- Associated Press - Saturday, January 23, 2021

NEW YORK (AP) - Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Kyrie Irving took over late and had 28 and the Brooklyn Nets overcame Bam Adebayo’s career-high 41 points to beat the Miami Heat 128-124 on Saturday night.

James Harden finished with 12 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds and the Nets won for the first time with their three superstars playing together. They lost consecutive games with dismal defensive efforts in Cleveland and barely got enough stops to hold off a short-handed Heat team that had been limited to 81 points a night earlier.

But Irving helped pull them through, with 12 points in the final 5:48 after the Heat had erased nearly all of an 18-point deficit.

Joe Harris added 23 points and seven 3-pointers for Brooklyn.

Goran Dragic scored 19 points, and Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson each had 18 for the Heat. Adebayo also had nine assists while blowing past his previous best scoring night of 30 points.

LAKERS 101, BULLS 90

CHICAGO (AP) - Anthony Davis scored a season-high 37 points against his hometown team, LeBron James added 17 points and 11 rebounds and Los Angeles beat Chicago.

The defending NBA champions improved to 9-0 on the road and a league-best 13-4 overall.

Davis scored 26 points in the highest scoring half by a Laker this season as Los Angeles grabbed a 63-33 lead. The seven-time All-Star shot 14 of 21, hit two 3-pointers, and grabbed six rebounds.

Zach LaVine led Chicago with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

NUGGETS 120, SUNS 112, 2 OT

PHOENIX (AP) - Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 22 rebounds, Jamal Murray hit a difficult 3-pointer to force overtime and Denver outlasted Phoenix in two overtimes.

It was the second straight night the teams played extra basketball. The Nuggets won 130-126 in a single overtime Friday after rallying from a 14-point halftime deficit.

Saturday’s game was even more entertaining. Murray hit an off-balance 3-pointer with Deandre Ayton in his face as time expired in regulation. Phoenix’s Jae Crowder responded with a 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left in the first overtime.

The Suns played without All-Star guard Devin Booker for the first time this season. Averaging a team-high 22.9 points, he hurt his left hamstring Friday.

Crowder and Chris Paul led the Suns with 21 points each. Paul also had 13 assists.

76ERS 114, PISTONS 110

DETROIT (AP) - Joel Embiid had 33 points and 14 rebounds, and his two free throws with 7.2 seconds left helped Philadelphia seal a victory over Detroit.

Ben Simmons added 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the 76ers, and he made a couple big free throws of his own in the final minute. Philadelphia is atop the Eastern Conference but didn’t push its lead over the last-place Pistons into double figures until early in the fourth quarter. That was when Dwight Howard’s dunk put the 76ers up 99-88.

Detroit trailed 110-108 after Jerami Grant made a 3-pointer with 28.5 seconds left, but Simmons calmly made two free throws to push the lead to four. Delon Wright’s layup made it 112-110, but Embiid closed the game out with his free throws and finished 12 of 17 from the line.

Wayne Ellington scored 17 points for the Pistons.

JAZZ 127, WARRIORS 108

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Donovan Mitchell had 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Utah routed Golden State for its eighth straight victory.

Stephen Curry made five 3-pointers for the Warriors to give him 2,562 in his career - passing Reggie Miller for second place in NBA history. Ray Allen is first with 2,973.

Curry finished had 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead Golden State.

Mike Conley scored 17 points and hit five 3s for the Jazz, who led by 30 at halftime and opened a 40-point bulge early in the fourth quarter.

ROCKETS 133, MAVERICKS 108

DALLAS (AP) - Eric Gordon scored a season-high 33 points, DeMarcus Cousins had his best game for Houston with 28 points and 17 rebounds and the Rockets beat Dallas.

John Wall had seven points and eight assists after missing five straight games with right knee soreness. It was the first game for Wall since the James Harden trade. The Rockets were without a key piece of that deal as Victor Oladipo rested a sore right quadriceps.

Luka Doncic scored 26 points while sitting the entire fourth quarter with the game out of reach. The Slovenian star was again without European sidekick Kristaps Porzingis, who rested his surgically repaired right knee as the Mavericks finished five games in seven days by completing their second back-to-back in that stretch.

TIMBERWOLVES 120, PELICANS 110

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Naz Reid scored 20 points and Minnesota beat New Orleans to snap a four-game losing streak.

Anthony Edwards scored 18 points, and Jared Vanderbilt set career highs with 16 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota.

Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 30 points. Eric Bledsoe added 28, and Zion Williamson had 19 points and 11 rebounds.

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