Tyrese Maxey scored a career-high 50 points, Joel Embiid 37 points and the Philadelphia 76ers improved to 8-1 with their eighth straight victory, beating the Indiana Pacers 137-126 on Sunday night.
Maxey was 20 of 32 from the field and had seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the first of two straight games in Philadelphia between the teams. His previous high was 44 against Toronto on October 28, 2022.
Embiid had 13 rebounds in 33 minutes. The 76ers are off to their best nine-game start since opening 10-0 in 2000-01 en route to the NBA Finals.
Philadelphia played without Kelly Oubre Jr. after he suffered a broken rib when he was hit by a car in a hit-and-run Saturday night.
Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana with 25 points. The Pacers had won three in a row.
The teams will meet Tuesday evening at the Wells Fargo Center as part of the NBA In-Season tournament.
ROCKETS 107, NUGGETS 104
Fred VanVleet scored 26 points, Alperen Sengun added 23 and Houston beat Denver for its sixth straight victory, its longest winning streak since seven straight wins in January 2021.
Nikola Jokic had his fourth triple-double of the season for Denver, finishing with 36 points, 21 rebounds and 11 assists. The defending champion Nuggets fell to 8-2.
Nuggets star Jamal Murray missed his third straight game with a strained right hamstring.
TIMBERWOLVES 117, WARRIORS 110
Anthony Edwards scored 33 points and Minnesota dominated Golden State for its sixth straight victory.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and a season-high 14 rebounds for Minnesota in the first of two consecutive games between the teams in San Francisco.
Stephen Curry scored 38 points, but the cold-shooting Warriors didn’t get enough other contributions to keep up with Minnesota’s fast-paced offense. Golden State shot just 12 of 43 from 3-point range.
The teams will meet Tuesday at Chase Center for an in-season tournament game.
MAVERICKS 136, PELICANS 124
Kyrie Irving made 7 of 10 3-pointers and scored 35 points, Luka Doncic had 15 of his 30 points in a 42-point third quarter and Dallas beat short-handed New Orleans.
In the first of two consecutive games between the teams in New Orleans, the Mavericks shot 20 of 53 from long range. Dallas iced it in the third quarter, hitting 8 of 13 3-pointers and outscoring the Pelicans 42-31.
Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 20 points and Zion Williamson had 18. The Pelicans, without injured CJ McCollum, Herb Jones and Trey Murphy, have lost five straight games.
The teams will meet again Tuesday evening during the NBA In-Season tournament.
LAKERS 116, TRAILBLAZERS 110
Anthony Davis had 30 points and 13 rebounds, Rui Hachimura scored eight of his 19 points in the final 3:43 and Los Angeles overcame LeBron James’ injury absence to beat Portland.
James missed a game for the first time this season, sitting out with a bruised left calf. The leading scorer in NBA history injured his shin in a collision with Kevin Durant during the first quarter in Phoenix on Friday night.
Jerami Grant scored 23 points for Portland.
GRIZZLIES 105, MOWERS 101
Desmond Bane scored 27 points and Memphis won for the second time this season, beating a shocked Los Angeles.
Memphis improved to 2-8 while awaiting the return of All-Star guard Ja Morant from a 25-game suspension next month.
Paul George scored 26 points, for Los Angeles James Harden had 11. He made a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:33 left, but missed another in the final seconds. The Clippers have yet to win in four games since he was traded to the team.
THUNDER 111, SUNS 99
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Jalen Williams had 31 and Oklahoma used a big fourth quarter to beat Phoenix.
The Thunder outscored Phoenix 31-13 in the fourth quarter and won despite being outscored 52-33.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams together made 24 of 38 shots (63%) and the Thunder shot 49%. The Suns shot 38%, making 2 of 21 shots in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Durant led the Suns with 28 points and nine rebounds, and finished 11 of 11 from the free throw line. The Suns, playing without All-Star guard Devin Booker and backup Eric Gordon, fell to 4-6.
NETS 102, MAGICIANS 94
Mikal Bridges had 27 points and 13 rebounds and Brooklyn recovered to beat Washington and after blowing a 17-point lead.
Cam Johnson added 14 points and starting center Nic Claxton, in just his second game of the season, had 10 points and 13 rebounds to spark a huge rebounding advantage. Brooklyn beat Washington 66-42.
Rookie Bilal Coulibaly, Victor Wembanyama’s teammate last season in France, scored a game-high 20 points for Washington.
KNICKS 129, HORNETS 107
Julius Randle had 23 points, five rebounds and five assists and New York scored a season-high in its win over Charlotte.
RJ Barrett scored 24 points, Jalen Brunson 23 points and Immanuel Quickley 17 points. The Knicks shot a season-high 54% to win their third straight game.
LaMelo Ball led Charlotte with 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
HEAT 118, SPURS 113
Duncan Robinson scored 26 points, Bam Adebayo added 24 points and 11 rebounds and Miami beat San Antonio for its fifth straight victory.
Keldon Johnson had 20 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio. Victor Wembanyama added 18 points and 11 rebounds in the Spurs’ fifth straight loss.
BULLS 119, PISTONS 108
DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points, Nikola Vucevic added 21 points and 12 rebounds and Chicago handed Detroit its eighth straight loss.
Kevin Knox II, who signed with the Pistons on Wednesday, paced Detroit’s offense with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
