Harrison Barnes netted a season-best 31 points and De’Aaron Fox added 29, including 11 in the final three minutes, as the San Antonio Spurs were at their best late in a 126-119 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.

San Antonio led by four points at halftime before Memphis rallied in the back-and-forth game to carry an 98-97 edge into the final 12 minutes.

Both teams held the lead in the fourth before the Spurs’ Keldon Johnson canned a 3-pointer with 3:17 left to put San Antonio in front 115-113 on the game’s 23rd lead change. Fox then hit a running jumper, a pair of free throws, a 3-pointer and four more free throws to allow the Spurs to clinch the win.

San Antonio has won three of its past four games while the Grizzlies had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Dylan Harper added 15 points for the Spurs, Devin Vassell scored 12 and Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan contributed 11 each.

Cam Spencer led Memphis with 21 points. Jaylen Wells added 20 while Zach Edey amassed 19 points and 15 rebounds, John Konchar scored 13 points, Vince Williams Jr. had 12 and Jock Landale hit for 10.

Carter Bryant’s 3-pointer — part of the Spurs’ 7-of-9 showing from beyond the arc in the first quarter — granted San Antonio a 36-32 lead through 12 minutes.

After a Memphis flurry, Sochan’s alley-oop dunk off a Vassell lob tied the game at 44-44 with 6:35 left in the second quarter. The lead changed hands three times — the third on a running 3-pointer by Fox to put San Antonio ahead 52-50 — before the Grizzlies retied the game.

Fox’s pullup three with 1:01 left in the half pushed the Spurs’ advantage to seven points before a 3-pointer by Williams culled Memphis’ deficit to 63-59 at the break.

San Antonio rebuilt its lead to seven points on a Barnes three-point play with 5:36 to play in the third quarter. The Grizzlies clawed back to even and went in front on Spencer’s four-point play with 31 seconds left in the period.

–Field Level Media

Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 42 points while leading the Boston Celtics to a 123-117 victory over the visiting New York Knicks on Tuesday night.

Brown made 16 of 24 shots from the floor and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. It was his third game with at least 40 points this season.

New York trailed 119-115 after Mikal Bridges sank a 3-pointer with 45.5 seconds remaining, but the Knicks failed to get any closer.

The Celtics received 22 points and five assists from Derrick White as well as 12 points off the bench from Anfernee Simons. Neemias Queta added eight points and six rebounds as Boston won for the fourth time in five games.

Bridges made a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored a season-high 35 points, while teammate Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 29 points and seven rebounds. Josh Hart added 19 points for the Knicks, who entered the matchup on a four-game winning streak.

The Knicks made 19 of 44 3-point attempts in the loss (43.2%). The Celtics were 13 of 40 (32.5%) from long range.

It was a rough shooting night for New York’s Jalen Brunson, who wound up 6 of 21 from the field and scored 15 points. Brunson entered the contest averaging 28.5 points per game.

The Knicks jumped out to a 17-4 lead and were up 32-21 after 12 minutes. New York made 6 of 13 3-point shots in the quarter.

Boston got within 39-37 after a 12-0 run, capped by a Brown three-point play, and the Celtics took a 47-46 lead — their first advantage of the game — on a Brown dunk with 4:47 remaining in the second quarter.

The Celtics extended their lead to 56-49 on a Payton Pritchard layup, and the hosts led 58-52 at halftime.

Brown scored 18 points in the second quarter, including 10 straight at one point.

Boston outscored New York 36-24 in the third and led 94-76 entering the final quarter. The Celtics closed the third on a 12-0 run.

The Celtics went up 102-87, but New York scored the next 12 points to get within three points on a Bridges 3-pointer with 6:29 left.

–Field Level Media

Scottie Barnes scored 28 points and the Toronto Raptors opened a five-game homestand Tuesday night by holding on for a 121-118 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Immanuel Quickley added 23 points for the Raptors, who had lost their two previous games.

They have won eight straight home games.

Brandon Ingram had 21 points for Toronto, Gradey Dick scored 14 points, Jakob Poeltl contributed 11 and Collin Murray-Boyles tallied 10.

Deni Avdija had 25 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have lost three straight. Shaedon Sharpe added 23 points, Toumani Camara scored 21 and Jerami Grant pitched in 19. Donovan Clingan had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Toronto led by 15 entering the fourth quarter, but Portland trimmed the lead to nine on Avdija’s layup with 9:41 remaining. Dick responded with five straight points.

