Barnes’ clutch free throw with 0.8 left sends Raptors past 76ers 116-115 in OT

TORONTO (AP) — Scottie Barnes hit a tiebreaking free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining in overtime and the Toronto Raptors beat the Philadelphia 76ers 116-115 on Sunday night in the first of back-to-back meetings between short-handed teams.

Barnes made the first of two from the line and intentionally missed the second as Toronto won its third straight home meeting with the 76ers. He finished 10 for 12 at the line.

Barnes scored 31 points, Jamal Shead added a career-high 22 and Immanuel Quickley had 20 as Toronto won its third straight at home. Collin Murray-Boyles had 17 points and matched his career-high with 15 rebounds.

Tyrese Maxey scored 38 points for the 76ers and VJ Edgecombe had 17. Kelly Oubre Jr., Domnick Barlow and Quentin Grimes each scored 13 points but Philadelphia lost for the second time in seven games.

KINGS 111, ROCKETS 98

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan had 22 points and became the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 26,000 points, helping Sacramento beat Houston.

DeRozan reached the milestone in the second quarter.

Zach LaVine added 18 points, Russell Westbrook had 15 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, and Malik Monk also scored 15 points in the Kings’ first victory of the year. They are 9-30.

Kings guard Dennis Schroder served the first game of a three-game suspension for a confrontation with Lakers star Luka Doncic after a game in Los Angeles on Dec. 28.

Amen Thompson had 31 points and 13 rebounds for Houston. Kevin Durant added 23 points, and Alperen Sengun had 19 points and nine rebounds. The Rockets have lost four of five to fall to 22-14.

KNICKS 123, TRAIL BLAZERS 114

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jalen Brunson had 26 points and New York snapped Portland’s five-game winning streak with a victory.

OG Anunoby added 24 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Mikal Bridges finished with 18 points, six assists and six rebounds. The Knicks had lost five of their previous six games.

Deni Avdija had 25 points for the Blazers but in the final moments he grabbed his back after going up for a rebound and headed for the locker room. The extent of the injury was not known.

The Knicks led by 10 points in the third quarter, but Portland tied it at 92 on a dunk from Robert Williams III early in the fourth and pulled in front on Avdija’s floater and free throw.

The teams traded the lead until Miles McBride’s pullup 3-pointer put the Knicks on top 109-104 with 3:47 left. New York stretched the lead to 117-107 on Brunson’s 3 with 2:23 to go and Portland couldn’t catch up.

MAGIC 128, PELICANS 118

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paulo Banchero had 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Desmond Bane added 27 points and Orlando beat New Orleans in Magic center Moritz Wagner’s return from a serious knee injury.

Wagner missed more than a year after tearing his left ACL, last playing Dec. 21, 2024. He had eight points and two rebounds in 10 minutes Sunday in the Magic’s last game before their two-game series against Memphis in Berlin and London.

Zion Williamson led New Orleans with 22 points, and Trey Murphy III and Jordan Poole added 21 each. The Pelicans have lost 10 of 11.

Anthony Black added 26 points, seven assists and three steals for the Magic. Goga Bitadze had 14 points, 13 rebounds and three steals in his first start of the season at center. Bitadze replaced Wendell Carter Jr., who had a back strain.

Since losing to New York in the NBA Cup semifinals on Dec. 13, the Magic have followed losses with wins seven straight times.

GRIZZLIES 103, NETS 98

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Cedric Coward hit two late 3-pointers and scored 21 points to help Memphis hold off Brooklyn.

Jock Landale added 16 points and nine rebounds, and Santi Aldama had 15 points and eight rebounds. Cam Spencer had 12 points and 12 assists in the Grizzlies’ last game before their two-game series against Orlando in Berlin and London.

Noah Clowney and Tyrese Martin led the Nets with 17 points each, and Danny Wolf and Jalen Wilson scored 11 points each. Wolf also had 10 rebounds. Martin was 6 of 8, going 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

Brooklyn led 98-90 after Clowney split a pair of free throws with three minutes left. Memphis scored the final 13 points, with Coward’s second late 3 giving the Grizzlies a 101-98 lead with just less than a minute left.

Memphis, which squandered a 21-point second-half lead Friday night in a loss to Oklahoma City, watched the Nets opened the second half with a 17-6 rally to pull even at 67.

