Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving made some franchise history during the Dallas Mavericks' 133-126 home win against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.

It was the first time ever two Mavericks team-mates scored at least 40 points each in the same game, with Doncic shooting 13-of-22 for his 42 points, while Irving was 15-of-22 for 40 points.

The duo also combined for 18 assists, eight rebounds and four steals, while hitting 13-of-21 from three-point range.

It was a close contest through a high-scoring first half, but after Dallas came out of the locker room leading 71-67, they put their foot on the gas.

Dallas put together a 39-24 third period to jump out to a 20-point lead, and the final score was flattering for the 76ers, who trailed by 14 with under three minutes remaining before a garbage-time run.

Philadelphia's failure was no fault of their top trio, with Joel Embiid putting together 35 points (13-of-21 shooting), eight rebounds and two steals, while James Harden had 27 points (eight-of-12 shooting) with 13 assists, and Tyrese Maxey added 29 points (12-of-21).

The win gets the Mavericks back on the right foot after dropping five of their past six, now sitting sixth in the Western Conference at 33-31.

Philadelphia fell to 40-22, but remain well clear in the Eastern Conference's third seed.

Poole goes for a splash

A 34-point Jordan Poole eruption led a second-half trouncing by the Golden State Warriors in their 115-91 home blowout against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Poole finished nine-of-20 from the field, five-of-12 from deep and 11-of-12 from the free throw line, and all five of his three-pointers came in the second half as Golden State took the third and fourth quarters by a combined margin of 70-35.

Kawhi Leonard played an efficient game despite his side's struggles, shooting eight-of-12 from the field for 21 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

The win is the Warriors' fourth in a row, and they now sit fifth in the West at 33-30 on the back of the NBA's fourth-best home record (26-7).

Wizards stay in the hunt

The Washington Wizards fended off the resurgent Toronto Raptors 119-108 to keep themselves in the thick of the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament placings.

Kyle Kuzma led the way against a Raptors team that came into the contest with 10 wins from their past 12, scoring a game-high 30 points on 10-of-24 shooting with five rebounds and five assists.

Kristaps Porzingis added 25 points (eight-of-12 shooting) and two blocks, while defensive specialist Delon Wright flashed some ability as a starting point guard, racking up 11 assists to go with his six rebounds and three steals.

The Wizards have now won six of their past nine, improving to 30-32 to create a 1.5-game buffer between themselves and the Chicago Bulls in the race for the 10th seed.

Kyrie Irving accepts he needs "scale back" the pressure he is putting on himself after his shooting struggles continued in the Dallas Mavericks' loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The eight-time NBA All-Star scored 16 points in Tuesday's 124-122 defeat at American Airlines Center as the Mavs dropped to seventh in the Western Conference.

He has averaged 24.7 points in his seven games since joining in a high-profile trade from the Brooklyn Nets, taking his overall average for the season to 26.7.

Irving has made just 15 of his 40 field-goal attempts over the Mavs' past two games and missed a potential game-winning three late on against the Pacers.

Speaking after his side's fifth defeat in six outings, Irving said: "I appreciate the coaching staff and my team-mates trusting me with that shot and the comfort they gave me.

"I really want to win here. I really put a lot of pressure on myself at times. I think I need to scale it back a little bit.

"In the second half of the season, we feel we've got to be great every single possession. Usually these learning curves happen in preseason, but it's happening now.

"It definitely puts a glaring eye on what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong. 

"It's easy to criticise, but for us, I've just got to focus on being the best that I can be and showing up for not only Luka [Doncic], but for my team-mates."

Partnering Irving with fellow superstar Doncic was supposed to bring instant success to the Mavs, but the former does not believe he has yet to truly arrive.

"It's the big business, baby," Irving said. "As much pressure as I put on myself, I have goals that I would love to accomplish, but all those are pushed to the side.

"I know I have 15 other guys on this team that are relying on me to do things that they've either seen me do or they're expecting me to do as one of the best players in the league. 

"So sitting alongside Luka, I just have to show up to the party.

"I've been in situations in this league. Some have been failures, some have been successes, but over the last few years I've made it a goal of mine to be stronger mentally, especially dealing with the rigours of this mentally, physically, emotionally. It'll come. It'll come."

