Jimmy Butler posted 35 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead the host Miami Heat to a 117-112 overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night.

Butler also made 13 of 15 free throws, including going 1-for-1 in an overtime period that saw the Heat go 9-for-9 from the line.

The Hornets, who have lost seven straight games, were led by Kelly Oubre’s season-high 29 points on 11-for-20 shooting, including 7-for-13 on 3-pointers. In his two previous games, he made just two of his 18 long-distance attempts.

Charlotte also got 22 points from Terry Rozier, while Miami’s Bam Adebayo contributed 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Wizards 113, Mavericks 105

Kyle Kuzma scored a season-high 36 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists to propel Washington past visiting Dallas.

Kuzma made 14 of 26 shots from the floor, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range. Rui Hachimura had 23 points and eight rebounds to help Washington earn its second straight win following a 1-5 stretch.

Dallas’ Spencer Dinwiddie finished with 33 points after making 7 of 12 from 3-point range. Luka Doncic recorded 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Mavericks, who have lost two in a row.

Trail Blazers 106, Pelicans 95

Jerami Grant scored 27 points as Portland defeated host New Orleans, despite the Trail Blazers missing their two biggest stars.

Anfernee Simons added 23 points as Portland improved to 4-1 on its six-game road trip. Former Pelican Josh Hart had 17 for the Trail Blazers, who played without Damian Lillard (calf) and center Jusuf Nurkic (adductor).

Zion Williamson scored 29 to lead New Orleans. Trey Murphy III added 16 for the Pelicans, who fell for the third time in four games.

Hawks 104, 76ers 95

Trae Young scored 15 of his 26 points in the first quarter and host Atlanta sent Philadelphia to its third loss in four games.

Young made only 7 of 21 field goals and was just 2-for-8 on 3-point tries, but was perfect on 10 free-throw attempts and had seven assists. Clint Capela added 18 points and a season-high 20 rebounds.

Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 26 points and 13 rebounds. The two clubs play again on Saturday in Philadelphia.

–Field Level Media

Jerami Grant scored 27 points as the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers defeated the host New Orleans Pelicans 106-95 on Thursday night.

Anfernee Simons added 23 points as Portland improved to 4-1 on its six-game road trip. Nassir Little, one of just three Blazers reserves to play, scored 15, former Pelican Josh Hart had 17 and Justise Winslow contributed 12.

Grant returned from a one-game absence caused by a sore ankle, but the Blazers played without two starters, guard Damian Lillard (calf) and center Jusuf Nurkic (adductor).

Zion Williamson scored 29, Trey Murphy III added 16, Brandon Ingram put up 14 before fouling out, former Blazer CJ McCollum had 13 and Herbert Jones 10 to lead New Orleans, which was beginning a six-game homestand. The Pelicans have lost three of their past four games.

New Orleans posted its lowest point total of the season by far, as the previous low was 111.

The Pelicans led by six early in the third quarter before Simons scored eight points during a 15-4 run that gave the Blazers a 68-63 lead.

New Orleans pulled even on a 3-pointer by Murphy, but Little made a layup and Simons hit two free throws to give Portland a 78-74 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Williamson started the fourth-quarter scoring with a three-point play, but the Blazers scored the next eight points to take an 86-77 lead.

The Pelicans got within six points on four occasions, but Portland had an answer each time and Grant’s dunk and 3-pointer produced a 100-89 lead with 4:19 left.

Both teams led by as many as six points during the first quarter, which ended with the score tied at 27. Grant led Portland with 11 points and Ingram topped New Orleans with 10.

The Blazers took a two-point lead early in the second quarter before Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall each made a 3-pointer during a 12-0 run that gave the Pelicans a 41-31 edge.

Portland climbed within one point on a floater by Hart, but Murphy scored New Orleans’ final eight points as the Pelicans took a 57-51 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

Stephen Curry shot the Golden State Warriors out of a dismal five-game skid and now looks to lead the club to consecutive wins for the first time this season when they face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night in San Francisco.

The Warriors have defeated Cleveland in each of the past 10 regular-season meetings.

Curry was a scintillating 17 of 24 from the field while scoring a season-high 47 points on Monday to help the Warriors end an unusual — for them — long slide. He splashed in seven 3-pointers in the 116-113 win over the Sacramento Kings to help Golden State improve to 4-7.

“Steph was breathtaking,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said afterward. “He’s one of the greatest players of all time. He plays well on so many nights (but) this even seemed like something special for him.”

