James Harden continued his impressive start to life with the Philadelphia 76ers by dazzling in Wednesday's 123-108 victory against the New York Knicks on his home debut.
The 10-time NBA All-Star starred with 26 points, nine assists and nine rebounds to make it three wins from three since arriving from the Brooklyn Nets last month.
Joel Embiid led the scoring with 27 points, while Tyrese Maxey added 25 as the 76ers won for a fourth game in a row and improved to 38-23 for the season.
Doc Rivers' side now sit two games back of the Miami Heat for the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings after the latter lost 120-119 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Heat led by 14 points with six minutes to play but could not see out a fifth victory in a row, with Jrue Holiday's driving layup with 1.9 seconds to go completing the comeback.
Defending NBA champions Milwaukee had Giannis Antetokounmpo to thank for the much-needed win, the two-time MVP registering 28 points, 17 rebounds and five assists.
Suns reach milestone mark
The Phoenix Suns became the first team to reach 50 wins this season by easing to a 120-90 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at Footprint Center.
Cam Johnson scored 20 points and Deandre Ayton added 18 as the Suns made light work of being without Chris Paul and Devin Booker, the latter entering the league's health and safety protocols.
Portland briefly put up a fight and were ahead early in the second quarter, but the hosts rallied to lead 63-48 at half-time and pulled further ahead to keep a two-game lead over the Chicago Bulls atop the Eastern Conference.
Pelicans show unity with Ukraine
The New Orleans Pelicans wore yellow socks for their 125-95 win over the Sacramento Kings in a show of solidarity with Ukraine after the country was invaded by Russia.
"It's a big mess," said Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds. "We're just trying to bring more attention. The enemy is still out there. Innocent people are still dying.
"The whole world is talking about sanctions, support, prayers – but something else has to be done because the war is still going on. It's been a tough seven days."
Elsewhere on Wednesday, injury-depleted Oklahoma City Thunder pulled off a surprise 119-107 win over the Denver Nuggets, while Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points as the Utah Jazz held off the Houston Rockets 132-127.
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost for a fifth time in six games with a 119-98 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, despite the return of Darius Garland from injury, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic 122-114 thanks to Malcolm Brogdon's 31 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Kevin Durant will make his return from injury when the Brooklyn Nets face the Miami Heat on Thursday.
The 12-time NBA All-Star has been out since suffering an MCL sprain of his left knee on January 15.
Steve Nash's side have struggled in Durant's absence and are eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 32-31 record this season.
Superstar Durant will give Brooklyn a huge lift when he is back on court against Eastern Conference leaders the Heat at Barclays Center. He is averaging 29.3 points per game, the most since his MVP campaign with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2013-14 (32).
The Nets on Wednesday confirmed Durant has been taken off the NBA's injury report following over six weeks on the sidelines.
LeBron James is adamant the Los Angeles Lakers are still capable of ending their season on a high, despite falling to a sixth defeat in seven games on Tuesday.
The Lakers lost 109-104 to the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena to slide to a season-worst seven games below .500, leaving them ninth in the Western Conference.
James led the scoring with 26 points, one more than Mavs star Luka Doncic, but it was not enough for the 27-34 hosts as their poor run continued.
But despite the Lakers' ongoing struggles, James is not ready to write off the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign with 21 games of the regular season still to go.
"We still have games to play," he told reporters. "Until you stomp me out, cut my head off, bury me 12 feet under, then I got a chance. So that's my confidence.
"Obviously, at the end of the day, we got to come in here and win ball games and we got to play better but as long as we've got more games to play, we should have a chance.
"I feel like poop right now. But tomorrow is a new day and I'm going to be prepared and ready for the Clippers on Thursday. That's just my mindset. That's just who I am."
James has missed 17 games this season through injury, but the 37-year-old shot down suggestions he will use the final stages of this season as an opportunity to rest up.
"The only way it'll be back to full strength is with rest," he said. "But I don't have the luxury of having rest. It can wait until the off-season."