The Mavs are back in action on Thursday when taking on the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jayson Tatum scored an All-Star game record 55 points as Team Giannis defeated Team LeBron 184-175 in Sunday's game in Salt Lake City.

Tatum won the Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP for the contest, where the first team to 182 points won with an untimed fourth quarter.

The Boston Celtics small forward shot 22-of-31 from the field along with 10-of-18 from beyond the arc, with 10 rebounds and six assists from 35 minutes. Tatum's 55 points exceeded Anthony Davis' previous All-Star record of 52 from 2017.

Tatum led the way in the free-scoring contest where defense was at a minimum, with Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell adding 40 points on 15-of-25 shooting from the field with 10 assists on his return to Utah.

Damian Lillard contributed 26 points off the bench, making eight-of-20 from three-point range, while captain Giannis Antetokounmpo left the court after a dunk in the first minute with an ongoing wrist issue.

Opposition captain LeBron James exited the game at half-time due to a hand contusion sustained in a second-quarter dunk, finishing with 13 points and four assists across 14 minutes.

Celtics guard Jaylen Brown top scored for Team LeBron off the bench with 35 points along with 14 rebounds and five assists.

Brown and Tatum's combined 90 points, albeit on opposition sides, was the most ever by a pair of teammates in an All-Star Game.

Joel Embiid and Kyrie Irving both scored 32 points for Team LeBron, while the latter had a game-high 15 assists.

Kevin Durant says his and Kyrie Irving's high-profile NBA trades are "great for the league" after the Brooklyn Nets pair went their separate ways.

The Phoenix Suns prised Durant away from Brooklyn, who also lost fellow star Irving to the Dallas Mavericks after the 30-year-old requested a trade in February.

That saw the Nets lose their only two players to average above 20 points per game this season, although Durant and Irving only shared the court 71 times in the regular season despite joining together in 2019.

Durant has repeatedly lauded the project with the Suns, who sit fifth in the Western Conference, and believes the roster changes are positive for the NBA.

"I don't think it's bad for the league," Durant said Saturday during his All-Star news conference. "It's bringing more eyes to the league, more people are more excited.

"The tweets that I get; the news hits that we got from me being traded, Kyrie being traded; it just brings more attention to the league and that's really what rakes the money in when you get more attention.

"So, I think it's great for the league, to be honest."

Durant expressed his desire to leave shortly after Irving had voiced similar plans, leading to some criticism over the pair's actions with the Nets.

But Irving refused to accept the backlash as he insisted it should be commonplace for such trades to happen, given he was unable to agree a long-term contract extension in Brooklyn.

"It's a bad situation," Irving said Saturday. "Why doesn't anyone have the ability to ask for trades? That's my question.

"When did it become terrible to make great business decisions for yourself and your happiness and peace of mind?

"Not every employer you're going to get along with, so if you have the chance to go somewhere else and you're doing it legally, I don't think there's a problem with it."

"Teams have been trading players and making acquisitions for a long time," Durant said, echoing Irving's sentiment.

"Now when a player can kind of dictate where he wants to go and leave in free agency and demand a trade, it's just part of the game now.

"So I don't think it's a bad thing. It's bringing more and more excitement to the game."

Irving added: "Speculation and narratives are what make this entertainment kind of seem a little bit more important or more of a priority than it actually is.

"Like, it's my life. It's not just a dream that everybody can gossip about. When you work as hard as I do or anyone else in a specific profession, I feel like you should have the liberty and the freedom to go where you're wanted, where you're celebrated and where you feel comfortable."

Kevin Durant felt the Brooklyn Nets lost their "identity" without Kyrie Irving and believes the Phoenix Suns have "all the pieces to be successful" following his blockbuster trade.

Durant last week swapped Brooklyn for Phoenix in a sensational switch that saw the Nets receive a package including Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four unprotected first-round draft picks.

Two-time NBA Finals MVP Durant's departure came after Irving requested a trade and duly joined the Dallas Mavericks.

Durant found Irving's exit hard to take, and the 34-year-old is relishing his new challenge with the Suns.

