Nemanja Bjelica drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Sacramento Kings claimed a 119-118 victory over the host Houston Rockets on Monday.
Bjelica drilled a 33-footer off an inbound pass from Cory Joseph to answer a driving layup from Rockets guard Russell Westbrook on the preceding possession. Bjelica scored over PJ Tucker to cap his 17-point performance as the Kings finished 20 of 45 from behind the arc.
Westbrook scored a season-high 34 points, primarily on driving layups as the Kings offered scant rim protection. His basket countered a game-tying 3-pointer from Kings guard Buddy Hield (team-high 26 points), whose trey matched a 3-pointer from Ben McLemore with 22.7 seconds left.
The Rockets had won 18 of 20 meetings against the Kings, who received 19 points and eight rebounds from Harrison Barnes. James Harden paired 27 points with 10 assists for the Rockets while Tucker grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds
Detroit Pistons 105 – New Orleans Pelicans 103
Derrick Rose scored a team-high 21 points, capped by a last-second, game-winning jumper as Detroit won at New Orleans.
The Pistons inbounded the ball with 14.7 seconds left and cleared out for Rose, who dribbled down the clock, penetrated and hit a jumper from just inside the foul line. The Pelicans called timeout with 0.3 seconds left, but their subsequent pass was deflected, and they lost their ninth straight game.
Langston Galloway added 16 points, Luke Kennard scored 14 and Andre Drummond had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit. Brandon Ingram scored 31 and Jrue Holiday scored 20 to lead New Orleans.
Milwaukee Bucks 110 – Orlando Magic 101
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as Milwaukee extended its NBA-best winning streak to 15 games with a victory over visiting Orlando.
Khris Middleton scored 20 points and Donte DiVincenzo added 12 as the Bucks improved to 11-1 at home and matched the Los Angeles Lakers for best record in the NBA at 21-3.
Evan Fournier scored 26 points and Terrence Ross added 23 as the Magic saw their season-best four-game winning streak come to an end, but not before putting together a late run.
Toronto Raptors 93 – Chicago Bulls 92
Pascal Siakam scored 22 points, and visiting Toronto overcame an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Chicago and end a three-game losing streak.
Kyle Lowry added 11 points and made the go-ahead layup with 50.9 seconds remaining for the Raptors, who have won 11 in a row against the Bulls. Norman Powell had 17 points, Serge Ibaka had 11 points and 14 rebounds, and OG Anunoby scored 10 for Toronto.
Zach Lavine scored 20 points — all in the first half — and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who have lost three straight.
Boston Celtics 110 – Cleveland Cavaliers 88
Kemba Walker scored 22 points, Gordon Hayward had 14 in his return from a hand injury, and Boston beat visiting Cleveland.
Jaylen Brown added 20 points, Jayson Tatum 19 and Daniel Theis 10 as all five Celtics starters scored in double figures. Boston improved to 10-0 at home and won for the sixth time in its past seven games.
Jordan Clarkson had 19 points and Tristan Thompson 17 for the Cavaliers, who lost their seventh straight and fell for the 13th time in their past 14 games.
Los Angeles Clippers 110 – Indiana Pacers 99
Paul George made seven 3-pointers to highlight a 36-point performance against his former team as Los Angeles held on to beat Indiana in Indianapolis.
George was booed by the crowd in his third game back at Bankers Life Fieldhouse after requesting a trade from Indiana, with which he spent his first seven NBA seasons. George was sent to Oklahoma City in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in July 2017 before the Thunder traded him to the Clippers in the latest offseason.
Montrezl Harrell had 26 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard (left knee soreness). Leonard sat out the latter half of a back-to-back set with a Wednesday showdown looming against his former team in Toronto, marking his first return to the city since he led the Raptors to the NBA title in June.
Oklahoma City Thunder 104 – Utah Jazz 90
Dennis Schroder scored 27 off the bench to lead Oklahoma City to a win over Utah in Salt Lake City.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points and Chris Paul had 16 points and seven assists for the Thunder, who overcame 26 points from Utah’s Donovan Mitchell.
The Thunder played without a pair of starters. Terrance Ferguson missed his third straight game due to right hip soreness while Danilo Gallinari missed a game for the first time this season after sustaining a left ankle sprain.
Phoenix Suns 125 – Minnesota Timberwolves 109
Devin Booker had 26 points and three 3-pointers, and Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 24 points on his 24th birthday as host Phoenix pulled away from Minnesota.
Dario Saric had 20 points and was a rebound short of his fifth double-double in the last eight games, and Ricky Rubio added 16 points and 14 assists for the Suns, who beat Timberwolves for the second time in 17 days to get within one game of .500.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 33 points and 15 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins put up 23 points, and Jeff Teague had 16 points and four assists off the bench for the Timberwolves, whose season-high losing streak reached five games.
Memphis Grizzlies 110 – Golden State Warriors 102
Memphis used six 3-pointers to bolt to a 24-11 lead in the first 7:19 of the game, then never trailed thereafter in a victory over Golden State in San Francisco.
Rookie star Ja Morant returned from a four-game layoff caused by back spasms to lead the way with a game-high 26 points and seven assists. He helped the Grizzlies win for just the second time in their last 10 games.
D’Angelo Russell and Alec Burks shared team-high scoring honors for the Warriors with 18 points.
–Field Level Media
