CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Tyler Herro had 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the Miami Heat snapped the Charlotte Hornets’ six-game winning streak with a 128-120 victory Friday night.
Herro was 8 for 10 from 3-point range, including one that broke a 108-all tie with 7:06 to play. That came during a 9-0 run after the Hornets led by two and was essentially the difference in the game.
Bam Adebayo added 24 points and 12 rebounds to help the Heat win their fourth straight game. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 21 points off the bench. Miami was 18 for 38 (47%) on 3s.
Kon Knueppel scored 27 points for the Hornets, going 6 for 10 behind the arc. Brandon Miller had 22 points and 13 rebounds, while LaMelo Ball scored 21 points but was 7 for 22 from the field.
Charlotte fell back to .500 at 32-32. All the victories during the Hornets’ winning streak had been by 15 or more points, tying the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors for the second-longest streak in NBA history.
The first meeting between the teams in four months showed how much things had changed for the Hornets. Miami rang up a franchise-record 53 points in the first quarter of that Nov. 7 game, rolling to a 126-108 victory.
Charlotte had become the team hanging big numbers on opponents and tried to rally behind Knueppel, who hit consecutive 3-pointers to cut it to 120-117. But Herro hit a jumper and Dru Smith had a follow shot to push it back to seven.
ROCKETS 106, TRAIL BLAZERS 99
HOUSTON (AP) — Alperen Sengun scored 28 points, Amen Thompson had 26 and Houston used a dominant fourth quarter to beat Portland.
Sengun shot 11 of 15 from the field while playing just 26 minutes due to foul trouble, while Thompson converted all but one of his 12 shot attempts and scored eight points in the fourth quarter.
Houston trailed 85-77 after Matisse Thybuille drained a 3-pointer a minute into the final period, but Portland missed 11 of its next 13 shots and the Rockets went on a 23-4 run that covered close to eight minutes.
Houston shot 67% in the fourth quarter, outscoring Portland 29-17.
Kevin Durant added 20 points for the Rockets (39-23), who entered the day tied for fourth in the Western Conference.
Jerami Grant led Portland with 21 points. Jrue Holiday added 20 points and 10 assists, while Donovan Clingan finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
CELTICS 120, MAVERICKS 100
BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown had 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Boston beat Dallas in Jayson Tatum’s first game in almost 10 months after rupturing his right Achilles tendon.
Tatum had 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, 12 rebounds and seven assists in a rust-filled 27 minutes. He played in five- and six-minute spurts in his first game since suffering the injury in during Game 4 of Boston’s Eastern Conference semifinal loss to New York in May.
Derrick White added 20 points to help Boston win for the fourth time in five games. Dallas has lost six straight.
No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, a Maine native playing his first game in TD Garden, had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Dallas. Klay Thompson finished with 19 points, and Naji Marshall had13 points.
Tatum missed his first six shots, including three 3-pointers. But he continued to look for his teammates and actively screening to initiate the offense.
KNICKS 142, NUGGETS 103
DENVER (AP) — OG Anunoby scored 34 points to power New York to a win over Denver, who lost All-Star point guard Jamal Murray to a sprained ankle Friday night just when its starting lineup was back together.
Josh Hart added 18 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 17 rebounds as the Knicks kicked off a five-game trip in resounding fashion, their starters taking the fourth quarter off to enjoy the rare rout.
The 39-point home loss tied the Nuggets’ record set against Chicago in 1998.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 38 points but the Nuggets suffered their biggest loss of the season — both on the scoreboard and on the court with Murray’s injury.
Aaron Gordon (hamstring) played for the first time since Jan. 23 and Cam Johnson returned from a sprained ankle, giving the Nuggets their original starting lineup for the first time since Nov. 12.
SUNS 118, PELICANS 116
PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 18 of his 32 points in the third quarter, and Phoenix held off New Orleans.
Jalen Green had 25 for the Suns, who led by 14 in the second half before the Pelicans trimmed the lead to one point.
Grayson Allen made two free throws with 9.8 seconds remaining to give the Suns a 116-113 lead. Zion Williamson made one of two and Booker made a pair with 7.8 seconds left. Herb Jones scored with 5 seconds to go but the Suns were able to run out the clock.
Trey Murphy III led New Orleans with 22 points. Williamson had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Saddiq Bey also had 19 points for the Pelicans.
Oso Ighodaro, starting for injured Mark Williams, had 13 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 1:08 remaining. Allen had 12 points and eight assists, and Collin Gillespie also had 12 points for Phoenix.
SPURS 116, CLIPPERS 112
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 27 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks as San Antonio rallied from a 25-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
Kawhi Leonard had 30 points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
San Antonio (46-17) has won 14 of 15 and is second in the Western Conference.
After defending a missed 3-pointer by Leonard, Wembanyama broke free for an uncontested dunk that gave the Spurs a 113-112 lead with 16 seconds left. Clippers forward Nicolas Batum turned the ball over on the ensuing possession when his foot crossed the boundary while inbounding the ball. Stephon Castle closed out the win by rebounding his own missed free throw and converting a layup with 1 second remaining.
After trailing 75-50 in the third quarter, the Spurs opened the fourth with an 18-5 run to take their first lead since the opening minutes.
Wembanyama blocked Kris Dunn’s reverse layup, creating a fast break that ended with an alley-oop dunk by Carter Bryant. Devin Vassell followed with a 3-pointer for a 99-97 lead.
Julian Champagnie finished with 20 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, and De’Aaron Fox had 19 points and nine rebounds.
Brook Lopez had 26 points for the Clippers.
LAKERS 128, PACERS 117
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 44 points in the first three quarters Friday night, overcoming LeBron James’ absence and leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a victory over Indiana.
Doncic hit seven 3-pointers on a 14-for-25 shooting night and grabbed nine rebounds before sitting out the fourth for the Lakers, who rebounded from a road loss to Denver on Thursday and won for the fourth time in five games overall.
James sat out to rest his accumulation of minor injuries in his 23rd NBA season, but Doncic picked up any offensive slack from the start. The Slovenian superstar scored 22 points in the first quarter, topping 20 in the opening period for the fifth time this season — the most such first quarters in the NBA in one season at least 30 years.
Doncic capped his barrage by banking in his seventh 3-pointer late in his 15-point third quarter.
Doncic became only the fourth player in Lakers history to score 40 points in at least 10 games in a season, joining Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. He also has the most 40-point games in the NBA this season, passing Anthony Edwards.
