The longest winning streak of the season was snapped at 16 games after the Philadelphia 76ers came from behind on the road to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 133-130.
Milwaukee came into the contest boasting the best record in the NBA, and they appeared well on their way to making it 17 in a row after building a 99-85 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But the 76ers started the last period on a 16-2 run, and ended up scoring 48 in the quarter, finally taking a 127-125 lead with 42 seconds remaining following a Joel Embiid three-pointer.
It was a spectacular showing from Philadelphia's top three offensive options, and it was James Harden leading the way with 38 points on 11-of-26 shooting, adding 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Embiid was terrific with 31 points (11-of-22 shooting) and an equal season-high 10 assists, and Tyrese Maxey continued to thrive since being reintroduced to the starting line-up, scoring 26 points on eight-of-12 shooting.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 34 points (nine-of-21 shooting) and 13 rebounds, but his seven turnovers were two more than the 76ers committed as an entire team.
With the win, the 76ers (41-22) pulled to within four games of the Bucks (45-18) in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Bam bullies the Hawks
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo was a destructive force on both ends as his side defeated the Atlanta Hawks 117-109 in front of a sold-out home crowd.
The two-time All-Star shot 10-of-12 from the field and the same from the free throw line for 30 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, while also blocking two shots and snatching a steal.
Jimmy Butler continued to operate as the de facto point guard, dishing seven assists while only attempting eight field goals for his 15 points, 11 rebounds and two steals, while Tyler Herro poured in 20 points (eight-of-21 shooting) with five assists.
Miami are now just two games behind the flailing sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets as they seek to rise out of the Play-In Tournament placings.
VanVleet lifts the Raptors in overtime
Fred VanVleet hit big shots late as his Toronto Raptors emerged victorious 116-109 in overtime against the Washington Wizards.
VanVleet ended up with an equal game-high 10 assists to go with his 25 points (nine-of-16 shooting), and he hit a pair of three-pointers in the overtime period, while the Wizards could only muster four points as a team after regulation.
It was a game-winning showing off the bench for Gary Trent Jr, with 26 points (11-of-18 shooting), five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Delon Wright was a standout for Washington, tallying six steals to go with 18 points (six-of-10), seven assists and six rebounds.
Ja Morant apologised after an incident at a nightclub on Saturday led to the Memphis Grizzlies slapping him with a two-game suspension.
The point guard is under investigation by the NBA after appearing to show a gun during an Instagram Live video.
Morant will miss at least two games, the Grizzlies announced, with the 23-year-old to be absent for Sunday's meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers and the showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers two days later.
In a statement released to ESPN shortly after his suspension was confirmed, Morant apologised for his actions.
"I take full responsibility for my actions last night," he said.
"I'm sorry to my family, team-mates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organisation for letting you down.
"I'm going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being."
Ja Morant will miss at least the next two Memphis Grizzlies games, the team announced.
The point guard is under investigation by the NBA after he appeared to show a gun during an Instagram Live video at a nightclub on Saturday.
Morant's social media activity came a few hours after the 113-97 defeat to the Denver Nuggets, and he will now miss Sunday's meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers and Tuesday's face-off against the Los Angeles Lakers.
A statement from the Grizzlies read: "The Memphis Grizzlies announced today that Ja Morant will be away from the team for at least the next two games."
Earlier on Saturday, NBA spokesman Mike Bass confirmed the league was looking into the incident.
Last month, the NBA launched an investigation into a separate situation involving associates of Morant and members of the Indiana Pacers' travelling party in January.
It was alleged a red laser was pointed at the Pacers' team bus from a car Morant was a passenger in, with the Indiana group concerned the light may have come from a gun.
The NBA could "not corroborate that any individual threatened others with a weapon", the league finding "no evidence".
Erik Spoelstra bemoaned Julius Randle's one-in-100 clutch three that defeated his Miami Heat and continued the New York Knicks' winning run.
The Knicks had won seven straight ahead of Friday's trip to the Heat but looked set to see that streak ended as they trailed by a point with only seconds remaining.
But Randle somehow worked room for a shot after initially fumble the ball on the right sideline and drained a stunning effort from three-point range.
Randle finished with 43 points and eight made threes, but it was understandably that final attempt that so frustrated Heat coach Spoelstra in a 122-120 defeat.
"If you did that play 100 times, 99 times out of that it's going to end up in our favour," Spoelstra said.
"That's just crazy unfortunate luck on our part and good fortune for them. He made a heck of a shot."
"Crazy" was how RJ Barrett described it, too, saying of Randle: "He just went crazy today.
"When you're in a mode like that and you're just making shots like that, the basket just gets bigger. We needed it, for sure."
Randle himself added: "It was fate. It felt good honestly when it left my hand. I was in the zone, I guess."
The forward so caught up in the moment he knocked Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau to the floor as he ran the length of the court to celebrate.
"He's a little mad at me right now," Randle joked later. "I need to talk to him."
Steve Kerr is enthused by the Golden State Warriors' recent form, believing his team have "turned a corner" in their season.