The Lakers made up a 21-point deficit to lead 100-94 with seven minutes to play, but 11 consecutive points ensured the Mavericks claimed an eighth win in 10 outings.
Luka Doncic stepped up by scoring seven of his 25 points in the final quarter and is now averaging 27.5 per game for the season – a tally bettered by only six others.
"We stayed together and just executed the game plan, played the game," Doncic said. "My mentality is to close the game with the best shot possible."
Los Angeles managed only four points in the final seven-plus minutes and head coach Frank Vogel accepted there is a lot to improve on.
"Our guys really competed," he said. "Our helpers really competed, but he had that stretch in crunch time where he scored a few buckets in a row.
"It wasn't good enough. It hurts. All these guys are hurting in there. We're putting in the work."
Stephen Curry says the Golden State Warriors "have to be more in sync as a five-man unit" after going down to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
The Warriors hold the second-best record in the NBA at 43-19 but their 129-114 reverse was a sixth defeat in eight games for Steve Kerr's out-of-sorts team.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he saw a "breakdown in our connection" against the Timberwolves, a fact that perhaps should not be altogether too surprising.
Draymond Green has missed 24 straight games, while Andre Iguodala has been absent for 15 of the past 16. Superstar Klay Thompson returned from two straight serious injuries on January 9 but has restrictions on his minutes.
Moses Moody started in place of Thompson against the Timberwolves only to suffer an eye injury and exit the game in the second quarter.
The consequence has been Kerr being forced to mix up his starting five, and Curry concedes the chemistry is not quite there for the Warriors.
"We have a lot of different rotations and lineups and we try to make adjustments on the fly. We have to be more in sync as a five-man unit," Curry said.
"We've had a lot of shuffling. It's not an excuse for how we're playing, but we are built as a full team. And until we get that, I'm not sure if we'll see our full ceiling, but we have to do the little things in the meantime to keep building confidence.
"I'm just trying to stay patient in terms of where we are in the season and what we are trying to do in a month and a half."
The Warriors have the opportunity to return to winning ways when they visit the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
Luka Doncic stepped up to help the Dallas Mavericks recover and overcome the Los Angeles Lakers 109-104 in Tuesday's topsy-turvy encounter.
The Mavericks blew a 21-point lead in the space of 12 minutes spanning half-time at Crypto.com Arena and trailed 100-94 with seven minutes to play.
But 11 consecutive points ensured Jason Kidd's side claimed an eighth win in 10 outings, while the out-of-form Lakers slid to a season-worst seven games below .500.
While not at his best, Doncic led the scoring for the Mavericks with 25 points – seven of those in the final quarter – as he went 9 of 21.
LeBron James scored 26 points for the Lakers and Carmelo Anthony had 20, but it was not enough to prevent the hosts from tasting a sixth loss in seven outings.
Timberwolves inflict another defeat on Warriors
The Golden State Warriors (43-19) have the second-best record in NBA, but they lost for a sixth time in eight games with a 129-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 39 points and nine rebounds, while going 14 for 22 from the floor, as the Timberwolves made it back-to-back victories.
"We're going to be fine long-term. I'm excited about our team and excited about where we can go, but we've just got to weather this storm," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Clippers' run goes on, Nets downed by Raptors
The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets 113-100 thanks to Ivica Zubac's 22 points and 12 rebounds for their fourth win in a row as they went 33-31 for the season.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, the struggling Brooklyn Nets lost to the Toronto Raptors for a second time in two days, going down 109-108 in a tight contest at Scotiabank Arena.
Jayson Tatum's 33 points, eight rebounds and seven assists inspired the Boston Celtics to a 107-98 win against the Atlanta Hawks, while the Washington Wizards beat the Detroit Pistons 116-113.
The Miami Heat have surged to the top of the Eastern Conference but will receive a stern test of their credentials on Wednesday when they visit the Milwaukee Bucks.
