Kyrie Irving scored 16 of his 35 points in the third quarter, Luka Doncic had a late surge to finish with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and the visiting Dallas Mavericks held off the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-114 on Tuesday in the first rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals.
Anthony Edwards had 24 of his 37 points in the first quarter to set a Target Center record, going 7 for 13 from 3-point range. He also went just 6 for 12 from the free-throw line.
Doncic put his stamp on the game with a 33-footer with 1:04 left to stretch the lead to eight points, barking at fans as he skipped back to the bench after a timeout. That was his only make in eight tries from behind the arc.
Julius Randle had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Timberwolves.
NUGGETS 144, NETS 139, OT: Nikola Jokic had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, becoming only the second player in NBA history to reach those totals in a game, and visiting Denver beat Brooklyn in overtime.
Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon each scored 24 points for the Nuggets.
Dennis Schroder scored 28 points for the Nets, who led by 17 in the second quarter. Cam Thomas scored 26 and Cam Johnson had 20. Nic Claxton added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
KINGS 113, JAZZ 96: Domantas Sabonis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, De’Aaron Fox added 19 points and visiting Sacramento dominated reeling Utah.
Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points and John Collins tallied 18 for the Jazz, who opened the season with four straight defeats and lost starting forwards Taylor Hendricks (broken leg) and Lauri Markkanen (back spasms) on back-to-back nights.
Utah has lost its past two home games by a combined 58 points.
DeMar DeRozan had 20 points and eight assists for the Kings, who have won two straight after starting 0-2.
WARRIORS 124, PELICANS 106: Buddy Hield scored a season-best 28 points, Brandin Podziemski had 19 points and fueled a furious second-half comeback and host Golden State rallied from 17 down to beat New Orleans.
Zion Williamson had a season-high 31 points on 12-for-20 shooting and eight rebounds for the Pelicans. Brandon Ingram scored 30.
Jonathan Kuminga, who started the initial three games for the Warriors but was averaging 8.0 points on 33.3% shooting, came off the bench to score 17. Reserve Lindy Waters III had 21 points and nine rebounds in his best game yet for Golden State.
The short-handed Warriors needed everything from everybody with starters Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins sidelined.
Curry missed the game with a sprained left ankle he injured in the second half of Sunday’s 112-104 loss to the Clippers. He is set to be re-evaluated Friday.
Wiggins and De’Anthony Melton each sat out with lower back strains.
BULLS’ BALL OUT WITH SPRAINED WRIST: Lonzo Ball, who returned to the Chicago Bulls this season after a lengthy absence because of leg injuries, will miss at least 10 days with a sprained right wrist.
Ball was hurt Monday in the first quarter of the Bulls’ 126-123 victory in Memphis. He went on to play 18 minutes in the game, finishing with six points and six assists.
The Bulls said Tuesday that the guard would be evaluated again in 10 days and updates would be provided as appropriate.
Ball underwent a cartilage and meniscus transplant in his left knee last year after several procedures failed to fix his injury.