Stephen Curry scored 33 points and Klay Thompson added 23 as a 40-point first quarter helped the Golden State Warriors ease to a 110-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.
Golden State Warriors 110-88 Oklahoma City Thunder
DeMarcus Cousins added 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Warriors, who also got eight rebounds and six assists from Draymond Green.
Paul George led Oklahoma City with 29 points but hit only 9 of 25 shots overall. Dennis Schroder added 15 points off the bench, and Russell Westbrook shot only 2 of 16 in finishing with seven points.
The Warriors had struggled in the first quarter of games for a stretch until recently, being outscored by 28 in the first quarter over a 10-game stint. But in the last four games, the Warriors have started turning around their early fortunes.
They continued that trend on Saturday, scoring their most points in any quarter since February 6, as Curry, Thompson and Green each hit two three-pointers in the opening period.
The Thunder trailed 40-27 after the first 12 minutes and never came closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Portland Trail Blazers 103-108 San Antonio Spurs
DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points and added eight rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs produced a fourth-quarter turnaround to claim a 108-103 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Seven San Antonio players were in double figures as the Spurs extended their league-best winning streak to eight games.
The sixth-place Spurs are a season-best 12 games over .500 and within a game and a half of Portland for fourth place in the Western Conference standings.
Rudy Gay and Derrick White added 13 points each for San Antonio, with LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills scoring 12 points each. Aldridge had eight rebounds, Gay had seven, and Jakob Poeltl blocked five shots.
Portland's Damian Lillard led all scorers with 34 points, and Jusuf Nurkic added 24 points and 16 rebounds. CJ McCollum, who finished with 10 points, left in the third quarter with an apparent left knee injury during a drive to the basket.
The Spurs trailed by four points entering the fourth quarter but took an 89-86 advantage on a three-pointer by Davis Bertans with 5:55 to play.
San Antonio never trailed again, with Bertans converting all three free throws after being fouled while shooting from behind the arc with 3:39 left. Bryn Forbes then hit a three-pointer, and Derrick White canned a jumper to push the Spurs' lead to 100-92 with 2:11 remaining.
Indiana Pacers 100-102 Denver Nuggets
Paul Millsap hit a running layup with seven seconds left as the Denver Nuggets edged a 102-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers to stay a game behind the Golden State Warriors for the top seed in the Western Conference.
Millsap finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Nikola Jokic scored 26 points before being ejected for arguing a foul call on a loose ball play. Jamal Murray and Will Barton scored 17 points each for Denver.
Thaddeus Young had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Darren Collison scored 17 points and Domantas Sabonis and Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 16 each for the Pacers.
The game was tied at 100 when Murray got the ball to Millsap, who drove and hit the winner. Indiana called timeout but Bogdanovic missed a 3-pointer.
The Pacers missed all 11 of their three-point shots in the second half. Indiana shot 62.2 per cent in the first half but just 28.9 per cent in the second half when the Nuggets took over.
Brooklyn Nets 98-114 Utah Jazz
Rudy Gobert totalled 23 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Utah Jazz took control early and eased to a 114-98 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Gobert recorded his 55th double-double of the season as he shot 9-of-12 from the floor and had six more dunks to increase his league-leading total to 249.
Donovan Mitchell made four of his seven three-point attempts as he led Utah with 24 points and added six rebounds and four assists.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 22 points off the bench, but the Nets dropped to 0-2 to start a season-high, seven-game road trip. D'Angelo Russell added 20 points but shot 8 of 25 for Brooklyn.
Brooklyn shot under 35 per cent for the third time this season and second time against the Jazz. The Nets also shot 34.9 per cent against Utah in a 101-91 home loss in November.
Atlanta Hawks 120-129 Boston Celtics
Kyrie Irving scored 30 points and Jaylen Brown added 23, with two key baskets in a fourth-quarter stretch, as the Boston Celtics held on for a 129-120 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Irving fell just short of his second straight triple-double with 11 rebounds and nine assists as the Celtics won for the fifth time in their past six games.
