The Brooklyn Nets' eight-game winning streak ground to a halt at the hands of Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, who triumphed 115-98 in the NBA.
Nets star Kyrie Irving (right shoulder recovery) joined former MVP Kevin Durant (hamstring) on the sidelines for Saturday's clash.
Their absence proved too much for James Harden to carry, with the MVP candidate finishing the game on the bench in his casuals as the Mavericks won comfortably.
Harden scored 29 points, with seven rebounds and six assists for Brooklyn, who were jumped by the Mavs in a 38-26 opening quarter.
Despite the Nets closing to within four points at half-time, the Mavericks were never headed, led by Doncic – the All-Star posting 27 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Doncic won special praise from Harden post-game, who said: "He never lets anyone speed him up, and he gets what he wants. We all know he has a very, very bright future. The Mavs got a special one."
The result leaves the Nets 22-13 in the Eastern Conference, while the Mavericks remain in playoffs contention with a 16-16 record in the west.
Sixers suffer rare home defeat, no stopping Jazz
Joel Embiid erupted for 42 points and 13 rebounds, but the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers were upstaged by the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-109 in overtime. It was just Philadelphia's third home defeat of the season in 17 games.
NBA leaders the Utah Jazz returned to winning ways with a 124-109 victory against the Orlando Magic. Donovan Mitchell fuelled the Jazz (27-7) with 31 points, including 25 in the second half, while Rudy Gobert contributed a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic had a game-high 34 points for the Magic in Orlando.
It was a memorable outing for Bradley Beal and head coach Scott Brooks in the Washington Wizards' 128-112 success at home to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves. Beal put up 34 points – his 20th performance of 30-plus points in 29 games played this season. Per NBA history, only Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Harden have managed that many 30-plus performances in the first 30 games of a season. Scott, meanwhile, celebrated his 500th win as a head coach. Wizards star Russell Westbrook (19 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists) finished with a triple-double.
Nikola Jokic (19 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists) had his eighth triple-double of the season as the Denver Nuggets crushed the Oklahoma City Thunder 126-96.
Curry crumbles
It was a forgettable game for Philadelphia's Seth Curry, who finished with four points in 39 minutes. Curry was just one-of-13 from the field, making one of seven from beyond the arc.
Ben… from beyond the arc
It is not often Ben Simmons attempts a three-pointer, let alone make one. But the 76ers All-Star hit his fourth career three on Saturday. Simmons finished with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field, while he was 100 per cent from three-point range.
Saturday's results
Pelicans guard McCollum returning from collapsed lung
The New Orleans Pelicans will get shooting guard C.J. McCollum back on Wednesday night when they host the Philadelphia 76ers.
McCollum hasn't played since being diagnosed with small pneumothorax in his right lung on Nov. 5.
He averaged 21.7 points, 5.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals to help the Pelicans win four of their first six games this season.
McCollum was selected 10th overall by Portland in the 2013 NBA Draft before the Trail Blazers traded him to New Orleans in February 2022.
Since being named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2015-16, McCollum has made 1,513 3-pointers to rank sixth in the league among active players.
'Tough pill to swallow' for Curry as Kings dump Warriors out of In-Season Tournament
Stephen Curry described the Golden State Warriors' In-Season Tournament elimination as a 'tough pill to swallow' after their crushing 124-123 defeat to the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings avenged last season's playoff elimination at the hands of their rivals with a dramatic fightback win on Tuesday, with an off-balance Malik Monk hitting a fadeaway with seven seconds left to hand them a memorable victory.
That came after Golden State led by four with just 46 seconds remaining, and the Warriors wasted one last chance for victory after Monk's shot as Curry missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Warriors had needed a 12-point win to advance from West Group C and led by 24 points at one stage, and the last-gasp nature of their defeat – their first in three games against Sacramento this season – infuriated Curry.
"It's going to be tough to swallow just because we should have won that game," he said.
"We played well enough to win for 40 minutes, and knowing the stretch we've been on, we were really motivated.
"You get to the finish line and you end up losing. It's a tough pill to swallow, it's frustrating. We've all got to look ourselves in the mirror."
While the Warriors have now lost eight of their last 10 games and are 8-10 for the campaign, the Kings will host the New Orleans Pelicans next Monday in the last eight of the inaugural In-Season Tournament.
Sacramento's De'Aaron Fox, who matched Curry's game-high 29 points, said: "We want to win. Obviously, our fans want us to beat Golden State.
"A game this close, coming back from being down 24, you want to win regardless of if it's a tournament game or not.
"This league is a game of runs. You just try to win as many segments as you can to win the game.
"We want to get to Vegas and be one of the first teams to advance to the final four of the In-Season Tournament."
'Heaven' for Giannis as Lillard and Middleton help Bucks overcome Heat
Giannis Antetokounmpo said playing with Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton was "like heaven" after the trio combined to guide the Milwaukee Bucks to the quarterfinals of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.
The Bucks moved to 13-5 for the season and 4-0 in East Group B for the In-Season Tournament with Tuesday's 131-124 win over the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center.
Milwaukee found themselves down 118-115 with three minutes and 25 seconds to play, but they finished on a 16-6 run to tee up a home game in the last eight, with Antetokounmpo leading the way with 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
The two-time MVP was ably supported by Lillard, who posted 32 points and nine assists, and Middleton, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
After the game, Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin revealed Antetokounmpo had suggested feeding the ball to Middleton more often, and the star forward said doing so made Milwaukee less predictable.
"It's great, for me it's like heaven when you have two guys that can create their own shots, and I don't have to make something happen," Antetokounmpo said.
"It's great. My whole career it's been that way, and now also we have Khris and Dame that can do that. It makes the game easier for everybody.
"Them breaking down the defenses is great, but if they can't, they can give the ball to me and I'll spread it to the corners or play one-on-one.
"Offensively, I think guys got to the spots and were able to execute, a few pick and rolls with Dame as the ball handler, a few pick and rolls with Khris as the ball handler… it was great.
"I think it helps the flow of our offense when it doesn't always have to be Dame and Giannis, then we can play from there.
"I feel like that's where we are, all playing as a team, the energy is better, everybody has more touches of the ball, I think we can be more effective that way."
The Heat were made to pay for the absence of Jimmy Butler, who missed the game with an ankle sprain after averaging 37.6 points as Miami eliminated Milwaukee from the playoffs last season.
Bam Adebayo scored 31 points for Miami, with Kyle Lowry adding 21 and Josh Richardson contributing 20, and head coach Erik Spoelstra was broadly pleased with their display, despite the result.
"I felt like we played a very good basketball game," Spoelstra said. "A very good offensive game, in particular."
Now 10-8 for the campaign and eliminated from the In-Season Tournament, Miami will look to halt their three-game losing streak when they face the Indiana Pacers in a home double-header later this week.
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