Michael Porter Jr., who had 18 points and six assists in Friday’s 121-105 loss to the Clippers, sat for the game due to rest. The Nets are playing 17 games this month, and Sunday was the first night of a road back-to-back.

THUNDER 124, HEAT 112

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points after a slow start and Oklahoma City beat Miami.

Jalen Williams had 19 points for Oklahoma City, and Chet Holmgren and Ajay Mitchell each added 16. The Thunder have won three straight.

Andrew Wiggins scored 23 points — including seven 3-pointers - to lead Miami, which has lost three straight. Tyler Herro had 19 points and Pelle Larsson added 16.

Gilgeous-Alexander missed his first five shots of the game, but then went 10 for 14 from the field the rest of the way to top the 20-point mark for the 110th consecutive game.

With about four minutes remaining in the third, Gilgeous-Alexander — who had 16 points in the quarter — made a 3-pointer and pumped his fist while he walked back toward the other end as Miami called a timeout. It was part of a 15-0 run that gave the Thunder a 13-point lead.

Both teams came in among the top four in the NBA in defensive rating, and while Oklahoma City and Miami both shot better than 50%, the defenses left their mark.

The Thunder scored 39 points off 23 Heat turnovers.

TIMBERWOLVES 104, SPURS 103

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards banked in a go-ahead, 3-foot runner with 16.8 seconds and Minnesota overcame a 19-point deficit to beat San Antonio.

Edwards scored 23 points. Julius Randle had 15 points, eight rebounds and the winning defensive possession against Victor Wembanyama, who had 29 points in 27 minutes in his return to San Antonio’s starting lineup. The 7-foot-4 Frenchman had trouble shedding Randle and his upper-body strength, clanking a 16-foot jumper with 6.6 seconds to go.

De’Aaron Fox’s 3-point heave near the buzzer missed, too, sending the Minnesota crowd into a frenzy after the back-and-forth finish between two of the top teams in the Western Conference.

Donte DiVincenzo scored 19 points with a major spark for the comeback from the 19-point deficit early in the third quarter for the Timberwolves (26-14), who are 16-6 since Thanksgiving Day.

SUNS 112, WIZARDS 93

PHOENIX (AP) — Royce O’Neale scored 19 points, Devin Booker added 17 and Phoenix breezed to a victory over Washington.

Phoenix has won 10 of its last 13 games.

The Suns led 96-65 going into the fourth quarter after Dillon Brooks scored 11 points in the third, hitting three 3-pointers. The sloppy Wizards shot just 6 of 21 (28.6%) in the third and had seven turnovers.

The Suns improved to 14-5 at home and were able to sit their starters for the entire fourth quarter. O’Neale made 5 of 9 shots from 3-point range while Brooks finished with 16 points and made four threes. Booker added eight assists.

The Phoenix backups was productive — Grayson Allen had 12 points, Oso Ighodaro added 10 and Ryan Dunn had nine.

NUGGETS 108, BUCKS 104

DENVER (AP) — Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 25 points, Aaron Gordon had 23 and the injury-ravaged Denver beat Milwaukee.

Peyton Watson had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets. Over his team’s past seven games, the fourth-year guard has been averaging 23.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Zeke Nnaji added 14 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

Denver was without five of its top eight scorers, including Nikola Jokic (bone bruise in left knee) and Jamal Murray (sprained left ankle). The five sidelined players are averaging a combined 84.6 points per game this season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Bucks. Myles Turner scored 16 points while Bobby Portis and AJ Green added 14 apiece. Ryan Rollins was held to two points, snapping a career-best streak of 37 consecutive games with at least 10 points.

HAWKS 124, WARRIORS 111

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 24 points, Jalen Johnson contributed 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and Atlanta beat Golden State.

Luke Kennard had a season-best 22 points and six 3-pointers off the bench in the Hawks’ third straight win.

Stephen Curry scored 31 for his 13th 30-point performance of the season and Jimmy Butler had 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists in his fourth 30-point outing as the Warriors had a three-game home winning streak snapped. They had one other game both scoring 30 or more points and the Warriors also lost that one at Orlando on Nov. 18.

Butler had 17 points, five assists and four rebounds by halftime, when the Warriors were just 5 for 19 from 3-point range. It marked the third time in his last four games scoring 20 or more points.