NEW YORK — Bam Adebayo had 30 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and the Miami Heat spoiled Kevin Durant’s return, beating the Brooklyn Nets 113-107 on Thursday night.
Tyler Herro added 27 points for the Eastern Conference-leading Heat. They bounced back from a tough loss in Milwaukee a night earlier with an impressive victory despite missing some of their top players.
urant had 31 points in his first game since Jan. 15 and his return from a 21-game absence inspired the Nets to a 16-point lead. But Miami tightened up its defense in the second half and held off a late surge by the Nets.
Durant had a 3-point attempt from straightaway that would have given the Nets the lead go in and out with 57 seconds left, and the Heat worked it inside to Adebayo on the ensuing possession for a 111-107 advantage with 35 seconds to go.
The Nets were 5-16 without Durant, tumbling all the way from second place in the Eastern Conference to eighth. Brooklyn was still without Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons on Thursday.
CLIPPERS 132, LAKERS 111
LOS ANGELES —Reggie Jackson scored 12 of his season-high 36 points in the fourth quarter, added nine assists and eight rebounds and the Clippers completed a four-game season sweep of the Lakers.
Ivica Zubac had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who seized control of the sweep-clinching victory and their seventh straight win over the Lakers overall by scoring 23 consecutive points during the first six minutes of the third quarter. The Clippers outscored their cross-hallway rivals 37-10 late into the third before coasting to their fifth consecutive victory in the past eight days, including two over the Lakers.
LeBron James had 26 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers. They have lost four straight and seven of eight to fall a season-worst eight games below .500 at 27-35.
MAVERICKS 122, WARRIORS 113
DALLAS — Luka Doncic scored 41 points and Dallas beat Golden State for the second time in five days, holding off the Warriors after a huge fourth-quarter rally for the victory in California.
Doncic had 10 rebounds and nine assists, Dorian Finney-Smith scored 18 points and Dinwiddie added 17 as the Mavericks took the season series 3-1 with the consecutive victories.
Jordan Poole led Golden State with 23 points, and Stephen Curry had all 21 of his points in the first three quarters. The Warriors have lost three straight to drop 7 1/2 games behind NBA-leading Phoenix.
HAWKS 130, BULLS 124
ATLANTA — Bogdan Bogdanovic’s 3-pointer with 1:41 left gave Atlanta the lead and Trae Young scored 39 points in the Hawks’ victory over Chicago.
Young had 13 assists and made 7 of 10 3s and all 10 of his free throws. Bogdanovic had 20 points.
Chicago, fighting for the Eastern Conference lead, dropped its third straight. DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine each had 22 points for the Bulls. Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
CELTICS 120, GRIZZLIES 107
BOSTON — Jayson Tatum scored 37 points and Boston beat Memphis for its ninth victory in 11 games.
Al Horford added 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Marcus Smart had 18 points and 12 assists.
Ja Morant had 38 points for Memphis, three nights after scoring a career-high 52 against San Antonio.
KINGS 115, SPURS 112
SAN ANTONIO — Harrison Barnes had 27 points and Sacramento held off San Antonio, keeping Spurs coach Gregg Popovich a victory shy of tying Don Nelson’s NBA record.
The Spurs have lost three straight since Popovich reached 1,334 career regular-season victories.
De’Aaron Fox added 26 points for Sacramento. Lonnie Walker IV had 30 points for San Antonio.
PISTONS 108, RAPTORS 106
TORONTO — Cade Cunningham had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Jerami Grant scored 26 points and Detroit held off Toronto for its sixth straight victory over the Raptors.
Saddiq Bey added 23 points to help the Pistons give coach Dwane Casey another victory over the team that fired him in May 2018.
Pascal Siakam scored 28 points for Toronto.