Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said "you have to" enjoy the moment after they continued their perfect start to the NBA season.

The Cavs won 131-122 against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, opening their season 9-0 for the first time in the franchise's 55-year history.

Cleveland had previously recorded an 8-0 start in 1976-77, but they have surpassed that, with Atkinson becoming the first NBA coach to win his first nine games with a new team.

Cleveland got 50 points from reserves, led by Caris LeVert (16 points) and Ty Jerome (11).

"You have to [enjoy it]," said Atkinson. "This season's so long. It's so hard to win in this league. So, when you do have moments like this, you have to celebrate a little.

"Everyone contributes. It's what good teams do. We're in a good place physically. We're in a good place mentally.

"When you win nine in a row, it's not one or two guys; it's the whole roster."

The Cavs were led by Donovan Mitchell, who scored 29 points, while Jarrett Allen added 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to add to their winning record.

They had to rally back from an early 12-point deficit though, and did so in part by shooting 54.2% overall, including 48.6% from 3-point range.

"What I think about is this team and the camaraderie they have, and the chemistry we have going and how connected they are," Atkinson added.

"I've been fortunate to land with a really good group, a group that's been really successful in the past, and I'm happy for them -- and I think they're happy for me in the locker room.

"There's a bond between the head coach and a team. You've got to celebrate those moments, and it's pretty cool."

The New Orleans Pelicans are acquiring star guard Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks for forward Larry Nance Jr, guard Dyson Daniels and two first-round picks, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.

The move comes two days after the Hawks selected French prospect Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft on Wednesday.

According to sources, the picks the Pelicans are sending Atlanta are a 2025 first round pick via the Lakers and a 2027 first round pick, which is the least favorable between Milwaukee and New Orleans.

Murray, 27, spent two seasons with the Hawks after he was acquired from San Antonio in July 2022 for three first-round picks. He averaged 21.5 points across 152 games with Atlanta, but the team struggled to a 77-87 record and failed to make the playoffs this past season with a 36-46 mark.

Murray – a 2022 NBA All-Star - averaged a career-high 22.5 points last season to go with 5.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists. He shot 45.9 percent from the field and made a career-high 201 3-pointers.

He joins a loaded Pelicans team that went 49-33 last season and already has Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum.

Atlanta gets multiple first round picks in the deal along with a young player (Daniels) and a veteran role player (Nance Jr.).

Daniels was the eighth overall pick in 2022 and averaged 5.8 points and 3.9 rebounds last season. Nance is a nine-year veteran that averaged 5.7 points and 5 rebounds in 61 games last season for New Orleans.

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama became the first rookie to be voted to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team when the league unveiled the voting on Tuesday.

Wembanyama received 98 of a possible 99 first-team votes to add to an impressive list of accolades after his first NBA season.

Rudy Gobert, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, was the only unanimous first-team selection.

Gobert and Wembanyama were joined on the first team by the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Herb Jones.

Gobert was voted All-Defence for the seventh time in his career, all on the first team.

Adebayo, long considered a top-tier defender, was selected to the first team for the first time in his career. Even the veterans, however, were appreciative of Wembanyama’s rookie campaign.

“Coming into this league, obviously he had high expectations because he's 7-3 and shooting step-back 3s. I think a lot of people paid attention more to that than what he actually did on the defensive end,” Adebayo said of Wembanyama. “So, for him to get first team, first come around, it's obviously a great accolade for him.”

Wembanyama led the league with 3.58 blocked shots per game, over a block more per game than any other player. The towering Frenchman was also eighth in the league at 10.6 rebounds per game and ranked in the top 25 with 1.24 steals per game.

This was the first season of position-less voting for the All-Defence teams, leading to a strong preference for interior defenders, but perimeter players were well-represented on the second team.

The Chicago Bulls’ Alex Caruso, the Orlando Magic’s Jalen Suggs, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels and Boston Celtics backcourt mates Jrue Holiday and Derrick White were voted to the All-Defensive second team.

The league will announce its three All-NBA teams on Wednesday.

Despite playing through a calf strain, Jamal Murray hit a pull-up 14-footer with 3.6 seconds remaining, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 108-106 on Monday for a 4-1 series win.

Murray, who also hit a buzzer-beater to win Game 2, was a game-time decision due to his calf injury but scored 12 of his 32 points in a fourth quarter in which the teams repeatedly traded leads.

