Kevin Durant, right, of the Oklahoma City Thunder moves the ball against Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies during their game Friday night. Duranthad 36 points in the Thunder victory. (Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images)
Thunder 101, Grizzlies 94
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant scored 36 points and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minute to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 101-94 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night in a rematch of their epic Western Conference playoff series.
Durant scored the final seven points of the game after Memphis had pulled even at 94 on Mike Conley's 3-pointer from the right side with 1:12 remaining.
Durant pulled up in front of Rudy Gay to answer with a 3 from the right wing and added a jumper from the foul line to push the lead to five. He closed it out by grabbing the rebound on O.J. Mayo's 3-point attempt and hitting two free throws after getting fouled.
James Harden scored 10 of his 24 points during Oklahoma City's fourth-quarter rally.
Marc Gasol led Memphis with 24 points and Gay scored 23.
Heat 99, 76ers 79
PHILADELPHIA — Dwyane Wade scored 26 points, and LeBron James had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Miami Heat to a 99-79 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
Mario Chalmers scored 13 points and Chris Bosh had 12 to help the Heat go on a dominant late run that put away the pesky Sixers.
The Heat used a 15-0 spurt in the fourth quarter to turn a tight one for 36 minutes into a comfortable victory and hand the Sixers just their third home loss of the season.
Thaddeus Young scored 16 points for the Sixers, who snapped a four-game winning streak.
Wade used a pair of ferocious dunks during the game-changing run that pushed the Sixers' first sellout crowd of the season toward the exits.
The Sixers opened the week with wins against Orlando and Chicago. The Heat squashed the home-week sweep.
Magic 102, Cavaliers 94
ORLANDO — Dwight Howard scored 19 points, had 16 rebounds and blocked eight shots as the Orlando Magic outlasted the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-94 on Friday night.
Jason Richardson also added 19 points in his first action in two games after resting a sore knee. Hedo Turkoglu added 18 points and Ryan Anderson chipped in 17.
The Magic won their seventh straight over the Cavaliers, despite playing without injured starting point guard Jameer Nelson and suspended reserve big man Glen Davis.
Orlando continues a stretch of nine games in 13 days Saturday at Indiana.
Pistons 88, Bucks 80
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Rookie Brandon Knight scored a season-high 26 points, holding his own against Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings and helping the Detroit Pistons snap a seven-game losing streak with an 88-80 victory over the Bucks on Friday night.
Knight, who was outscored 21-0 by Jennings in a loss at Milwaukee on Monday, helped the Pistons build a 15-point lead in the third quarter.
Milwaukee went on an 11-0 run spanning the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, and Detroit led by only four with 2:54 remaining. Knight responded with a floater, followed moments later by a driving shot off the glass, and the Pistons held on.
Jennings scored 20 points, but only seven after the first quarter.
Timberwolves 108, Nets 105
NEWARK, N.J. — Luke Ridnour made the tiebreaking three-pointer with 1:23 left, Nikola Pekovic scored a career-high 27 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New Jersey Nets 108-105 on Friday night.
The Timberwolves overcame a career-high 42 points from Anthony Morrow, whose eight three-pointers in 11 attempts were the most in the NBA this season.
Kevin Love added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which surpassed its road victory total from last season by improving to 6-4. The Wolves, just 5-36 on the road last season, have won three in a row away from home.
Ricky Rubio finished with 10 points and 10 assists for the Wolves.
Rockets 99, Suns 81
HOUSTON — Kevin Martin scored 16 points, Kyle Lowry had eight rebounds and nine assists and the Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns 99-81 on Friday night.
Chase Budinger added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who got another strong effort from their reserves to beat the Suns for only the second time in the last nine meetings. Courtney Lee and Patrick Patterson also scored 12 points apiece off the bench for Houston.
Marcin Gortat had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Shannon Brown scored 12 for the Suns, who've lost five of their last seven. Houston had a 49-39 rebounding edge and held Victoria's Steve Nash to six points and nine assists.
Pacers 98, Mavericks 87
DALLAS — Paul George hit seven three-pointers and finished with a career-high 30 points, and the Indiana Pacers won in Dallas for the first time in eight years, beating the Mavericks 98-87 Friday night.
The Pacers took the lead for good with seven consecutive points in the first two minutes of the second half. George made a go-ahead running layup then had a steal that he turned into a dunk and a free throw.
Indiana won its 10th road game this season, matching Miami for the most in the NBA. The Pacers had lost 11 of their previous 12 road games against the Mavs, the only win in that stretch coming in 2004.
Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 30 points for Dallas on 12-of-17 shooting.
Celtics 91, Knicks 89
BOSTON — Paul Pierce scored 30 points and Ray Allen had nine of his 14 in the final quarter to lift the Boston Celtics to a 91-89 win over the struggling New York Knicks on Friday night.
Kevin Garnett finished with 15 points and eight boards for the Celtics, who won for the seventh time in eight games.
Carmelo Anthony scored 26, Tyson Chandler had 20 with 11 rebounds and Amare Stoudemire had 16 with 11 rebounds for the Knicks. New York lost for the 11th time in 13 games.
Garnett grabbed his 10,00th career defensive rebound early in the second quarter, becoming the third player in NBA history to reach that mark. He's behind former Celtic Robert Parish (10,117) and Karl Malone (11,406).
Boston point guard Rajon Rondo returned after missing the previous eight games with a right wrist injury, but was ineffective, scoring just seven points and getting seven assists.
Lakers 93, Nuggets 89
DENVER — Andrew Bynum scored 22 points, Kobe Bryant added 20 and the Los Angeles Lakers opened a season-high six-game trip with a 93-89 victory over the weary Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
Al Harrington missed a 3-point attempt with 2 seconds left that would have put Denver ahead.
Pau Gasol added 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the third time in 10 road games this season and prevailed in Denver for only the second time in their last seven trips to the Pepsi Center.
The Lakers took control after Nuggets centre Timofey Mozgov rolled his left ankle while scoring a bucket early in the second half. Two minutes later, Denver's leading scorer, Danilo Gallinari, was accidentally poked in his left eye by Metta World Peace and retreated to the locker room for a few minutes to replace his contact while the Lakers put the finishing touches on a 10-2 run.
Harrington led Denver with 24 points.