He said in his first press conference as a Suns player on Thursday: "I was upset that we couldn't finish. I thought we had some good momentum.

"We were finally building a culture that we always wanted. I felt like every game we were building our chemistry, but I didn't know what was going on with Kyrie and his situation with the organisation, so I didn't really focus on that.

"I only focused on what we were doing on the court, and it was a blow to our team. It just took away our identity. He was a huge, huge part to what we do. His game, he's a Hall of Fame player, a great, great player that can do everything on the floor, and we relied on that.

"So without him, we didn't have a clear identity. That was tough for me to stomach. I love playing with those guys throughout the year. I felt like we had dudes that were stepping up and doing stuff that they didn't do on their previous teams.

"I enjoyed everything about it – it was tough not finishing the season, but I just tried to move forward as quickly as I can and try to figure something out for myself, but also still focus on trying to rehab and get back. So it all happened so fast, but I'm glad it worked out this way."

Durant thinks he can add to his list of honours during his time with Phoenix, who are fifth in the Western Conference at 32-28.

"I think we've got all the pieces to be successful," Durant said. "We've got guys that have experienced what it's like to play in that final round.

"We've got a champion [Suns GM James Jones] already that's overseeing us. Monty's [head coach Williams] a champion as a coach. So we've got guys that have been there, and that's half the battle, just knowing what it takes."

Durant rued not having a regular opportunity to be on court with Irving and James Harden with the Nets.

"We just didn't get on the court enough," Durant said. "I think when you have seen James, Kyrie and myself, it was amazing basketball for [16] games, but in order for you to win a championship and be a great team, you just need more time on the floor.

"It's another story about why we didn't get on the floor together, but we just didn't get enough time on the floor. And those are Hall of Fame players that I learned a lot from every day. I'm wishing them the best as well. It just didn't work out."

He added: "It was a lot of ups and downs, but I loved the grind. And everybody in Brooklyn loved the grind, too, so I built a family over there. They're going to always be part of my journey. So we didn't accomplish what we wanted to accomplish as far as winning a championship, but I enjoyed the grind.

"And everybody there, we tried our hardest every day, regardless of what was going on in the media or what was going on with our team-mates."

Durant continued: "I get emotional talking about them because that was a special four years in my career, coming off an Achilles [injury]. They helped me through a lot, so I don't have anything [bad to say]."

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said he will need to figure out how to get the best out of Ben Simmons in the wake of losing star duo Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

Irving and Durant left the Nets for the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns respectively before the trade deadline, leaving Brooklyn shorn of two players who often took opposition attention away from Simmons.

The Australian played less than 13 minutes of Monday's 124-106 loss at the New York Knicks, having only once played for a shorter period in a game this season.

"It's going to be some work that we have to do," Vaughn said after the defeat at Madison Square Garden. "Because you just take a look at what the lineups could potentially look like.

"You put another big next to Ben, then you got to figure out what the spacing is around him. Then if you put another playmaker next to him, then you got to figure out what Ben looks like without the basketball. Then if you go small with Ben, then you have to figure out can you rebound enough with him?

"So, the challenges are ahead of us. We'll look them head-on. We'll figure it out. We have the personnel to figure it out. Whether it is me mixing and matching throughout different pieces of the game, and allowing him to have a group and run with a group, that part we'll figure out, but you see the challenges that lie ahead."

Spencer Dinwiddie, who was acquired as part of the trade for Irving, top-scored for the Nets with 28, though he was no match for another former Dallas player in Jalen Brunson, who scored 40, making 15 from 21 field-goal attempts and six from nine three-point shots, and Vaughn said Brunson's performance was a factor in his thinking around Simmons.

"With Brunson being out there, trying to throw different bodies with him," he said. "We're always concerned about [rebounding], so didn't want Ben to be the lone big out there.

"We tried him with another big; I didn't like that rhythm of the game because we weren't scoring enough at that time. A lot of different problems thrown at you in the course of a game; you try to figure them out.

"Trying to figure out what lineup fits around Ben, what position fits for Ben, how we can make him look good at every opportunity. That's the goal. I'm still trying to figure that out. That's on me to figure that out. But I think overall as a team, we're going to try different lineups to try to figure this out."