LeBron James hit a pair of free throws to tie the game with 26 seconds left to give the Lakers hope, but Murray drove to his left with help from a high ball screen and pulled up for the go-ahead jumper over Austin Reaves.

Without any timeouts to advance the ball, the Lakers managed only a desperation heave from Taurean Prince at the buzzer which never had a chance.

Much like last year, when the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals, Denver’s late-game execution proved to be the difference.

Nikola Jokić finished with 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists, while Michael Porter Jr. concluded his impressive series with a 26-point performance.

James led the Lakers with 30 points and 11 assists. Anthony Davis had 17 points and 15 rebounds but was not involved much in the offence late while playing through a shoulder injury.

The Nuggets will continue their championship defence with a second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who advanced Sunday by completing a sweep of the Phoenix Suns.

Denver eliminated Minnesota in the first round of last year’s playoffs with a five-game series win.

Thunder complete sweep of Pelicans

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams each scored 24 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 97-89 win over the New Orleans Pelicans and secure a four-game series sweep.

The youngest team ever to secure a conference’s No. 1 seed, the Thunder answered questions about play-off inexperience by easily securing their place in the second round, outscoring New Orleans by an average of 15.8 points per game.

Oklahoma City trailed 71-70 to start the fourth quarter but held the Pelicans to 18 points in the final frame.

Williams scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, including his own 8-0 run that put the Thunder up 93-82 with 3:08 remaining.

The Pelicans played the series without Zion Williamson due to a hamstring strain, with Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum failing to rise to the challenge.

Ingram shot under 35 percent from the field during the series and was 2 of 14 in Game 4. McCollum had 20 points on 9-for-16 shooting Monday but was just 7 of 29 from 3-point range in the series.

Celtics rout Heat for 3-1 series lead

Derrick White scored 38 points, and the Boston Celtics overcame an injury to Kristaps Porzingis to beat the Miami Heat 102-88 for a 3-1 series lead.

Porzingis exited with 2:27 remaining in the second quarter with right calf tightness and did not return. Al Horford started the second half in Porzingis’ place.

White, who is better known for his defensive contributions, went 8 of 15 from 3-point range en route to his 38 points, a career high for both the regular season and post-season.

Bam Adebayo led the way for the Heat with 25 points, 17 rebounds and five assists.

The New Orleans Pelicans are wholly deserving of their place in the playoffs, so says Larry Nance Jr.

After losing to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier in the week, New Orleans clinched the Western Conference's No.8 seed on Friday by overcoming the Sacramento Kings 105-98.

Brandon Ingram scored 24 points while Jonas Valanciunas added 19 with 12 rebounds.

Victory also saw the Pelicans, who were without Zion Williamson due to a hamstring injury, beat the Kings for the sixth time this campaign, and they will now face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs.

"We deserve it," Pelicans forward Nance Jr. said.

"That's how we felt coming into this game, and that's how we felt going into the last game. You don't win 49 games by accident; that doesn't happen.

"You don't just slip and do that in a historic conference. We're a really good team, and we deserve to be here. We showed that tonight, and we're proud to be going to Oklahoma."

Ingram, meanwhile, was on top form having recently returned from injury.

"It's been one my healthiest seasons, and I was out for three weeks just watching and just trying to stay disciplined," Ingram said.

"It's hard just trying to stay disciplined, trying to stay locked in knowing I wanted to be out on the floor. I was losing some of my conditioning a little bit and just trying to stay ready.

"That was three weeks that passed, and I was just coming in and trying to play 30 minutes after all that and be locked in. I was, of course, hard on myself because I didn't think it mattered that I just came off the knee injury. Those first two games didn't go how I wanted to go, but I just wanted to give it all tonight and trust my teammates, trust my stuff, and we ended up winning.

"I thought I could control the game. I thought I controlled the game the first quarter, the second quarter. And I knew that it was about time for us to go on a run."

Of the Pelicans' playoff hopes, he added: "This was the goal at the beginning of the year.

"Throughout it, we had some injuries. We had different things happen. But we had another opportunity today, and we came in and everybody contributed."

Tyler Herro fell an assist shy of a triple-double and scored 24 points as the Miami Heat rolled to a 112-91 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday to secure the last spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Jaime Jaques Jr. added 21 points, Kevin Love had 16 and Bam Adebayo 13 for Miami, which advanced to face the league-leading Boston Celtics in a rematch of the last two East finals.