The defending NBA champions have endured a difficult up-and-down year, not helped by injuries to Finals MVP Stephen Curry.
But as Curry prepares to return from his latest lay-off, which has so far spanned 11 games, the Warriors are hitting form.
They ended a 5-0 homestand with victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, improving to 34-30 in fifth place in the Western Conference.
"It's been exciting to see our team, I think, turn a corner," said coach Kerr.
The Warriors are only a game behind the Phoenix Suns in fourth place, giving them a clear target for the remainder of the season.
"You realise how important all these games are from here on out," Klay Thompson added.
"We want to do everything we can to have home court, especially in the first round. So, it's a great challenge, and it's there for us to take."
Thompson, who is scoring 22.1 points per game for the year, has averaged 27.1 points over the last 11 games while Curry has been out and 30.3 points across the Warriors' seven wins in that time.
"Guys have figured out their roles, and I think we are in great condition," he said. "We are having fun, above all."
Joe Mazzulla could see the Brooklyn Nets' fightback coming even as the Boston Celtics led by 28 points on Friday.
The Nets produced the biggest comeback win of the season, tied for the biggest in franchise history, trailing by 28 midway through the second quarter but wiping out that deficit by midway through the third.
Brooklyn won 115-105 as the Celtics suffered their biggest collapse since blowing another 28-point lead against the Los Angeles Clippers in February 2019.
Yet Mazzulla had been concerned early on, with the Nets shooting 18.2 per cent from three-point range in the first quarter, showing the clear room for improvement.
The Celtics shot 44.4 per cent from beyond the arc over the same period, although they still only attempted nine threes. Only in five of their previous 51 first quarters had they attempted fewer, averaging 11.3 threes attempted in first quarters this season.
"I was actually worried, because we were scoring, but it wasn't because we were making shots," Mazzulla said. "It was because we were getting lay-ups.
"And they are a very analytically sound team, so I knew the tide was going to shift because they were going to continue to shoot threes.
"If we didn't play at a level of shooting threes and getting offensive rebounds and taking care of the ball, that was going to cost us."
Sure enough, as the Celtics made five-of-21 threes over the remaining three quarters (23.8 per cent), the Nets shot 12 of 33 (36.4 per cent).
Brooklyn's 44 total attempts from three tied their season high, and that volume shooting from deep made such a comeback feel far more achievable, according to Cam Johnson.
"It really does," Johnson said. "Especially when you know you're just messing up a lot, and that's the reason for it.
"In the NBA, leads aren't safe. Leads just aren't safe, you know? People go on runs. Sometimes shots go in, sometimes they don't.
"And so you've just got to stick to the script, keep your head down and keep working, and we had that effort across the board today and the result was a win."
The Brooklyn Nets produced the biggest comeback of the NBA season led by Mikal Bridges as they stunned the Boston Celtics 115-105 on Friday.
The Nets trailed by 28 points in the second quarter but rallied back with a 34-20 third quarter, eclipsing the previous largest comeback this season, set by the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this week, fighting back from 27 points down against the Dallas Mavericks.
Brooklyn outscored Boston 74-47 across the second and third quarters, claiming a three-quarter time lead before running away with their best victory since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving's departures.
The Nets, sixth in the Eastern Conference, improve their record to 35-28, halting a four-game losing streak.
Bridges, who came in from the Phoenix Suns as part of the exchange for Durant, top scored with 38 points on 13-of-22 shooting with 10 rebounds and four assists.
New acquisitions Cam Johnson, who also joined in that trade from the Suns, Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 20, 17 and 17 points respectively.
Jayson Tatum went none-of-eight from beyond the arc, scoring 22 points with 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
Jaylen Brown top scored for the Celtics with 35 points on 15-of-27 shooting from the field, but Boston shot nine-of-30 from three-point range.
Nugs down Grizz in west top-two clash
The Denver Nuggets rallied back from 11 points down in a clash against the top two teams in the Western Conference, winning 113-97 over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Nikola Jokic recorded another triple-double with 18 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists, but it was Michael Porter Jr who top scored with 26 points. Jamal Murray added 22 points with four three-pointers.
Ja Morant scored a game-high 27 points for the Grizzlies, who led by seven points with six minutes remaining in the third quarter, before the Nuggets stormed home, winning the fourth period 33-17.
The Nuggets' win, combined with the Celtics' loss, means Denver have the second-best record in the NBA, improving to 45-19. Memphis falls to 38-24.
Knicks stay hot after clutch Randle triple
The New York Knicks extended their winning streak to eight games as Julius Randle scored 43 points with eight three-pointers in their 122-120 triumph over the Miami Heat.
Randle's eight triples included a game-winning clutch three-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining, underlining an outstanding individual display, helping the Knicks improve their record to 38-27 to close in on the east's top four.
Tyler Herro, who finished with 29 points had put the Heat up with a layup with 23.1 seconds left, before Randle made the crucial score, albeit in a broken play under pressure from Jimmy Butler. Butler had a team-high 33 points with eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.
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