Kyrie Irving scored 26 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter but it was not enough as the fast-finishing Dallas Mavericks lost 124-121 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.

Irving and Luka Doncic (33 points) combined for 69 points for the Mavs, who trailed 100-82 at three-quarter time and rallied from a 26-point deficit.

The Mavs point guard, however, lost the ball to Taurean Prince with an errant pass on the final possession, denying Dallas getting a shot away to tie the game after a disrupted play where he exchanged passes with Doncic.

Irving's 26-point fourth quarter was the highest scoring quarter of his career, finishing the game on 15-of-23 shooting with four-of-nine from beyond the arc, along with five rebounds and six assists.

Doncic had 12 rebounds and six assists with his 33 points, while Christian Wood added 24 points off the bench.

For the triumphant Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards scored a team-high 32 points with five rebounds, while Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 14 rebounds.

The defeat means the Mavs have lost both games Doncic and Irving have played together since the latter's trade from the Brooklyn Nets last week.

Lillard leads long-range Blazers blitz over Lakers

Damien Lillard scored 40 points as the Portland Trail Blazers hit 23 three-pointers in a 127-115 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, who were missing LeBron James for the third straight game with a sore left ankle.

The Blazers' 23 triples were a season-best, while they broke their first-half franchise record with 17 three-pointers. Lillard led the way from range, making eight-of-14 three-point attempts.

Malik Beasley came off the bench to top score for the Lakers with 22 points, including six three-pointers, while Anthony Davis scored 19 points with 20 rebounds and three blocks.

Mitchell stars as Spurs lose 13th straight

Donovan Mitchell scored 41 points with five three-pointers as the Cleveland Cavaliers condemned the San Antonio Spurs to a joint franchise record 13th straight defeat.

The Cavs won 117-109 led by Mitchell with Jarrett Allen adding 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, securing their seventh successive victory to improve their record to 38-22.

The loss leaves San Antonio with a 14-44 record, with their run of defeats marking their worst since the 1988-89 season.

Dallas Mavericks acquisition Kyrie Irving does not want to be constantly asked about committing long term to his new franchise, which he says is "very emotionally draining".

Irving was unveiled by the Mavericks to Dallas media alongside Markieff Morris following their trades from the Brooklyn Nets prior to their home debuts against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.

The Mavericks have made it clear their move for Irving was geared towards chasing an elusive NBA title and the 30-year-old point guard proactively requested that reporters not ask him about his future beyond this season.

"It puts unwarranted distractions on us and our team," Irving told reporters. "I've dealt with it before, and it's very emotionally draining to ask questions like, 'What's the long term? What's the long term?'

"I will say that from the start, from when I came here, there's been nothing but a warm embrace, nothing but genuine love and nothing but a familiarity of relationships that I can really look to in times of questioning or confusion.

"There's just a positive note there. I'm just taking it one day at a time. That's all I can do in this life.

"What the future holds is really only going to be dictated on what I do right now and how I prepare for those next steps, and that's being the best teammate that I can be in that locker room and a great leader out here and within the Dallas community and within the NBA. I'll just continue to be myself.

"I'm just putting that to bed and just focusing on what we have ahead of us as a team."

Irving has started life with the Mavs well, averaging 25.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists across three games where they have won two.

The eight-time All-Star's acquisition does come with question marks given the off-court issues he has caused over the past few years, but Mavs general manager Nico Harrison downplayed any risk.

"I don't see any risk involved," said Harrison, whose relationship with Irving dates back to high school. "I've known Kyrie for a long time. I know his core. I know what kind of person that he is.

"I think anybody that's ever watched him play basketball knows the type of basketball player he is. I don't see the risk involved. I actually see the risk in not doing the deal."

Luka Doncic had fun linking up with Kyrie Irving for the first time in spite of the Dallas Mavericks going down 133-128 in overtime at the Sacramento Kings.

In his third game since being traded from the Brooklyn Nets, Irving scored 28 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, but it was not enough to beat the Kings at Golden 1 Center again, as the Mavs did on Friday.

