Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Reed Shepard scored the final 11 in the third quarter to lead the Houston Rockets to a 115-101 victory over the Denver Nuggets in a regular-season game of the National Basketball Association (NBA) of the United States and Canada, BTA reported.
Shepard was accurate on 6 of 9 long-range shots and scored 28 points. His final basket came on a steal after the Nuggets' reserves cut a 21-point deficit to 97-107 in the final minutes.
The Rockets avenged their loss to Denver earlier in the week and snapped their opponent's six-game winning streak. Nikola Jokic led Denver with 25 points and Jamal Murray had 16. Tyrese Maxey scored 38 points, including seven during a key stretch in the fourth quarter, and V.J. Edgecomb added 26 as Philadelphia beat Dallas 121-114.
Dominic Barlow added 21 points for Philadelphia, which played without injured Joel Embiid and Paul George. Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis each scored 24 points for Dallas.
Boston beat Toronto 112-69 behind 33 points from Peyton Pritchard. Jaylen Brown, who scored 30 points in Friday's home win over the Miami Heat, missed the game with an illness.
Pritchard led Boston with 10 assists, tying his season high. He also grabbed eight rebounds.
Zion Williamson came off the bench for a third straight game and tied his season high of 29 points, and New Orleans beat Indiana 128-109 for its fourth straight win.
Sadiq Bey scored 18 points, Trey Murphy III and Derrick Quinn had 17 each and Jordan Poole had 16 for New Orleans. Pascal Siakam scored 22 points to lead the Pacers. Cade Cunningham had a triple-double and Jaylen Duren added 19 points and 11 rebounds as Detroit beat Charlotte 112-86. Cunningham finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, despite missing the final four minutes of the game.
In other games, Washington overcame a 20-point deficit to win against Memphis 130-122, and Steph Curry scored 28 points and added 9 rebounds and 6 assists as Golden State beat Phoenix 119-116.
Desmond Bain scored 32 points, including the game-winning basket with 0.9 seconds left in overtime, to help Orlando beat Utah 128-127.
Paolo Banquero added 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists to help Orlando snap its two-game road losing streak.
In the Los Angeles derby, the Clippers beat the Lakers by 103-88. Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points for the win. Luka Doncic, the NBA's leading scorer, did not return for the Lakers after the break because of a foot injury. He scored 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in 19 minutes after missing his first six shots. LeBron James, who turns 41 on Dec. 30, led the Lakers with 36 points. James Harden added 21 points and 10 assists for the Clippers.