They were the No. 8 seed last season also and survived the play-in before going all the way to the NBA Finals.

The Heat were without star forward Jimmy Butler and won’t have him available for the Boston series, either.

Even without Butler, Miami took control with a 19-0 run in the first quarter, and a 14-0 surge midway through the second half. Herro finished with 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Heat eliminated the Bulls in the last East play-in game for the second straight season.

DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points and Nikola Vucevic had 16, 14 boards and five assists but the Bulls were unable to become the fifth team in the last 35 years to make the playoffs after not spending a single day all season over the .500 mark.

The Heat were held to 13 points in the second quarter but still took a 47-37 lead into the break because the Bulls went 8 for 39 from the field after opening 4 for 5. Chicago missed 14 of 15 shots in one stretch.

Chicago got as close as 70-60 in the third quarter before Miami essentially iced the game with the 14-0 run.

Pelicans continue mastery of Kings

Brandon Ingram scored 24 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 19 with 12 rebounds as the New Orleans Pelicans secured the eighth seed in the Western Conference with a 105-98 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Trey Murphy III had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists as six players scored in double figures for the Pelicans, who won all six meetings this season against the Kings and now move on to face top-seeded Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs.

The Pelicans are the first team to 6-0 in a season (without a playoff series) against an opponent since Denver against Minnesota in 1994-95.

New Orleans played without leading scorer Zion Williamson (left hamstring), who will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

De’Aaron Fox poured in 35 points and Domantas Sabonis had 23 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists but the Kings shot just 40.9 percent (36 of 88) from the field and misfired on 30 of 41 (26.8 percent) from 3-point range.

Sacramento got just 12 points from its bench compared to 34 for New Orleans.

The New Orleans Pelicans will be without injured leading scorer Zion Williamson when they host the Sacramento Kings in Friday’s Western Conference play-in tournament elimination game.

Williamson starred in his NBA postseason debut Tuesday, scoring 40 points while adding 11 rebounds and five assists in over 36 minutes of action against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The two-time All-Star, though, missed the final three minutes of New Orleans’ 110-106 loss after injuring his left hamstring.

Williamson tied the game at 95 with 3:19 remaining in the fourth quarter on a driving layup, but he left shortly after and headed to the Pelicans’ locker room.

His huge performance caught the attention of Lakers superstar LeBron James.

“He's a generational player, a generational talent. He's going to continue to get better and better,” James said. “Tonight was just a small microcosm of how great he can be, his ability to get downhill, finish vs. smalls, finish vs. bigs, taller guys, shorter guys, doesn't matter.

“One thing about him, he's not afraid to compete. So, that's a great thing. He's a star.”

Williamson missed plenty of time due to various injuries in his first four seasons after New Orleans selected him No. 1 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, but he was healthy throughout the 2023-24 campaign.

Williamson appeared in a career-high 70 contests and led the Pelicans with 22.9 points per game while averaging 5.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists.

The winner of Friday’s matchup between New Orleans and Sacramento will capture the No. 8 seed in the West and move on to play the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.

LeBron James starred as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans to reach the NBA play-offs.

The 39-year-old scored 23 points in the Lakers’ 110-106 victory and also contributed nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals.

The Lakers go into the play-offs as the seventh seed and will face defending champions the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

Speaking to reporters, James said: “It was a good all-round team win. This was a long road trip, you almost forget we were in Memphis before these two games.

“Tonight was definitely a play-off game so get your mind right, get your body right, try to get as much recovery as we can before we have to go out there on Saturday.

“It’s a sprint now, we already went through the marathon. Tonight we showcased what we’re able to do both offensively and defensively. We’ve got a good group going right now, a good rotation, good plan and guys are coming in ready to go.”

James, who will compete in the play-offs for the 17th time in 21 seasons, feels his team have their work cut out against the Nuggets.

“It’s the defending champion, they know what it takes, they know how to win, they’ve been extremely dominant at home over the last few years,” he said.

“They’ve got high-level players, high IQ players, they’ve got a hell of a coach. We have to play mistake-free basketball and make it tough on them.”

LeBron James tallied 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Zion Williamson’s 40 points to clinch a playoff berth with a 110-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference play-in tournament on Tuesday night.

D’Angelo Russell added 21 points with five 3-pointers and Anthony Davis had 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who advanced to face the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in a rematch of last season's West finals.