Miami went 9-1 in February to take a two-game lead atop the East, capping a stunning month by routing the Chicago Bulls 112-99 on Monday.
Milwaukee sit two games further back but will be out to prove it is they who are the team to beat as the Bucks aim to successfully defend the NBA title.
The Bucks will not be facing a full-strength Heat team, with Kyle Lowry out for personal reasons and Victor Oladipo absent with a right knee injury.
Being slightly undermanned has not proven an issue for the Heat of late, yet it may be different against the Bucks and their two-time MVP.
Giannis Antetokounmpo used the month of February to deliver a scarcely needed reminder of why he is arguably the finest basketball player on the planet.
However, having made the NBA Finals two seasons ago, the Heat have shown they can deliver against top-tier opposition.
The Bucks, though, have been a thorn in Miami's side, sweeping them in the first round en route to the title last season, and this encounter may provide an insight into whether the Heat, who have won two out of their meetings with Milwaukee this season, can cause the defending champions serious problems in the postseason.
PIVOTAL PERFORMERS
Miami Heat - Bam Adebayo
No player was more crucial to the Heat's scorching run in February than Adebayo. He led Miami with 22 points per game last month and was fifth in the league in average plus-minus with 12.6. Adebayo was tied 10th in steals per game (1.73) and defensive rebounds (8.2) and ended the month ninth in blocked shots per game (1.55), illustrating his substantial value on the defensive end.
Milwaukee Bucks - Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Bucks have depth that gives them an excellent chance of repeating as champions but, when it comes to games against the elite, all eyes must be on Antetokounmpo.
He took his game to another level in February, averaging 51.3 points/assists/rebounds per game. Only Luka Doncic (53.8) fared better last month.
KEY BATTLE - Can Heat keep possession?
Miami have thrived this season despite often being lackadaisical in possession.
The Heat's turnover rate of 13.5 per cent is the fourth-highest in the NBA and they are facing a Bucks team whose rate of 12.1 per cent is superior to the league average of 12.5.
In other words, if the Heat want to stay hot against one of their main rivals in the East, they must flip the script and take better care of the ball.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Bucks are looking to continue a recent run of dominance in home games with the Heat, having won the last three meetings in Milwaukee.
Ja Morant chalked up a first ever career 50-point game for the Memphis Grizzlies and was labelled a "beautiful player" and "special kid" by San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
It was the first time in Grizzlies franchise history a player had achieved the target, and his overall haul of 52 helped Memphis – who sit third in the Western conference – to a 118-105 triumph on Monday.
Morant's performance followed a previous career-best 46 against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, as he went 22-for-30 from the field and drained each of his four three-point attempts.
Popovich, at the age of 73, has seen plenty of the NBA's best during his illustrious coaching career and he waxed lyrical about Morant's talents.
"He's a beautiful player," Popovich said.
"What else can you say about him? It's not just that he's athletic. Everybody says 'he’s athletic'. Somebody says 'he's a freak of nature' because he's so fast. But he makes decisions. He knows what is going on on the court.
"So, you combine that cerebral part of his game with his athleticism and you've got a special kid."
There was no shortage of highlights on the reel for Morant, including him dunking over the seven-footer Jakob Poeltl and landing a buzzer-beater for a 68-58 half-time lead after catching a huge launch forward from Steven Adams in mid-air.
He also executed a sensational three-pointer from near the logo, but for Morant it was clear what the highlight of the night was.
"It's got to be the 50 [points],"he said.
"I'm thankful for my teammates, my coaches. They believe in me and have all the confidence in the world that I’ll make the right plays."
De'Anthony Melton, who scored 15 points for the Grizzlies, said of Morant: "He's at the rim every night, but the way he put it together tonight, he was just in attack mode from the jump.
"He got whatever he wanted, and it looked easy out there. It was just special to be out there and watch that."
Of Morant's leap over Poeltl, Melton added: "That dunk was crazy. The way he rose, stared at him and dunked it."
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