The heroics were magnified under the scope of a losing streak that saw the Warriors allow an average of 121.6 points on an 0-5 road trip. The poor stretch included losses to the Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic.

The performance wasn’t fitting of the defending NBA champions but Curry allowed that things might be different with this version of the team.

“That’s the story of this team,” Curry said. “As vets, you understand every year is a little different and you are ready for that challenge. For these young guys to try and find themselves in this league and also a specific role, it’s challenging.”

Curry was fresh in his first outing since a 130-129 loss to Orlando last Thursday. Kerr held Curry and fellow starters Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins out of Friday’s 114-105 setback to the host New Orleans Pelicans.

Wiggins scored 25 points, Thompson had 16 and Green contributed 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Cleveland has dropped its past two games and is 2-2 entering the finale of a five-game road trip.

The Cavaliers lost 127-120 to the Kings on Wednesday despite receiving 38 points from offseason acquisition Donovan Mitchell, who made 16 of 28 field-goal attempts.

Mitchell has scored 30 or more points in eight of 10 games played and is averaging an eye-popping 31.9 points per game. His highest average in five seasons with the Utah Jazz was 26.4.

But Mitchell wasn’t happy after the loss to the Kings. Cleveland gave up 69 first-half points to trail by 11 and didn’t show the same pizzazz it has in most of the early portion of the season.

“We can’t come out and expect to just turn it on,” Mitchell said. “Just really on us to make that effort as a group. Has nothing to do with offense. It’s really just our defense. We pride ourselves on that and that’s what we’ve been even before I got here and for us to be who we are, we have to be really solid defensively and we weren’t the past two games.

“We’ve relied heavily on the offense and hoping that the offense carries us. That’s not what we do.”

Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff also was discouraged by the performance.

“That’s arrogant basketball. You can’t survive in the NBA playing that way,” Bickerstaff said. “Teams are too good, guys are too good. If we want to be a good basketball team, we need to remember who we are and we need to play Cavaliers basketball. If we don’t do those things, we’ll have nights like this.”

–Field Level Media

Jimmy Butler posted 35 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead the host Miami Heat to a 117-112 overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night.

Butler also made 13 of 15 free throws, including going 1-for-1 in an overtime period that saw the Heat go 9-for-9 from the line.

The Hornets, who have lost seven straight games, were led by Kelly Oubre’s season-high 29 points on 11-for-20 shooting, including 7-for-13 on 3-pointers. In his two previous games, he made just 2-for-18 on 3-pointers.

But Oubre was also called for traveling with 13 seconds left in overtime and Charlotte trailing by one point.

Miami’s Gabe Vincent then made two free throws for a 115-112 lead with 9.0 seconds left, and Butler forced Terry Rozier into a bad miss on a 3-pointer. Vincent made two more free throws with 3.8 seconds left to put the game away.

Charlotte also got 22 points from Rozier. Mason Plumlee led Charlotte with 15 rebounds, and he added 13 points. Dennis Smith Jr. had 12 points and eight assists before spraining his left ankle in overtime.

Miami also got 18 points and 14 rebounds from Bam Adebayo.

Charlotte remained without two injured starters: point guard LaMelo Ball (ankle) and forward Gordon Hayward (shoulder).

Shooting guard Tyler Herro, Miami’s second-leading scorer, missed his second straight game due to a left-ankle injury.

Miami led 32-27 after the first quarter and 58-50 at halftime. Oubre led all first-half scorers with 19 points. Duncan Robinson led Miami with 11 points off the bench.

In the third, Miami led by as many as 15 points before Charlotte went on a 16-5 run, cutting the Heat’s lead to 74-71. Miami, though, never gave up the lead and took an 85-73 advantage into the fourth. Butler had 13 points in that third period, making 9 of 11 free throws.

Charlotte opened the fourth on a 14-2 run to make it 87-87 then took a 90-89 lead on Plumlee’s three-point play. That was the Hornets’ first advantage since 3-0.

Butler scored three straight buckets in the final 2:24 of regulation, giving Miami a 104-102 lead with 36.4 seconds left.

But Smith made a layup with 26.5 seconds remaining to tie the score 104-104.

Butler was called for an offensive foul on Miami’s next possession as he pushed off on Rozier. The game went to overtime when Rozier missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

–Field Level Media

Trae Young scored 15 of his 26 points in the first quarter and the Atlanta Hawks came away with a 104-95 win over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.

Young made only 7 of 21 field goals and was just 2-for-8 on 3-pointers, but was perfect on 10 free-throw attempts and had seven assists.