Doncic did not play in that game, but he returned on Saturday for the second of a double-header against Sacramento, and linked up well with Irving as he finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

"Amazing, only our first game together, but I think it's so fun to play with this guy," the Slovenian said about lining up with Irving. "He's an amazing basketball player and I think it's going to be really fun and today, first game, it was really fun, too."

Mavs coach Jason Kidd was equally enthused by his new star partnership despite the loss, saying: "I thought it was good. It was just natural. Nothing forced.

"It's going to make us that much better. They did an incredible job."

De'Aaron Fox managed to outshine Doncic and Irving in Sacramento, scoring 36 points for the hosts, 26 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime, while Domantas Sabonis and Terence Davis also put up 22 points each, with the former recording 14 rebounds for a league-leading 44th double-double of the season.

Kings coach Mike Brown was understandably pleased with his team's work, saying: "Heck of a job by our guys. Defensively, we did a pretty good job in both second halves.

"We had a lot of great individual performances."

James Harden said he left the Brooklyn Nets "for a reason" after he and Joel Embiid starred in the Philadelphia 76ers' win over his former team, describing his time in Brooklyn as "frustrating".

Harden scored 29 points with six rebounds and six assists on his first appearance at Barclays Center since pushing for a trade to Philadelphia last year, helping the Sixers record a 101-98 win.

The 2018 NBA MVP and 10-time All-Star was criticised for his decision to seek a Nets exit just over a year after being acquired from the Houston Rockets.

Harden was keen to get a few things off his chest after Saturday's win over Brooklyn, who are working with a new-look roster after the recent departure of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Asked if he could have foreseen a situation where both of those stars followed him through the exit door, Harden said: "Yeah. I didn't just ask to leave for no reason. It wasn't right.

"I was in a really good place in Houston. Obviously, we didn't have a chance to win a championship, but I was comfortable. 

"So for me to up and leave my family, all the things I created there, to come to Brooklyn for a year and a half to try to just get up and leave, it was for a reason, you know what I mean?" 

Pushed on whether the Nets could have done anything to keep him, the guard added: "Yeah, there was. Like, a lot of things.

"But it was just a lot of dysfunction, clearly. A lot of internal things that I'm not going to ever say or put in the media or anything. That was one of the reasons why I chose to make my decision.

"But now, fast-forward to this date, I don't look like the crazy one. I don't look like the quitter or whatever the media want to call me. 

"I knew what was going on and I just decided, 'hey, I'm not built for this'. I don't want to deal with that. I want to play basketball and have fun and enjoy doing it. Fast-forward to today, they've got a whole new roster."

Asked to sum up his time in Brooklyn, Harden described it as "frustrating", bemoaning his lack of game-time alongside Durant and Irving after the trio only played 16 times together.

"The reason I made that decision to get out of my comfort zone, to leave Houston and do everything that I did to get out of there was to come in and play with KD and Kyrie," he said.

"That didn't happen as much as I would like to or probably the organisation wanted to. It was just something where I knew it wasn't going to change. I had to make an individual decision for the betterment of my family and my career

 "It's a lot of what-ifs when you play less than 20 games together. So it's a little bit frustrating, but it is what it is. Hopefully, everybody's in a good place now and we can move on."

Joel Embiid and James Harden led the Philadelphia 76ers to a hard-fought 101-98 win against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Saturday.

The Nets, now shorn of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, had to face another of their former stars in Harden, who had no problem showing them the kind of form he rarely displayed in Brooklyn on his first appearance there since leaving last year, scoring 29 points with six rebounds and six assists.

Embiid had an even better outing, with the Cameroonian finishing with 37 points and 13 rebounds, making 12 of his 18 field-goal attempts.

Mikal Bridges scored 23 on debut for Brooklyn after his arrival as part of the Durant deal with the Phoenix Suns, with fellow debutant Cam Johnson adding 12, while Joe Harris managed 18 points from just over 16 minutes on court.

The two players the Nets acquired as part of the Irving deal, Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie, struggled against the Sixers.

Finney-Smith made just two of his eight field-goal attempts, while Dinwiddie fared even worse with two from 10, and zero from four shots from beyond the arc.

Dinwiddie thought he had forced overtime at least when a three-pointer finally went in, but it was ruled out of time after a review as Philadelphia secured the victory.