Williamson shot 17 of 27 and had 11 rebounds and five assists in his postseason debut before he went to the locker room after tying the game at 95 on a driving layup with 3:19 remaining. He threw a towel to the floor in disgust as he walked into the tunnel with what coach Willie Green called “left leg soreness.”

Williamson didn’t get much help, as Brandon Ingram scored 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting and CJ McCollum was limited to nine on 4 of 15, including 1 of 9 from 3-point range.

Soon after Williamson’s injury, James hit a jumper, Davis dunked on an alley-oop, Russell drained a 3 and Davis grabbed a crucial offensive rebound, then hit two key free throws.

New Orleans will take on Sacramento on Friday for the final playoff spot in the West.

Kings roll to eliminate Warriors

Keegan Murray scored 32 points with eight 3-pointers and every Sacramento starter scored in double figures as the Kings cruised to a 118-94 victory to eliminate the Golden State Warriors and stay alive in the play-in tournament.

Harrison Barnes scored 17 points, Domantas Sabonis added 16, 12 rebounds and seven assists and Keon Ellis contributed 15 points as the Kings moved on to a matchup with New Orleans on Friday with a chance to return to the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Golden State was kept out of the playoffs for the third time in five seasons, including two eliminations in the play-in tournament. The Warriors committed 16 turnovers, gave up 15 offensive rebounds and missed 23 of 33 from long range.

Stephen Curry had 22 points, but Klay Thompson didn’t score and missed all 10 shots from the field.

The Los Angeles Lakers will have Anthony Davis to call on when they face the New Orleans Pelicans in their upcoming play-in game.

After finishing eighth in the Western Conference, the Lakers will go up against the No.7 seed Pelicans on Tuesday.

While the loser will drop into a game against either the Sacramento Kings or the Golden State Warriors, the winner will go up against the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

The Lakers defeated the Pelicans 124-108 in their final regular-season game on Sunday, with an instant rematch now on the cards.

And Davis, who had to be treated for back spasms after the game, insisted he will be fit to feature.

"No doubt that I'm going to play," said Davis, who finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds.

LeBron James is heading into the playoffs in fine form.

He registered his fifth triple-double of the season, finishing with 28 points, a season-high 17 assists and 11 rebounds.

"I just read the game and I was just finding my teammates and I just tried to put the ball on time and on target for either jump shots or guys at the rim," James said.

"I just tried to be very efficient with my play."

James marked Zion Williamson on Sunday, with the 23-year-old limited to 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

However, James was full of praise for his opponent, adding: "He's a beast.

"I mean, it's almost impossible to stop him so I just tried to keep a body on him and just tried to keep it tough on him. He's a great player, man."

Looking towards Tuesday's matchup, James said: "Tuesday's game is going to be extremely hard, extremely difficult, extremely physical.

"I've always known that, when you play a playoff series, and I look at this like a two-game playoff series, if you win that first game, a team has multiple days to kind of sit on that feeling, or sit with that taste in their mouth of defeat.

"So they're going to be extremely ready for us and we have to come in with the same sense of urgency that we had the previous game."

Jalen Brunson needed only three quarters to score 39 points and the New York Knicks continued their push for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 118-109 win over the league-leading Boston Celtics on Thursday.

Brunson was 15 of 23 from the field and 6 for 11 from long range, while Donte DiVincenzo added 17 points and Josh Hart had 16 points and 16 rebounds.

New York won its third straight and pulled within a game of Milwaukee for second in the East, with each team having two games left. The Knicks would need to win both and have the Bucks lose their games at Oklahoma City and Orlando, because Milwaukee has the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Knicks dominated on the glass, 52-36, and had 22 second-chance points compared to 12 for the Celtics.

Boston got 18 points from Jayson Tatum and lost its second in a row.

Surging Warriors handle Trail Blazers

Stephen Curry scored 22 points and Jonathan Kuminga added 22 to propel the Golden State Warriors to their ninth win in 10 games, 100-92 over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Golden State, which played without Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, has already clinched a play-in spot but can potentially improve its playoff seeding in the final two games.

With their 45th victory, the Warriors surpassed their win total from last season, when they advanced to the conference semifinals.

Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Scoot Henderson tallied 18 and 12 assists for the Trail Blazers, who have won just two of their past 15 games.

Pelicans complete season sweep of Kings

CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson scored 31 points apiece and the New Orleans Pelicans completed a five-game season sweep of the Sacramento Kings with a 135-123 win.

