Durant climbs to 6th on NBA career scoring list in Rockets' 119-110 win over Pelicans

HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant had 18 points and moved into sixth place on the NBA’s career points list, and Jabari Smith Jr. scored a season-high 32 points as the Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 119-110 Sunday night.

Alperen Sengun had 21 points and eight rebounds and Amen Thompson finished with 20 points as Houston won for the third time in four games.

Trey Murphy III scored 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting and Zion Williamson had 20 points and six rebounds. Derik Queen finished with 15 points for the Pelicans, who lost for the fourth time in five games and 13th time in 15 games.

With 15.2 seconds left in the game, Durant stepped to the free throw line needing one point to pass Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki (31,560 points) on the NBA’s scoring list. The 15-time All-Star made two free throws and received a standing ovation from the home crowd. Durant now has 31,562 career points. Michael Jordan is fifth on the list at 32,292.

GRIZZLIES 126, MAGIC 109

LONDON (AP) — Ja Morant had 24 points and 13 assists in his return to the lineup to lead Memphis Grizzlies to a victory over Orlando in the first NBA regular-season game in London since 2019.

Jock Landale added 21 points and 8 rebounds and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 17 points as Memphis avenged its 118-111 loss to Orlando in Berlin on Thursday in the first of their European doubleheader.

Orlando trailed by 33 points in the first half before reducing the deficit to 17 on Paolo Banchero’s 3-pointer to make it 108-91 with 8:15 left in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies closed it out from there.

Anthony Black led the Magic with 19 points and Wendell Carter Jr. added 18 points and 7 rebounds. Banchero finished with 16 on 7 of 20 shooting. He also had 9 assists and 8 rebounds.

The game at London’s O2 Arena was the 10th regular-season game in the English capital. The first one was March 4, 2011.

Europe is set to host two more regular-season games in 2027. The host cities are Paris and Manchester, England. In 2028, Paris and Berlin will host games.

LAKERS 110, RAPTORS 93

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 25 points and seven assists, LeBron James added 24 points and seven assists, and Los Angeles returned to form with a victory over Toronto.

Deandre Ayton had 25 points and 13 rebounds in his impressive return from a knee injury for the Lakers, who won for just the second time in seven games while playing their final home game before an eight-game, 15-day road trip.

Ayton had his highest-scoring performance since Nov. 3 while making all 10 of his shots.

Doncic also returned with a strong performance after missing Saturday’s loss at Portland to rest his nagging injuries, hitting five 3-pointers.

James played in back-to-back games for the second time this season — and the second time this week, capably completing a set of five games in seven days for the 41-year-old superstar who had previously been resting for one game in back-to-back sets.

Scottie Barnes had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time in four weeks after the Clippers beat them in Toronto on Friday. Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 20 points and former Lakers draft pick Brandon Ingram added 19 points and seven assists for Toronto, which faded in the fourth quarter in the opener of a five-game road trip.

BULLS 124, NETS 102

CHICAGO (AP) — Coby White scored 24 points, Ayo Dosunmu had 19 and Chicago beat Brooklyn to split a home-and-home set.

The Nets won the opener 112-109 on Friday night in Brooklyn.

Nikola Vucevic added 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for Chicago. Matas Buzelis also scored 17 points.

Nolan Traore scored 16 points for Brooklyn. Danny Wolf and Jalen Wilson each had 14. The Nets have lost nine of 11.

Dosunmu had 3-pointers at the beginning and end of a 10-0 run late in the first quarter to help the Bulls take a 39-22 lead into the second. Chicago led 70-51 at the half and the advantage stayed above 20 points for most of the second half.

HORNETS 110, NUGGETS 87

DENVER (AP) — Brandon Miller scored 23 points, Tidjane Salaun came off the bench for 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Charlotte blew past the injury-depleted Denver.

Rookie big man Ryan Kalkbrenner had 17 points and six rebounds, Collin Sexton had 14 points and five assists, and LaMelo Ball had 10 points, six assists and three steals for Charlotte.

Over the past three games, Miller has averaged 25.7 points per game.

The Hornets had lost four of their previous six games and entered the night 1-9 in its past 10 matchups against Denver, which suffered its second-most lopsided loss of the season.

The Nuggets were without five of their top eight scorers — center Nikola Jokic (bone bruise in left knee), forward Aaron Gordon (right hamstring strain), forward Cameron Johnson (bone bruise in right knee), guard Christian Braun (left ankle sprain) and center Jonas Valanciunas (right calf strain). The five players combine to average 77.3 points per game.

TRAIL BLAZERS 117, KINGS 110

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Deni Avdija had 26 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in his return from a back injury to help Portland beat Sacramento.

Avdija missed three games after straining his lower back late in a game against New York last Sunday. He looked fine while helping Portland to its ninth victory in 12 games, going 10 of 18 from the floor in 31 minutes.

Shaedon Sharpe also had 26 points, and Donovan Clingan added 21 points and 17 rebounds. Toumani Camara had 17 points as the Trail Blazers won their third consecutive game against the Kings this season.

The Trail Blazers have won 12 of 15 games to get back to .500 at 22-22 for the first time since they were 6-6 on Nov. 11.

Malik Monk scored 23 points for the Kings, while Russell Westbrook added 20 points and seven assists. Domantas Sabonis had eight points and six turnovers for the Kings in his second game since missing 27 games because of a knee injury.