Doncic and Irving outfoxed by De'Aaron

In their first outing together for the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic and Irving could not get the W as De'Aaron Fox helped the Sacramento Kings to an overtime victory.

Both Doncic and Irving spent more than 40 minutes on the court, scoring 27 and 28 points respectively in a tight game in which neither team ended a quarter with more than a two-point lead.

Fox particularly shone in the latter stages as he recorded 26 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including six free throws in the final 18.4 seconds to help seal a 133-128 win at Golden 1 Center.

Jokic makes history, Young's assist bonanza

Nikola Jokic became only the fifth player in NBA history to record 20+ triple-doubles in a single season as he led the Denver Nuggets to a 119-105 win at the Charlotte Hornets.

The two-time MVP scored 30 points, with 16 rebounds and 10 assists, while Trae Young also had a productive game as the Atlanta Hawks beat the San Antonio Spurs 125-106.

Young provided an impressive season-high 17 assists for his team to go with his 24 points to make it a 12-game losing streak for the Spurs, their longest since 1988-89 (13).

A much-changed Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a 109-103 victory against the Golden State Warriors, with Dennis Schroder top-scoring with 26 points, while the returning D'Angelo Russell added 15 and Anthony Davis recorded 16 rebounds.

Luka Doncic is hoping to play alongside Kyrie Irving for the first time on Saturday, calling his new team-mate "probably the best ball handler ever".

Doncic was forced to sit out the Dallas Mavericks' 122-114 win at the Sacramento Kings on Friday with a heel injury, but is hopeful of featuring in the second game of a double-header against the Kings.

Irving – who joined the Mavs from the Brooklyn Nets ahead of this week's trade deadline – recorded 25 points and 10 assists at Golden 1 Center, with Dallas scoring 45 points in the first quarter to take control.

The Mavericks traded Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie for Irving, and Doncic was sorry to see his former team-mates leave, but is excited to see what Irving can bring.

"We'll obviously miss them here, but Kyrie's Kyrie, man," he said prior to Friday's game.

"NBA champion. Probably the best ball handler ever in the game. Amazing player, and he's going to be fun to play with.

"I never played with a guy like Kyrie, so it's obviously going to be a work in progress. But I think it's going to be fine. We both can play on the ball.

"For me, I think it's going to be a learning process, for sure. Outside of my first season, I didn't play off the ball. But with a guy like him it's going to be different."

On his recovery from injury, the Slovenian added: "Hopefully [Saturday] I can be back. Still painful. But it's way better every day."

The feeling appears to be mutual, as Irving said after Friday's victory: "I'm excited to see what that looks like with Luka out there.

"I'm constantly out on those breaks, so as much as we can make the game easier for each other and keep the pace going, that would be a benefit for us.

"But I'm looking forward to seeing what that looks like with Luka out there and me running the wing, just shooters getting to their spots, and then if we don't have anything, just settling in the half court, we got some great options out there."

Friday marked two games with Kyrie Irving in the line-up, and two wins for the Dallas Mavericks as they beat the Sacramento Kings 122-114 on the road.

Irving – who was acquired before the trade deadline in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and three draft picks – led the Mavericks in scoring for the second game in a row as superstar Luka Doncic continues to recover from a heel injury.

He had 25 points against the Kings on five-of-14 shooting, hitting all 12 of his free throws, while also tying his season-high with 10 assists.

Irving was supported strongly by 22-year-old emerging Australian Josh Green, who chipped in 17 points on seven-of-12 shooting and a season-high seven assists, and rookie Jaden Hardy hit four of his five three-point attempts off the bench.

The Mavericks had been flailing without Doncic, having lost the first six games he missed this season, but they have now won three in a row during his current absence.

For the Kings, De'Aaron Fox was terrific with a game-high 33 points on 10-of-16 shooting, adding six rebounds and five assists, while All-Star selection Domantas Sabonis had 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

With the victory, the Mavericks are now 31-26, sitting fourth in the Western Conference, while the 31-24 Kings are third.