McCollum matched a season high with nine 3-pointers in 12 tries and added seven assists for the Pelicans, who improved to 27-14 on the road, a franchise record for wins and tied with Boston for the best mark in the NBA.

New Orleans is sixth in the Western Conference, one game ahead of Phoenix with two games remaining.

De’Aaron Fox scored 33 points as the Kings lost for the fourth time in five games and failed in a bid to avoid the play-in tournament.

Devin Booker was over the moon to share his historic NBA moment with numerous family and friends after scoring 52 points for the Phoenix Suns in Monday's victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Suns star Booker recorded his fifth-highest scoring game of his career after posting 50+ against the Pelicans, bringing Phoenix within a game of No.6 New Orleans in the Western Conference.

With that monumental haul, Booker became the first NBA player since Wilt Chamberlain to score 50 points in three straight games against a single opponent.

"It means a whole lot," said Booker, who registered 52 against the Pelicans in January and 58 in December 2022.

"My family was in attendance for two of them. Any time you get named for something Wilt did – it's happened very few times in my career – you know you did something special."

Phoenix coach Frank Vogel lauded Booker's showing, having watched him record 52 points against New Orleans for the second time this year.

"There's something about playing in this building against this opponent," Vogel said. "[He] just really has a comfort zone here.

"To go for 50 three straight times against a single opponent, it just shows what kind of special player he is. Three times in a row is just incredible."

Kevin Durant added another 20 points, along with 19 for Jusuf Nurkic, as the Suns ran rampant in a 124-111 victory.

"It was like deja vu," Durant said of teammate Booker's exploits. "As it was happening, I couldn't believe he was doing it again."

Having already suffered from Booker's dominance previously, Pelicans coach Willie Green credited the Suns man but left no excuses for his team.

"He hit some shots that we gave him, and he also hit some tough shots," Green said. "We have to do better.

"There's no excuse to get 50, put on you twice [in a season]. Quite frankly, we were soft-guarding him.

"We just had a soft mentality when it came to being physical with him, and he's a great player, and you can't allow him to be comfortable."

Devin Booker racked up 52 points with a prolific shooting display that carried the Phoenix Suns to a 124-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday to tighten the Western Conference play-off race.

The win moved Phoenix within one game of New Orleans in the battle for the important No. 6 seed in the West. The top six teams in each conference are guaranteed a spot in the quarter-final round of the post-season, while teams seven through 10 will be forced to compete in the play-in tournament.

Phoenix was able to narrow the gap primarily behind Booker, who finished 19 of 28 from the field and 8 of 16 from 3-point range while adding nine assists.

The Suns also received 19 points and 19 rebounds from Jusuf Nurkic, while Kevin Durant had 20 points to help send the Pelicans to a second straight loss.

Both Booker and the Suns got off to sizzling starts, as the All-Star guard tallied 24 first-quarter points on 8-of-10 shooting during a dominant opening quarter. Seventeen of those points came during a 30-7 run that staked Phoenix to a 44-20 lead with under two minutes to go in the period.

Phoenix ended the first quarter up 46-28 and carried a 74-54 advantage into half-time with Booker amassing 37 points on 14-of-18 shooting over the first two quarters.

The Pelicans trailed by as many as 27 points in the second half but did make a belated push to get back in it, as Zion Williamson sparked an 8-0 run that CJ McCollum capped with a 3-pointer to pull New Orleans within 115-108 with 2:46 left.

That was as close as the Pelicans would get, however, as Booker scored his final two points on a layup with 1:34 to go that gave Phoenix a 119-110 lead.

Williamson paced New Orleans with 30 points and Trey Murphy recorded 21 in the loss. 

Krejci's perfect shooting night helps Hawks down Bulls

Vit Krejci went 6 of 6 from 3-point range for a career-high 18 points to help the surging Atlanta Hawks to a 113-101 win over the Chicago Bulls in a matchup of potential Eastern Conference play-in teams.

Krejci's flawless shooting, along with 20 points and six assists from Bogdan Bogdanović, powered the Hawks to a fifth win in six games and moved them within a half-game of ninth-place Chicago in the East standings. Dejounte Murray added 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Atlanta.

The Bulls got 31 points from DeMar DeRozan but failed to match Atlanta's accuracy from the perimeter, as they shot just 25 per cent (7 of 28) from 3-point range compared to 47.5 per cent (19 of 40) for the Hawks.