Toronto’s offense stagnated, and Portland took advantage with a 10-0 run to close the gap to four. Sharpe made two free throws to cut the lead to two with 1:18 left.

Avdija was called for an offensive foul with 39 seconds to play, and Toronto led by four on Ingram’s dunk with 0:17 remaining. Barnes made a key block with 0:09 to go.

Grant hit a 3-pointer with two seconds to play, and Ingram made a free throw.

Portland led by as many as nine points in a loosely played first quarter but settled for a 39-37 lead.

Portland’s shooting went cold to open the second quarter, and Toronto continued to get easy baskets in the paint, opening a 53-43 lead with 8:09 to play. An 8-0 Portland spurt pared the lead to two with 4:45 left.

Barnes nailed a 3-pointer to bump the margin to seven before Portland came back to tie at 58 on Avdija’s 3-pointer. Toronto closed the first half with a 7-1 surge to lead 65-59.

Toronto pulled ahead by 13 on Poeltl’s reverse layup with 7:30 left in the third quarter.

Portland tried to chip away, but Toronto stiffened on defense and took a 16-point lead with 1:21 to play in the third quarter on Dick’s 15-foot jumper. The Raptors led 97-82 after the third.

–Field Level Media

Tyrese Maxey scored 35 points to spearhead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 121-102 win over the visiting Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

Jared McCain chipped in 14 points for Philadelphia, which played without Joel Embiid, Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr. The Sixers avoided their fourth loss in five games thanks to productive nights from Maxey and McCain, as well as double-doubles from Andre Drummond (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Jabari Walker (10 and 12).

The Wizards were trying to win back-to-back games for the first time this season, but came up short despite a season-high-tying 16 points from Tristan Vukcevic. Justin Champagnie, Marvin Bagley III and Will Riley all added 13 points for Washington, which played without Alex Sarr and Khris Middleton, among others.

Washington trailed by 12 points at halftime before bursting out of the locker room with seven straight points, including five by Kyshawn George.

Shortly afterward, Paul George’s 3-pointer ignited a 13-2 run by Philadelphia that also included five points from Dominick Barlow. Maxey’s three-point play finished the rally, giving the hosts an 82-65 lead.

About a minute later, McCain’s 3-pointer pushed the Sixers’ lead to 20 for the first time.

Maxey scored 14 points in the final 3:10 of the period to give the Sixers a 101-77 lead after three quarters. In all, he scored 20 points in the third quarter — five more than the rest of his teammates combined.

Philadelphia opened the fourth quarter on a 14-2 run and cruised to the finish line.

The Sixers knocked down six 3-pointers in the first quarter en route to a 34-31 lead after 12 minutes.

Philadelphia led by as many as 14 near the midway point of the second quarter, although the Wizards responded with seven quick points. Still, the hosts rebuilt their advantage back to 16 before settling for a 66-54 lead at the break.

Maxey led all scorers with 15 first-half points, while Champagnie paced Washington with 13 points in the opening half.

–Field Level Media

The Dallas Mavericks take aim at their first three-game winning streak of the season on Wednesday night when they host the Miami Heat.

Dallas lost 15 of its first 20 games before notching back-to-back victories over the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets to complete a 2-2 road trip.

The Mavericks defeated the Clippers 114-110 on Saturday behind rookie Cooper Flagg’s season-high 35 points. Dallas followed up two nights later with a 131-121 win over the Nuggets with Anthony Davis recording a season-best 32 points and matching his season high of 13 rebounds.

Flagg said the Mavericks weren’t going to get overly giddy about two straight victories.

“We haven’t gotten too low off some of these losses, and we’re not getting too high off a couple of wins,” Flagg said. “Just stay consistent and just continue to build off what we had these last two games.

“If we can stay consistent with our approach and the way we’ve been coming out each and every day, I think we’ll be OK.”

Flagg, the top pick in the 2025 draft, was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for October/November. He is averaging 17.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

Flagg, who turns 19 on Dec. 21, has impressed Davis in their short time as teammates.

“He’s going to continue to be aggressive,” Davis said. “Him getting downhill, getting to his midrange and getting to the basket, he’s unstoppable.