Giannis accomplishes feat not seen since Wilt

The Milwaukee Bucks are the hottest team in the NBA and collected their 10th consecutive win with a 119-106 triumph against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 35 points (13-of-25 shooting), eight rebounds, six assists and two steals, giving him a total of 373 points during the 10-game winning streak. That is the most points by one player during a 10-game winning streak since Wilt Chamberlain's 416 during his rookie season in 1959-60.

At 39-17, the Bucks are just one game behind the 40-16 Boston Celtics in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference, and the league.

Embiid dominates the Knicks

Joel Embiid was unstoppable as his Philadelphia 76ers defended home court 119-108 against the visiting New York Knicks.

Embiid scored a game-high 35 points on 14-of-18 shooting, and his field goal percentage of 77.8 set a new season-high. He also added 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.

James Harden delivered, dishing a game-high 12 assists to go with his 20 points (seven-of-17) and eight rebounds, while Tyrese Maxey exploded for 27 points (nine-of-16) off the bench.

The 76ers (35-19) climbed up to third place in the East, while the Knicks (30-27) occupy the seventh seed.

LeBron James deserves to be acknowledged as one of the NBA's all-time greats, according to Kyrie Irving as he paid tribute to his former team-mate's achievements.

The Los Angeles Lakers veteran overhauled Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record during a 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder this week.

Having needed 36 to break the figure, the 38-year-old posted 38 to end the game with 38,390 career points to his name, further underlining his status as one of the sport's giants.

Irving, who was recently traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks, played with James at the Cleveland Cavaliers, and was effusive in his admiration for his latest record.

"I just enjoy seeing him celebrate himself, in those moments where a lot of hard work that doesn't necessarily get talked about or seen by others is on full display," he said.

"I got a chance to play three special years with him. It's a celebration to witness history like that, within the game that's so special to all of us.

"We should acknowledge when greatness is in front of us.

"I know we've all [these] superlatives for LeBron. You've got the stans on one side, you've got the real supporters on one side.

"I think it's just great for the game that we can all come together collectively to celebrating somebody and his accomplishments like that."

A four-time NBA champion and four-time MVP pick, James is also a two-time Olympic Gold Medallist after success at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Irving made his Mavericks debut during a 110-104 win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, scoring a team-high 24 points.

Kyrie Irving described his Dallas Mavericks debut as an "incredible" experience after playing a lead role in victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

An NBA champion alongside LeBron James seven years ago with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Irving joined the Mavericks this week after a stint with the Brooklyn Nets.

The Mavs scored a 110-104 road win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday and Irving shot a team-high 24 points.

Asked at courtside how his debut felt, Irving told ESPN: "Incredible. I had natural nerves out here, so I was just trying to play well, but it feels good to get acclimated.

"It's been a long 96 hours to say the least, but I'm just grateful I got to play the game I love with some guys that were selfless out there, and it just feels good."

Luka Doncic is sidelined for now due to a heel problem but is expected back within days, with Dallas now sitting fourth in the Western Conference.

The prospect of linking up with Doncic excites the new arrival, who spoke of what could be expected.

"Just some high-level, high-IQ basketball," Irving said. "It's simple when you play with guys that are selfless and do the little things, and they don't mind other guys being aggressive out there. That's the way the game should be played, a very fast pace, and just doing the little things, details to win.

"We'll take it from day to day. We're trying to get everybody healthy and see where we go from there."

Irving saw lots that pleased him about his new team-mates, saying in a post-game press conference: "I was telling the guys in the locker room I liked how we didn't panic in the last four minutes. We stayed poised. They made their runs, but we made everything tough.

"It just felt good to get this debut out of the way. It's been a long 96 hours, barely any sleep sometimes and just packing my stuff. It was the first time I ever got traded in the middle of the season, so it was new for me.

"But I'm excited that I'm here, and just keep things rolling now."

Tim Hardaway Jr. had 19 points, six assists and five rebounds, and the 30-year-old believes Irving is settling in well.

"It felt like when he came to practice yesterday and came to shoot this morning, you could just tell his energy was great," Hardaway Jr. said.

"He talked to all the guys out there and told us to 'keep doing what you guys are doing, have fun; don't look for me, I'll find a way'.

"He just gave us that confidence. It felt like he'd been here for a while, while he was on the floor with us, so it was great."