Suns end years of futility in beating Warriors

Devin Booker’s jumper with 5:01 remaining gave Phoenix the lead for good Sunday night as the Suns snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Golden State Warriors with a 115-111 victory in Oakland, California.

Playing the second night of a back-to-back, the Suns found the energy to outlast the Warriors after having trailed by as many as 16 points.

The Suns had not beaten the Warriors since November 2014, and had not won in Oakland since February 2011. The loss was the Warriors’ second in six days, sandwiching a 122-105 home win over Denver on Friday.

Booker finished with a game-high 37 points, including 13 consecutive Suns points during a stretch of the fourth quarter in which Phoenix took charge of the game. Klay Thompson had 28 points and Kevin Durant 25 for the Warriors.

76ers 106, Pacers 89

Joel Embiid returned from an eight-game absence to score 33 points and grab 12 rebounds as host Philadelphia defeated Indiana.

Embiid had been out with a sore left knee but came back to post his league-best 49th double-double of the season as the Sixers snapped a two-game losing streak.

With the win, the Sixers moved into third place in the Eastern Conference, holding a tiebreaker over the Pacers. Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pacers with 18 points while Darren Collison added 14.

Spurs 121, Bucks 114

LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan added 28 points, as host San Antonio turned back Milwaukee for their fifth straight win.

The Spurs trailed the entire first half but took the lead in the third quarter and led by four points heading to the fourth. Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills hit for 16 points each for the Spurs, while Bryn Forbes added 12.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe scored 21 points, Khris Middleton tallied 15, Pat Connaughton hit for 14 points, Brook Lopez added 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Nikola Mirotic contributed 10 points.

Rockets 94, Mavericks 93

Eric Gordon scored a game-high 26 points as Houston extended its winning streak to a season-best eight games by edging host Dallas.

James Harden, who picked up his fifth foul in the opening seconds of the third quarter, missed 18 of his 25 shots and took just three free throws in finishing with 20 points. Center Clint Capela added 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Luka Doncic, who was hobbling late in the game, led the Mavericks with 19 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. He didn’t have a good shooting game, going 5 of 16 overall and 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. Rookie Jalen Brunson scored 18 points with seven rebounds.

Magic 105, Grizzlies 97

Mike Conley brought host Memphis from behind to steal a win from Orlando, giving the Grizzlies their fourth win in their last five games.

Memphis trailed 95-88 with 3:06 remaining but closed out the game on a 17-2 run. Conley had 26 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Avery Bradley added 21 points for the Grizzlies.

Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Terrence Ross added 15 points off the bench. The Magic have lost three of their last four games, though they sit just one game out of the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference play-off race.

Hawks 128, Pelicans 116

John Collins had his second straight double-double and Kevin Huerter scored 27 points to help host Atlanta break their three-game losing streak by knocking off New Orleans.

Collins followed Saturday’s performance of 33 points and 20 rebounds against Brooklyn by getting 23 points and 10 rebounds for his 27th double-double. He also had four blocks, two of them in the final quarter when the Pelicans were trying to mount a comeback.

New Orleans centre Anthony Davis returned after a missing a game with back spasms and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Davis played only 21 minutes. The Pelicans were led by Frank Jackson and Julius Randle, who each scored 23 points.

Timberwolves 103, Knicks 92

Taj Gibson scored a season-high 25 points and filled in nicely for injured centre Karl-Anthony Towns, as Minnesota ran its home winning streak to six games at the expense of New York in Minneapolis.

Towns (right knee inflammation) missed the third game of his career after injuring his knee with eight seconds left in Saturday’s overtime win over Washington. The injury appeared significantly worse when Towns limped off the floor but and was held out of Sunday’s game as a precaution after participating in pregame warmups.

Jeff Teague collected 20 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double as the Wolves shot 44.7 per cent while playing without Andrew Wiggins (right quad) for the second straight game. Damyean Dotson scored 26 points for the Knicks, whose losing streak reached six games.

Raptors 125, Heat 104

Kyle Lowry scored 24 points, making six 3-pointers, and added 10 assists and seven rebounds, as Toronto defeated host Miami.

Kawhi Leonard did not play Sunday because of “load management” for the Raptors, who ended the Heat’s four-game winning streak. Pascal Siakam added 20 points for the Raptors, who have won all three meetings with the Heat this season.

Bam Adebayo scored 19 points with six rebounds and five assists for the Heat, Dwyane Wade and Dion Waiters each added 15 points, Rodney McGruder had 13 points, Goran Dragic had 11 and Justise Winslow scored 10.

Pistons 131, Bulls 108

Blake Griffin racked up 28 points, six rebounds and five assists and streaking Detroit defeated Chicago for the second time in three days and completed a four-game sweep for the season.

Reggie Jackson and Langston Galloway had 21 points apiece and Andre Drummond supplied 16 points and 15 rebounds for his 18th double-double for the host Pistons, who won their fifth straight and 12th in their last 14.

Wayne Selden scored 18 points off the bench to lead the Bulls. Otto Porter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen added 17 points apiece, while Shaquille Harrison tossed in 11.