Damian Lillard capped his 43-point night with the decisive three-point play as the visiting Portland Trail Blazers won their sixth consecutive game, defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 126-124 on Wednesday night.
Portland Trail Blazers 126 - 124 New Orleans Pelicans
Lillard, who also tied a career-high with 16 assists, drove to the basket and for a layup and subsequent foul shot that gave Portland a 126-124 lead with 16 seconds left. New Orleans' Lonzo Ball missed a 3-point attempt and Brandon Ingram missed another jumper on the final possession.
The Blazers finished a 3-0 road trip thanks in part to Gary Trent Jr. adding 23 points, Derrick Jones Jr. scoring 13, Carmelo Anthony and Robert Covington contributing 12 each and Enes Kanter putting up 11.
Zion Williamson tied a career-high with 36 points for the Pelicans. Ball scored 21, JJ Redick had 16, Ingram scored 14, Willy Hernangomez had 11 points and 17 rebounds and Eric Bledsoe scored 10.
Trent made two 3-pointers to give the Blazers a 103-98 advantage in the fourth before Redick's 3-pointer gave the Pelicans a 105-103 lead.
Lillard's 3-pointer put Portland back on top, but New Orleans regained the lead, 117-116, when Redick made a 3-pointer with 2:05 left.
The Blazers took a 123-122 lead when Lillard fed Jones for a layup with 28.7 seconds remaining.
Williamson made two free throws to put the Pelicans back on top with 26 seconds to go before Lillard made the game-winner.
Utah Jazz 114 - 96 Los Angeles Clippers
Donovan Mitchell had 24 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals, and the Utah Jazz captured their ninth consecutive victory, 114-96 over the host Los Angeles Clippers.
Rudy Gobert contributed 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and grabbed 20 rebounds for the Jazz, who have won 20 of their past 21 games. Utah's lone setback during that stretch came on January 31 at Denver.
Jordan Clarkson came off the Utah bench to score 18 points while Joe Ingles chipped in 14 points and five assists. Royce O'Neale had 12 points and eight boards.
The Clippers again played without Kawhi Leonard (leg), Paul George (toe) and Nicolas Batum (concussion). Although the Clippers were able to earn a surprising win over the Miami Heat on Monday without the three and Patrick Beverley (rest), they had no such luck against the Western Conference-leading Jazz.
Lou Williams had 16 points, six rebounds and six assists and Reggie Jackson added 15 points for the Clippers, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Amir Coffey added 13 points while Serge Ibaka scored 10.
Houston Rockets 113 - 118 Philadelphia 76ers
Joel Embiid had 31 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, Seth Curry added 25 points and the host Philadelphia 76ers nearly blew a 29-point, second-half lead to defeat the Houston Rockets 118-113.
Embiid could be seen wincing in pain at times with back pain and was stretching on the baseline during some timeouts.
Tobias Harris contributed 24 points, 15 rebounds and five assists while Danny Green had 12 points for the Sixers, who snapped their three-game losing streak.
John Wall led the struggling Rockets with 26 of his 28 points in the second half while DeMarcus Cousins and Jae'Sean Tate each had 19. Eric Gordon scored 17 and Ben McLemore 11 for Houston, which has dropped seven in a row.
Atlanta Hawks 122 - 114 Boston Celtics
Trae Young scored 40 points, 16 in the fourth quarter, and helped the visiting Atlanta Hawks snap a four-game losing streak with a 122-114 win over the Boston Celtics.
Young was 14-for-20 from the field, including four 3-pointers, and had eight assists. It was Young's ninth game with 30-plus points and first since Jan. 29, and his third game with at least 40 points.
Young reached the 4,000-point career mark with his 25th point, supplanting Bob Pettit as the fastest in franchise history to reach the milestone.
The Hawks also got 24 points and 13 rebounds from Clint Capela and 20 points from John Collins. Atlanta broke a seven-game losing streak to Boston and beat the Celtics on the road for the first time since April 8, 2018.
Jayson Tatum scored 35 points and Jaylen Brown added 22 points and seven assists to lead Boston.
Indiana Pacers 134 - 128 Minnesota Timberwolves (OT)
Domantas Sabonis recorded 36 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Indiana Pacers rallied for a 134-128 overtime win against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis.
Malcolm Brogdon added 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Pacers, who won for the third time in four games. After giving up 40 second-quarter points, Indiana trailed for most of the second half.
Malik Beasley came off Minnesota's bench to score a team-high 31 points. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds while Ricky Rubio added 20 points and 13 assists, but the Timberwolves still lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Minnesota rookie Anthony Edwards had a look at the would-be game-winner but missed his 3-point attempt at the buzzer. Edwards finished with eight points on 3-of-15 shooting.
