OKLAHOMA CITY — Luka Doncic had 29 points and 11 rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 107-97 Monday on a night that included several tributes to Kobe Bryant.
Thunder guard Chris Paul sat out for personal reasons a night after Bryant, one of the NBA’s all-time greats, was killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California.
When the game started following a moment of silence, the Mavericks took an 8-second violation in honor of the number Bryant wore to start his NBA career. The Thunder then took a 24-second shot clock violation in honor of the number Bryant wore later. After the two violations, the scoreboard clock read 11:24, and the 24-second clock below it had been reset to show 24 seconds.
ROCKETS 126, JAZZ 117
SALT LAKE CITY — Eric Gordon scored a career-high 50 points to lead short-handed Houston over Utah despite playing without James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
Danuel House Jr. added 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Austin Rivers also had 21 points as the Rockets handed the Jazz their first home loss since Dec. 9.
Gordon became the first Rockets player besides Harden to score 50 points in a game since Hakeem Olajuwon had 51 in January 1996, according to STATS. Harden has done it 23 times since then.
Donovan Mitchell scored 36 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 30, but Utah lost for just the third time in 22 games despite shooting 51% from the field.
Gordon had his first game with more than 30 points this season. His previous career best of 41 came against Oklahoma City on Jan. 23, 2009. The veteran guard stepped up and filled the scoring void with Harden, Westbrook and Clint Capela sitting out.
HEAT 113, MAGIC 92
MIAMI — Bam Adebayo got his third triple-double of the season in his last opportunity to impress Eastern Conference All-Star voters, Duncan Robinson scored 21 points and Miami eased past Orlando.
BULLS 110, SPURS 109
CHICAGO — Zach LaVine scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, including two clutch foul shots with 2.1 seconds left, and Chicago edged San Antonio.
CAVALIERS 115, PISTONS 100
DETROIT — Kevin Love scored all 20 of his points in the first half and Cleveland beat Detroit to snap a seven-game losing streak.
KINGS 133, TIMBERWOLVES 129, OT
MINNEAPOLIS — Buddy Hield scored a career-high 42 points to help Sacramento rally from a 27-point deficit for an overtime victory against skidding Minnesota.
