With 53 seconds remaining in the second overtime, D’Angelo Russell made a long-range jump shot. Earlier in the quarter, he made another one after clutching late in the regulation on route to 28 points.

James recorded his third triple-double of the year and 110th of his career with 12 points in the two overtime periods. Along with 13 rebounds, Davis scored 29 points.

76ERS 105, NUGGETS 111

Despite having 26 points and 16 rebounds, Nikola Jokic was not able to face Joel Embiid, another MVP candidate, in their rematch since Denver defeated a tenacious but undermanned Philadelphia team.

Denver’s Jamal Murray added 23 points, while Michael Porter Jr. scored 20. With a career-high 30 points and 25 from Kelly Oubre Jr., Paul Reed led Philadelphia.It prevented hoops fans from seeing the last two NBA MVPs square off in a major matchup.

120 KINGS, 115 MAVERICKS

After scoring a franchise-record 73 points in a win over Atlanta, Mavericks star Luka Doncic finished the game with 28 points, 17 assists, and 10 rebounds. De’Aaron Fox scored 34 points to help Sacramento defeat Dallas.

The Kings snapped a season-worst four-game losing streak with a victory as Domantas Sabonis scored a game-high 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Harrison Barnes scored 20 points and Kevin Huerter added 18.

The Mavericks split their back-to-back games after defeating Atlanta 148-143 on Friday. Doncic tied Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant for the fourth-highest point total in an NBA game ever.

115 CLIPPERS and 96 CELTICS

In just 29 minutes, Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points, and Los Angeles easily defeated Boston.

The Clippers, who used a 21-0 run in the third quarter to win their fifth straight and exact revenge on Boston for a 37-point home loss in December, had Paul George chip in with 17 points. George, Leonard, and the other starting players did not play in the fourth quarter.

Boston, which began the season 20-0 at TD Garden, fell for just the second time at home in what was by far their most lopsided defeat of the year.

At 21 points, Jayson Tatum leads Boston. The Celtics’ field goal percentage was 35%.

PELICANS 117, BUCKS 141

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee to a resounding victory over New Orleans with 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Bobby Portis finished with 20 points, and Brook Lopez scored 24 points on 6-of-9 3-point shooting.

After Adrian Griffin was fired, the Bucks played their third and final game under interim head coach Joe Prunty, improving to 2-1 on a 56% shooting night. On Saturday, Doc Rivers gave his first press conference after taking over as Griffin’s permanent replacement.

For New Orleans, Brandon Ingram scored 26 points.

Timberwolves 112, Spartans 113

San Antonio came back to defeat Minnesota behind the 25 points of Devin Vassell and the 23 points and 10 rebounds of Victor Wembanyama.

Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 19 points, while Anthony Edwards of Minnesota finished with 32 points and 12 rebounds. Towns’ attempt at a three-pointer at the buzzer ended the Timberwolves’ two-game winning run.

Two minutes into the game, just after Wembanyama hit a three-pointer, a bat fell on the court, prompting officials to call time out.

For the 2024 Sportstar ACES Awards, voting is officially open.

To the delight of Wembanyama and Jeremy Sochan, the Spurs mascot, The Coyote, finally succeeded in capturing the bat with a net. Two bats had already been captured by the Coyote, and in November 2009, Manu Ginobili used his bare hand to smack another one onto the court.

125 KNICKS, 109 HEAT

With 32 points and eight assists from Jalen Brunson, New York defeated Miami, winning six in a row and losing the Heat six in a row.

For the Knicks, Julius Randle finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. However, with 4:27 left, he had to leave the game after taking a hard fall to his right shoulder when Jaime Jaquez Jr. tried to block Randle’s drive to the basket.

OG Anunoby, who got his first start on New Year’s Day, finished with 19 points as well for the Knicks, who moved to 12-2 this month.

For Miami, Jimmy Butler scored 28 points.

PISTONS 104, WIZARDS 118

For the first win under interim coach Brian Keefe of the Wizards, Kyle Kuzma scored thirty points as Washington defeated Detroit.

Just hours after Wes Unseld Jr. was transferred to the Wizards executive office, Keefe lost his debut game on Thursday. With 17 more points from Jordan Poole, Washington was able to snap a six-game losing streak.

With thirty points, Bojan Bogdanovic leads Detroit.

132 JAZZ, 122 HORNETS

With 33 points and 12 rebounds from Lauri Markkanen, Utah defeated Charlotte to win its 11th straight game in 15 attempts.

Along with 13 assists, Collin Sexton scored 24 points. The Jazz opened up a 36-point advantage in the third quarter by shooting 56% from the field and making 17 3-pointers.

For Charlotte, Nick Richards added a career-best 26 points along with 13 rebounds, while P.J. Washington tied a career record with 43 points, including 31 in the second half.

ROCKETS 104, NETS 106

Brooklyn defeated Houston with a score of 37 points by Cam Thomas to end a three-game losing run.

The second-quarter lead for the Nets was 28 points; with seconds remaining, the Rockets mounted a comeback to narrow the deficit to one.

For Brooklyn, Mikal Bridges and Dorian Finney-Smith both scored 19 points. For the Rockets, Jalen Green, Dillan Brooks, and Cam Whitmore all scored 19 points apiece. Ten games in a row have been losses for them.