Boston also got 19 points - four in the crucial fourth-quarter run - and 11 rebounds from Marcus Morris, while Jayson Tatum had 18 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Smart scored 16 points.
Atlanta was led by Trae Young, who had 26 points, including 5-for-8 shooting on three-pointers, and John Collins, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hawks trailed 105-92 entering the fourth quarter but battled back and tied the game 112-112 on a pair of Kent Bazemore free throws with 5:53 left.
But Brown, who grew up in suburban Atlanta, answered with a three-pointer and finished a 9-0 run with a jumper to help the Celtics preserve the win.
Memphis Grizzlies 128-135 Washington Wizards
Bradley Beal scored 40 points for a second successive game as he led the Washington Wizards to a 135-128 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Beal, who had 40 against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night, led six Wizards players in double figures in a game that featured 20 lead changes.
Jabari Parker had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Bobby Portis scored 18 points as Washington, 11th in the Eastern Conference, moved to within three games of eighth-place Miami.
Mike Conley had 28 points and 12 assists for Memphis. Jonas Valanciunas amassed 22 points, and Avery Bradley scored 21.
Beal's three-pointer gave the Wizards a 119-114 lead with 6:03 remaining, and he followed with a driving layup to increase the lead to seven. Bradley's three-pointer cut the deficit to 123-119 before three Wizards free throws.
After a Valanciunas dunk, the Wizards turned it over, and Conley's free throws made it 126-123. Jeff Green responded with a corner three for Washington. Conley answered with a three, but Beal scored on a drive as the shot clock expired.
A Valanciunas dunk pulled Memphis within 131-128, but Parker hit two free throws with 6.2 seconds left.
Phoenix Suns 138-136 New Orleans Pelicans
The visiting Phoenix Suns scored five points in the final 2.2 seconds of overtime to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 138-136 in a dramatic finale.
The Pelicans led 136-133 before Josh Jackson made a three-pointer. New Orleans then called a timeout that it didn't have, resulting in a technical foul shot and a turnover.
Devin Booker broke the tie by sinking the free throw, and Jackson made one of two free throws after being fouled on the inbounds pass.
Booker led the Suns with 40 points and 13 assists, Kelly Oubre Jr. had 32 points, Jackson scored 19, Dragan Bender had 13 and Mikal Bridges 12.
The Pelicans lost their sixth straight despite having nine players score in double figures and getting a New Orleans-record fourth consecutive triple-double from Elfrid Payton. The former Suns point guard finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 16 assists, tying the assist mark he set one night earlier against Portland.
Three of his teammates had double-doubles. Julius Randle finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, Anthony Davis had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Cheick Diallo came off the bench to add 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Darius Miller scored 16, Jahlil Okafor added 15, Frank Jackson had 14, Ian Clark 11 and Kenrich Williams 10. Suns rookie Deandre Ayton was ejected in the third quarter after being called for his second technical.
Cleveland 116-121 Dallas Mavericks
Tim Hardaway Jr. led seven players in double figures with 22 points as the Dallas Mavericks ran off to a big lead before holding on to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-116 to end a seven-game losing streak.
Maxi Kleber finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks, and Jalen Brunson and Dwight Powell added 16 points apiece. Dirk Nowitzki contributed 14 points and six rebounds.
Rookie Collin Sexton scored a game-high 28 points, and Kevin Love and Cedi Osman added 22 apiece. Love also had 12 rebounds and four assists.
The Mavericks overpowered the Cavaliers from the perimeter, shooting 16-for-35 on threes. Hardaway had 12 of his 22 points on four three-pointers, while Dorian Finney-Smith also dropped in four threes to account for a majority of his 14 points.
Dallas led by as many as 21 in the first half, but found itself in a 70-66 game after Cleveland rookie Sexton connected on a three-pointer with 10:12 remaining in the third period.
The Mavs pulled away once more to lead 119-10, only for the Cavs to close to within three, but Devin Harris sank two game-clinching free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining to account for the final margin of victory.