Krejci scored 15 points in the first half as Atlanta took a 61-53 lead into the break before extending the margin in the third quarter.

A DeAndre Hunter 3-pointer followed by Clint Capela's alley-oop dunk increased the Hawks' advantage to 75-62 five minutes into the third quarter, and Atlanta built a 90-74 lead entering the fourth after Garrison Mathews knocked down a triple in the final seconds of the third.

Coby White added 22 points for Chicago, which lost for the fifth time in seven games, while Andre Drummond accumulated 13 points and 18 rebounds off the bench.

Tatum, Hauser key Celtics' win over Hornets

Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser had 25 points each as the East-leading Boston Celtics stayed hot with a 118-104 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

Tatum added 10 rebounds and Hauser went 7 of 11 on 3-point attempts as the Celtics posted their 11th win in their last 13 games. Boston, which has already clinched the East's No. 1 play-off seed, also received 20 points from Kristaps Porzingis and 19 from Derrick White.

Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges each had 14 first-half points to keep the underdog Hornets close for much of the first two quarters. The teams were tied at  53-53 with under two minutes to go until half-time before the Celtics closed out the second quarter with six straight points to forge ahead.

Boston then got further separation by outscoring Charlotte by a 36-26 margin in the third quarter, which Hauser capped with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 95-79. Porzingis recorded 11 of his points during the period.

Bridges ended with 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in Charlotte's eighth loss in its past nine games. Miller finished with 19 points and Grant Williams had 23 along with seven rebounds for the Hornets.

Austin Reaves notched a triple-double and drilled a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 37.8 seconds left in the second overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 128-124, on Tuesday despite the absence of LeBron James.

Reaves had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 47 minutes, Anthony Davis tallied 34 points and 23 rebounds in 52 minutes and D’Angelo Russell had 29 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.

The Lakers, who never led in regulation, overcame a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter and won their season-best fourth straight game with James sidelined with an ankle issue.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points, a season-high 21 boards and 11 assists and Damian Lillard added 21 points for the Bucks, who had won six straight at home.

Reaves’ 3-pointer with 38 seconds left in the second OT snapped a tie and Lillard missed a 3 before Antetokounmpo missed two free throws. Russell then sank a pair from the line and Davis sealed the win with two free throws with two seconds left after Malik Beasley’s 3 drew Milwaukee within two.

Doncic keeps Mavericks rolling

Luka Dončić scored 26 of his 28 points in the first half and the Dallas Mavericks cruised to their fifth straight victory, 132-96 over the Sacramento Kings.

Doncic added 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals and Kyrie Irving had 24 points and eight assists for Dallas, which has won nine of 10 to move into sixth in the Western Conference.

De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting and Domantas Sabonis had 12 points, 11 boards and nine assists for his 55th consecutive double-double, tying Jerry Lucas for the longest streak in franchise history.

Thunder ride late run past Pelicans

Jalen Williams scored 26 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder used a game-ending 12-0 run to rally for a 119-112 win over the New Orleans Pelicans after blowing a 20-point lead in the third quarter.

Josh Giddey added 25 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24, including a tying 3-pointer with 89 seconds left.

Zion Williamson had 29 points and 10 assists for the Pelicans, who led 112-107 with 3:11 to play before missing their final five shots.

The Thunder won for the fifth time in six games to pull within a half game of idle Denver for the top spot in the Western Conference.

Paul George insists the Los Angeles Clippers are not focusing on what the New Orleans Pelicans are doing as they battle it out for the Western Conference fourth seed.

The Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 125-117 on Friday, while the soaring Pelicans have won eight of their last 10 games.

Los Angeles are a game-and-a-half ahead of the Pelicans in the race for the No.4 seed.

But George, who led the Clippers with 31 points, is paying little attention to New Orleans' form.

"We're not looking at them," George said.

"It's more about us. We've got to play well and we're in the driver's seat. So it's more about us."

With the Clippers holding a large lead in the final quarter, coach Tyronn Lue was able to rest George and fellow star Kawhi Leonard, who added 22 points.

Lue said: "I just want us to lock in and be healthy."

The West is tough anyway, no matter who we play or where you play. Whether you start at home, start on the road, it's going to be tough.

"So it doesn't really bother me or phase me in any way. We've just got to be healthy."

Lue will be buoyed, then, by the impending return of Russell Westbrook. 

He has been out for three weeks since he underwent surgery on a fractured hand.

Westbrook, though, is expected to return to action next week.