Jordan Poole scored 39 points to help the host Washington Wizards overcome Nikola Jokic’s career-high 56 points and beat the Denver Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday to end their 16-game losing streak.
Poole hit a career-high nine 3-pointers and was one of five Wizards to score in double figures. Justin Champagnie had 23 points, and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots.
With Jamal Murray (hamstring) and Aaron Gordon (calf) out, the Nuggets leaned on Jokic. The three-time NBA MVP went 22-for-38 from the floor and was 3-for-5 from 3-point range. He added 16 rebounds and eight assists.
Jokic recorded the second-most points in a single game in franchise history, trailing only David Thompson’s 73-point performance in 1978.
The Wizards, who shot 48.4 percent from the floor, earned their first win since Oct. 30 despite not having No. 2 overall pick Alexandre Sarr, who missed the game with a sore back.
Pistons 120, Knicks 111
Cade Cunningham finished with 29 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Detroit to its first win over host New York in 17 tries.
Cunningham shot 9 of 17 from the field and went 5-for-8 from 3-point range. Malik Beasley added 23 points off the bench, making 7 of 10 attempts from beyond the arc. The Pistons ended a three-game skid overall.
The Knicks were without their leading scorer, Karl-Anthony Towns, who missed the game because of a knee injury. Jalen Brunson had 31 points and 10 assists and Mikal Bridges added 20 points for New York, which had its four-game winning streak end.
Cavaliers 116, Hornets 102
Evan Mobley had a huge first quarter on his way to a career-high 41 points as visiting Cleveland held off Charlotte.
Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell each posted 18 points and Jarrett Allen tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Cavaliers won their fourth game in a row.
Brandon Miller racked up 25 points, DaQuan Jeffries added 17 points off the bench and Josh Green had 16 points for the injury-riddled Hornets, who’ve lost eight consecutive games. Charlotte couldn’t overcome its 11-for-39 performance from 3-point range.
Thunder 119, Pelicans 109
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and visiting Oklahoma City never trailed while defeating New Orleans.
Jalen Williams scored 27 points, Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso had 14 apiece and Isaiah Hartenstein added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Western Conference-leading Thunder, who won for the seventh time in their past eight games.
Dejounte Murray scored 26 points, Herbert Jones had 24 and Trey Murphy III had 16 for the Pelicans, who lost for the 10th time in their past 11 games. Forward Brandon Ingram, the team’s leading scorer who was playing in his second game after a five-game absence due to a calf injury, scored five points before leaving the contest in the third quarter after hurting his left ankle.
Mavericks 125, Raptors 118
Luka Doncic had 30 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists and visiting Dallas defeated Toronto for its seventh straight win.
Kyrie Irving added 29 points for the Mavericks, who have won 11 of their past 12 games. Klay Thompson scored 20 points, P.J. Washington added 13 and Spencer Dinwiddie finished with 11.
Gradey Dick scored 27 points for the Raptors, who have lost two games in a row. Scottie Barnes added 19 points and 14 assists, Jakob Poeltl had 20 points and seven rebounds and RJ Barrett scored 18 points. Kelly Olynyk made his season debut and went for 13 points.
Grizzlies 127, Celtics 121
Ja Morant had 32 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to help visiting Memphis to a win, its first in Boston since 2013.
The Grizzlies had lost 16 of their past 17 games against the Celtics, with nine of those setbacks coming in Boston. Jaren Jackson Jr. added 27 points, nine rebounds and three steals for Memphis.
Jayson Tatum had 17 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for Boston. Marcus Smart, who spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Celtics before he was traded to Memphis in a three-team deal that brought Kristaps Porzingis to Boston, was 1 of 11 from the field and scored three points.
Heat 121, Suns 111
Bam Adebayo had game highs of 25 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists as Miami defeated visiting Phoenix.
Adebayo had 12 of his points in the third quarter, when Miami surged ahead for a lead it never relinquished. Jimmy Butler had 24 points, including nine straight Heat points in the final five minutes of the game. Miami also got 19 points from Duncan Robinson and 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from Tyler Herro.
Royce O’Neale led the Suns with a season-high 23 points. Devin Booker scored 21 points on 6-for-16 shooting. Phoenix was without starters Kevin Durant (sprained left ankle) and Jusuf Nurkic (right thigh contusion).
–Field Level Media
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