“We told him to play to his strengths and when a three presents itself, shoot it. He still has a long ways to go, and that’s scary.”

The Mavericks also received a stellar effort from undrafted rookie free agent Ryan Nembhard against the Nuggets. The point guard had 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and recorded 10 assists without a single turnover.

“A blessing to be with this group of guys — a great group that we have here,” Nembhard said. “I just put in my work every day and stay consistent with that, and when you do that, good things will happen.”

Miami has won seven of its past eight games, and one of the victories came against the Mavericks on Nov. 24.

Tyler Herro made his season debut and scored 24 points on 12-of-18 shooting to fuel that 106-102 home win over Dallas.

Herro has played in four games and scored more than 20 points in each one.

The Heat had a lot of standout performers in Monday’s 140-123 home win over the Clippers. Miami tied a franchise record with 24 made 3-pointers.

Norman Powell had six 3-pointers while scoring 30 points, Bam Adebayo made five to go with 27 points and 14 rebounds, Herro hit four while scoring 22 points, Andrew Wiggins made two while recording 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocks and Davion Mitchell was 4-for-4 from behind the arc while contributing 16 points and 12 assists.

“When everybody’s scoring, it opens the floor for everybody,” Wiggins said. “Everyone’s in a good rhythm, the ball is moving, and everyone has space to do their thing.”

Mitchell is averaging a career-high 7.8 assists while scoring 10 points per game and speeding up the Miami attack.

“When Davion gets the ball up and he gets up the court, it literally might be three dribbles,” Adebayo said. “That puts defenses on their heels, because he can get downhill. He’ll shoot a quick layup and people got to respect that. Then, when defenses collapse, it just makes it easier. Stop on two feet and hit the open person.”

Powell (ankle) is listed as questionable for the matchup. Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington of the Mavericks are both questionable with ankle injuries.

–Field Level Media

The struggling Milwaukee Bucks face a tall task to get back on track as they host the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.

Just 11 days will separate matchups between these teams after Detroit handled the Bucks 129-116 in Milwaukee on Nov. 22. They will also face off in Detroit on Saturday night.

That win for Detroit was No. 12 of 13 in a row before they dropped back-to-back games against Boston and Orlando. Since then, they’ve won two straight one-possession games — 138-135 at Miami on Saturday and 99-98 over Atlanta at home on Monday.

Pistons star Cade Cunningham shined late against the Hawks, scoring eight of his 18 points in the final 3:21. Jalen Duren led Detroit with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor while Ronald Holland II added 17 off the bench.

“(Cunningham has) developed in understanding and a belief, the timing and rhythm of when,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Time and time again, he does the job when we need him to do it most. He embraces that role and he loves to do it for us.”

Cunningham has excelled for Detroit in his fifth season by averaging 28.2 points and 9.3 assists per game. Duren adds 19.6 points and a team-high 11.8 rebounds.

Milwaukee, which has lost eight of its last nine games, is coming off perhaps its most disappointing loss of the season. The Bucks held a 16-point lead in the second half at Washington but fell 129-126 to the three-win Wizards.

Kevin Porter Jr., who left midway through the fourth with back spasms, led Milwaukee with his first 30-point game since 2023. Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t quite exert his typical dominance but added 26 points on 10-for-17 shooting.

“I didn’t think we played right. They had 18 more shots than us,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We played so well the other night (in a 17-point win over Brooklyn), then tonight, I felt frustrated the entire night. We played like we thought we were gonna win the game.”

It was only Porter’s third appearance after he left Milwaukee’s season opener nine minutes in with a sprained ankle and missed 19 games. He’s been a jolt for the Bucks, averaging 17.7 points and 4.3 assists in limited minutes.

Antetokounmpo leads the squad with 30.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game. Ryan Rollins adds 17.7 points, 5.8 assists and 1.6 steals.

On the injury front, Porter is listed as day-to-day. Gary Harris (Achilles) missed Monday’s game and is also day-to-day. Taurean Prince (herniated disc) is out indefinitely.

Duncan Robinson (ankle) is day-to-day for Detroit and did not play Monday.

The Pistons snapped a 13-game losing streak against Milwaukee the last time they played. Detroit looks to clinch at least a split in the four-game season series for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.

–Field Level Media