Brogdon and Sabonis scored the first five points of the extra frame, then Brogdon made the last of his six 3-pointers with 9.8 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Denver Nuggets 128 - 130 Washington Wizards
Bradley Beal had 25 points and 10 assists and hit two free throws with 0.1 seconds left, lifting the host Washington Wizards to a 130-128 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Davis Bertans scored a career-high 35 points and went 9-for-11 from beyond the arc while Russell Westbrook finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists for Washington.
Jamal Murray scored 19 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, Nikola Jokic had 33 points and nine assists and Michael Porter Jr. and Facundo Campazzo had 14 points apiece for Denver.
Bertans was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit three free throws with 8.8 seconds left, but Murray answered with a long 3-pointer to tie it with 2.1 seconds to go.
On Washington's ensuing possession, Beal was fouled by Green, and he hit two free throws to win it.
Miami Heat 112 - 120 Golden State Warriors (OT)
Stephen Curry brushed aside his worst shooting night in three weeks with a pair of 3-pointers in overtime, including a go-ahead hoop with 1:15 to go that propelled the host Golden State Warriors to a come-from-behind, 120-112 victory over the Miami Heat in San Francisco.
After trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half and by 14 with under seven minutes remaining in regulation, the Warriors rallied to force overtime, then got the better of the Heat thanks to Curry's late treys that bookended one by Andrew Wiggins.
The Warriors never held the lead until 1:38 left in overtime when Kent Bazemore tipped in a layup to go ahead 109-107.
Attempting to tie the NBA all-time record of 11 consecutive games with at least 27 points while making at least half his shots, Curry failed on both fronts Wednesday, finishing with 25 points on 8-for-25 shooting. He missed 13 of his first 18 3-pointers before connecting on the last two.
Michael Jordan set the record in 1996, then had it tied by Shaquille O'Neal in 2001.
Curry also found time for a game-high-tying 11 assists and got a lot of help from Bazemore with a season-best 26 points, and Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. with 23 apiece.
Golden State, which suffered a setback when Draymond Green couldn't play because of a sore right ankle, won its second straight to go three games over .500 for the first time this season.
Butler (13 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) had a triple-double and Tyler Herro (11 points, game-high 15 rebounds) a double-double for the Heat, who lost their third straight at the midpoint of a seven-game trip.
Bam Adebayo chipped in with 24 points, Nunn 19, Precious Achiuwa and Duncan Robinson 13 apiece and Andre Iguodala 10 for Miami.
Detroit Pistons 102 - 105 Chicago Bulls
Zach LaVine poured in 37 points and the host Chicago Bulls rallied from a 25-point deficit to defeat the Detroit Pistons 105-102.
Wendell Carter Jr. had 18 points and Patrick Williams tossed in 15 for Chicago. Thaddeus Young chipped in nine points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Jerami Grant scored a career-high 43 points for Detroit. Saddiq Bey and Delon Wright added 12 points each, while Mason Plumlee had 11 points and eight rebounds.
The Pistons shot 54.5 from the field in the first half and stormed to a 61-43 halftime lead.
Grant led the way with 18 points, making all four of his 3-point attempts in the process.
New York Knicks 89 - 107 Orlando Magic
Terrence Ross came off the bench to score a season-high 30 points, including 13 during a decisive run spanning the third and fourth quarters, as the host Orlando Magic overcame an early double-digit deficit to beat the New York Knicks, 107-89.
The 30 points by Ross were his most since he scored 35 points for the Magic against the Miami Heat on March 4, 2020.
Nikola Vucevic (16 points, 16 rebounds) posted his 20th double-double of the season for the Magic, who rode a 22-4 run over a 10-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters to win for just the fifth time in 21 games since Markelle Fultz suffered a season-ending knee injury January 6.
Evan Fournier had 19 points and Dwayne Bacon added 15 points for Orlando.
Julius Randle scored 25 points with seven rebounds for the Knicks, who had their three-game winning streak snapped and failed in their chance to reach .500 this late in a season. RJ Barrett had 15 points and Elfrid Payton added 13 points for New York, which shot just 12-for-47 from the field in the second half.
Oklahoma City Thunder 113 - 122 Memphis Grizzlies
Grayson Allen scored 22 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 122-113 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Memphis.
Allen keyed the Grizzlies' big fourth quarter, scoring 14 points in the final frame. Memphis had hit just five 3-pointers through the first three quarters but hit seven in the fourth, three by Allen.
Allen's shooting helped the Grizzlies overcome an off-shooting night for Ja Morant, who was just 4 of 14 from the floor. But Morant affected the game in plenty of ways, picking up his first triple-double of the season and the third of his career with 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds.
Early in the fourth, the Grizzlies took over, with a 19-3 run to take control for good.
Seven of those points were scored by Jonas Valanciunas, who finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Kyle Anderson added 20 points with five rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned for the Thunder after missing the last four games and six of the last eight with a left knee sprain. He led the Thunder with 22 points and added six assists. Gilgeous-Alexander was 6 of 14 from the field.
Mike Muscala added 21 off the bench, hitting five 3-pointers.