunder each received a technical foul and were ejected.

Despite losing three players, the Thunder were able to send the Wizards to their season-worst 15th straight loss.

Isaiah Hartenstein had 20 rebounds, 10 assists and 9 points for Oklahoma City. Chet Holmgren had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Jared McCain added 18 points.

Bilal Coulibaly scored 21 points and Bub Carrington added 19 for the Wizards, who are one game from matching a franchise-worst skid of 16 consecutive losses, which happened most recently in March 2024.

HORNETS 124, GRIZZLIES 101

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball scored 29 points and finished 7 of 14 from 3-point range to help lift Charlotte to their third straight victory, over struggling Memphis.

Brandon Miller had 22 points and Moussa Diabate had 14 rebounds and 11 points for the Hornets, who have won five of their last six and are 21-6 since Jan. 22 to make a push for a play-in spot.

GG Jackson scored 19 points and Javon Small added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Grizzlies, who have lost two in a row and 10 of their last 11.

LAKERS 105, MAGIC 104

ORLANDO (AP) — LeBron James set the NBA record by playing in his 1,612th regular-season game and Luke Kennard made a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left to send Los Angeles to a comeback victory over Orlando.

Luka Doncic scored 33 points in the Lakers’ ninth straight win, but was called for his 16th technical foul — an automatic one-game suspension by the league if it’s not rescinded.

James had 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals on his record-breaking night, passing the mark Robert Parish held for nearly 30 years.

Paolo Banchero, who led seven Magic players in double figures with 16 points, blocked a shot by James out of bounds with 4.7 seconds left. After a replay review, it was determined that the ball had not caromed off James’ foot out of bounds — and Los Angeles maintained possession. That set up Marcus Smart’s pass to Kennard for the winning shot.

Austin Reaves had 26 points for the Lakers.

CAVALIERS 111, PELICANS 106

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points and James Harden, held scoreless in the first half, added 20 second-half points to power Cleveland to a comeback victory over New Orleans.

Cleveland trailed 88-76 entering the final period, but outscored the Pelicans 35-18 in the fourth — with Harden scoring 13 and Mitchell 12 in the quarter. It was the Cavaliers’ eighth victory in their last nine games against New Orleans, which had its seven-game home winning streak snapped.

Harden made three 3-pointers and a layup in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to spark an 18-7 run, and the Cavs took the lead for good, 100-99, on a layup by Max Strus, during a 15-7 surge.

Zion Williams, who picked up three early fouls and was quiet offensively in the first half, scored 15 of his team-high 25 points in the third quarter. In a 2:16 span of the third, Williamson scored 11 points and assisted on a 3-pointer by Saddiq Bey in the left corner during a 14-2 run that gave the Pelicans a 72-61 lead. Bey finished with 19.

HAWKS 126, WARRIORS 110

ATLANTA (AP) — Dyson Daniels scored a season-high 28 points and CJ McCollumn had 23 points as Atlanta bounced back after having their 11-game win streak snapped with a win over Golden State.

Zaccharie Risacher had 17 points for the Hawks, who were without Jalen Johnson (left shoulder inflammation).

Mouhamed Gueye had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 17 as the Hawks shot 54% from the floor to win their 10th straight home game.

Daniels had 15 points in the first quarter, a career-high for one quarter, and finished with six assists and four steals. The Hawks had won 11 in a row before a 117-95 loss to Houston on Friday night.

Jonathan Kuminga struggled for the Hawks in his first game against the team he spent four-plus seasons with. He had two points on 1 for 9 shooting.

De’Anthony Melton had 20 points to lead the Warriors, who have lost eight of their last nine games as they await the return of several injured players.

ROCKETS 123, HEAT 122

HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 27 points to move past Michael Jordan for fifth place on the NBA’s career scoring list and Amen Thompson had a tip-in at the buzzer to lift Houston to a win over Miami.

