Jamal Murray scored a career-high 55 points, Nikola Jokic had his 25th triple-double of the season and the Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 132-121 on Wednesday night for their eighth straight victory.
Murray was 20 of 36 from the floor, including seven 3-pointers. It's the third-most points in franchise history, trailing only David Thompson's 73-point game on April 9, 1978, and Jokic's 56-point effort Dec. 7.
Jokic had 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists on a night when the team celebrated Serbian Heritage Night and handed out his bobblehead.
Denver led by 23 points, only to see Portland cut it to single digits late in the second game between the teams in Denver in three nights. The Nuggets won 146-117 on Monday.
Anfernee Simons led Portland with 26 points, and Donovan Clingan had 17 points and 20 rebounds. The Trail Blazers were without Deandre Ayton (strained calf), Scoot Henderson (sprained ankle) and Jerami Grant (sore knee).
Murray missed a free throw with less than a second remaining until halftime, but Jokic was able to crash the boards and tap it in for a 75-56 lead.
Thunder use dominant 4th to rally past Heat
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and nine assists, and the streaking Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat the Miami Heat 115-101.
Jalen Williams scored 18 points and Lu Dort added 17 for the Thunder, who won their seventh straight and improved to a league-best 44-9.
Oklahoma City never led until a 24-0 run to start the fourth quarter that put the team ahead for good. The Thunder outscored the Heat 32-8 in the final period, led by Gilgeous-Alexander who scored 14 points in the fourth.
The 24-0 run was the longest run by any team to begin any quarter since March 1, 2004, when the Celtics opened the fourth with a 25-0 run against Orlando.
Bam Adebayo had 27 points and 15 rebounds and Tyler Herro added 14 points for the Heat. Andrew Wiggins added 13 points in his second game with the Heat since being traded from the Golden State Warriors.
Miami dominated the first half, scoring at will against the league leader in defensive rating. The Heat led 58-37 in the second quarter, but Gilgeous-Alexander hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to cut Oklahoma City's deficit to 63-52. Miami shot 58.5% in the first half.
Miami led 93-83 at the end of the third quarter, but the Thunder held Miami scoreless for nearly six minutes to start the final period.
Brunson’s late basket in OT rescues Knicks
Jalen Brunson made the go-ahead jumper with 11.1 seconds left in overtime, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 44 points and the New York Knicks outlasted the Atlanta Hawks 149-148 in a thrilling final game before the All-Star break for both teams.
Towns reached 40 points in consecutive games for the first time in his career and became the fifth Knicks player to do so. Brunson - who was the last Knicks player to do it - added 36 points and eight assists.
Trae Young had 38 points and 19 assists for the Hawks. They had a three-game winning streak snapped, but not until erasing a six-point deficit in the final 10 seconds of regulation.
They had a chance to win it after Brunson's jumper, but Young missed a jumper and Georges Niang a 3-pointer.
The Knicks led by six with 10 seconds remaining in regulation. After Niang's 3-pointer, Towns' inbounds pass was stolen by Dyson Daniels, who was fouled and made the first free throw to cut it to 137-135. He missed the second, but the Knicks failed to get the rebound and the Hawks got the ball to Young, who was fouled and made both to tie with 2.9 seconds to go.