Durant’s shot for the win bounced off the rim and Thompson tipped it in to give Houston the thrilling victory. Durant has 32,294 points in his career, two more than Jordan.

Miami trailed by eight before using a 9-2 run, with a 3 from Simon Fontecchio, to get within 119-118 with 46.3 seconds to go. Reed Sheppard made a shot in the lane to push the lead to 121-118 with 12.7 seconds left.

Bam Adebayo made two free throws after that before Jabari Smith Jr. was called for goaltending on a layup by Fontecchio to put the Heat on top 122-121 with 5.4 seconds remaining and set up the wild ending.

SPURS 134, PACERS 119

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Keldon Johnson and Dylan Harper each scored 24 points and San Antonio never trailed in a victory over Indiana.

San Antonio All-Star Victor Wembanyama had 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five blocks. Harper was 9 for 13 from the field in his first NBA start.

Andrew Nembhard scored 25 points and Jarace Walker added 21 for the Pacers, whose franchise-record losing streak reached 16 games. Indiana fell to 15-56 overall and is in last place in the Eastern Conference after losing to Oklahoma City in seven games in last season’s the NBA Finals.

San Antonio has won 21 of its last 23 games and improved to 53-18, securing its most victories since finishing 61-21 in 2017.

The Pacers had three players out and 10 questionable with various injuries Saturday. Nine of the 10 in question played, with the exception being Ethan Thompson, who is on a G League assignment.

CLIPPERS 138, MAVERICKS 131, OT

DALLAS (AP) — Darius Garland scored a season-high 41 points, Kawhi Leonard added 34 with a tying bucket late in regulation and Los Angeles beat Dallas in overtime, extending the Mavericks’ longest home losing streak in 32 years to 11 games.

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 15 points with a pair of 3-pointers in the extra period, and Garland had 11 assists as the Clippers ended a four-game skid that followed a four-game winning streak.

Los Angeles pulled even with Portland for eighth in the Western Conference. Both teams are safely in the mix for the play-in tournament.

Naji Marshall scored 28 points for the Mavericks, who are on their longest skid at the 25-year old American Airlines Center. Dallas had home losing streaks of 19 and 12 games during the 1993-94 season at since-demolished Reunion Arena.

76ERS 126, JAZZ 116

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — VJ Edgecombe had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Quentin Grimes scored 26 points to lead Philadelphia to a victory over Utah.

Trendon Watford had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Adem Bona and Cameron Payne each had 16 points — with Payne adding seven assists — for the 76ers, who won for the fourth time in five games.

Philadelphia overcame 17 turnovers and outscored the Jazz 74-52 in the paint.

Ace Bailey led Utah with 25 points, seven rebounds, and a season-high five blocks. Kennedy Chandler added 19 points in his debut after signing a 10-day contract with the Jazz earlier Saturday. Elijah Harkless had 15 points, five assists and a season-high five steals. Bez Mbeng had 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds in his first career start.

BUCKS 108, SUNS 105

PHOENIX (AP) — Ryan Rollins had 26 points and 10 rebounds, Kyle Kuzma scored 20 before leaving with an injury and short-handed Milwaukee beat Phoenix.

The Suns have lost five straight. The Bucks won for just the third time in 12 games.

Rollins made a tough floater in the lane with 23.8 seconds to push the Bucks up 107-104 and added a free throw with 9.7 seconds left to seal the win. He shot 10 of 19 from the field and also added seven assists.

Kuzma left in the third quarter because of tightness in his right Achilles tendon.

The Suns took an 82-81 lead after three quarters and the game stayed tight throughout the fourth. Ousmane Dieng’s short jumper pushed the Bucks ahead 102-97 with 2:21 left.

Phoenix All-Star Devin Booker responded with a 3-pointer while being fouled and made the free throw to cut the deficit to 102-101. It was one of the few highlights for Booker, who finished with just 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting.

Jalen Green led the Suns with 24 points, while Collin Gillespie had 18.