Atlanta has won four of its last five and went 3-1 on its homestand. The Sixers have lost three of their last four games. The two clubs play again on Saturday in Philadelphia.

The Hawks have scored 100-plus points in each of their first 12 games and have hit the century mark in 33 straight regular-season contests.

Atlanta center Clint Capela added 18 points and a season-high 20 rebounds. It was Capela’s fifth straight double-digit rebound game and the third time in four games that he grabbed 19-plus rebounds. De’Andre Hunter scored 14 for the Hawks.

Joel Embiid led Philadelphia with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey added 15 points and Tobias Harris scored 12. The Sixers shot 20 percent (6 of 30) on 3-pointers, however.

The Hawks scored the final 11 points of the first quarter to take a 29-20 lead into the second. But the Sixers rode the 17 first-half points from Embiid and cut Atlanta’s lead to 46-42 at the half.

The Sixers tied the game 55-55 at 5:50 of the third quarter, but the Hawks outscored them 25-11 the rest of the frame and led 80-66 at the break — their biggest advantage of the game to that point. The Sixers played much of the quarter without Embiid, who picked up his fourth personal at 7:07.

Philadelphia cut the lead to 82-74 on an Embiid jumper with 10:32 remaining in the game, only to have Atlanta go on a 12-0 run punctuated by Onyeka Okongwu’s slam and take a 20-point lead at 7:57.

Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers removed his starters with 4:31 left and his team behind by 17. The Sixers’ subs cut the lead to six and the Sixers re-inserted Embiid down by eight with 1:28 remaining. But Embiid was limited to one made free throw over the remainder of the game.

–Field Level Media

Kyle Kuzma scored a season-high 36 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists to fuel the Washington Wizards’ 113-105 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.

Kuzma made 14 of 26 shots from the floor, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range.

Rui Hachimura sank 9 of 14 attempts to highlight his 23-point performance off the bench. Hachimura added eight rebounds while playing just 26 minutes to propel Washington to its second win following a 1-5 stretch.

Will Barton collected 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Wizards, who played without Bradley Beal (health and safety protocol), former Maverick Kristaps Porzingis (left groin strain), Delon Wright (right hamstring strain) and Taj Gibson (cervical strain).

Dallas’ Spencer Dinwiddie finished with 33 points after making 11 of 17 shots from the floor — including 7 of 12 from 3-point range. He was acquired by Dallas along with Davis Bertans from Washington on Feb. 10 in exchange for Porzingis and a second-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Luka Doncic recorded 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Tim Hardaway Jr. made five 3-pointers and finished with 16 points off the bench for the Mavericks, who have lost two in a row following a four-game winning streak.

Kuzma sank three 3-pointers as Washington scored 13 of the first 16 points of the fourth quarter to seize a 100-86 lead. Hardaway drained a 3-pointer to bring Dallas as close as nine points with 3:03 to play, but Barton answered from beyond the arc on the next possession.

Barton sank a free throw after Doncic was whistled for his third technical foul of the season late in the third quarter. He followed that up with a 3-pointer, and Kuzma drained a mid-range jumper to stake Washington to an 87-82 lead.

Dallas saw an early 14-point lead evaporate after Barton drained a 19-foot jumper to give Washington a brief 40-39 lead early in the second quarter. The Mavericks regained the advantage and led by six points after a dunk by Maxi Kleber, but Hachimura’s three-point play halved the deficit at halftime.

–Field Level Media

It will be a classic case of hot versus cold when the torrid Milwaukee Bucks, who sport the best record in basketball, travel to play the struggling San Antonio Spurs on Friday.

The Bucks have won 10 of their 11 games and play in San Antonio for the only time this season after a 136-132 win at Oklahoma City in double overtime on Wednesday. Jevon Carter carried the offensive load for Milwaukee with 36 points and 12 assists, setting a career high in both categories and doubling his previous season best in scoring.

Brook Lopez added 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks, who bounced back from their only loss of the season after capturing their first nine contests.

“It was a character win,” Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer said afterward. “Guys were doing whatever it took at both ends of the court. A lot of guys individually stood out but collectively the effort was really good. Just finding a way to win a tough game on the road. Proud of the guys.”

MarJon Beauchamp hit for a career-best 19 points, Grayson Allen had 18, Bobby Portis contributed 13 and George Hill scored a season-best-tying 12 off the bench for Milwaukee, which played without Giannis Antetokounmpo (sore left knee) and Jrue Holiday (sprained right ankle).

The pair went through shootaround Wednesday morning before being ruled out. Of the two, Antetokounmpo is more likely to play Friday.

“We had a lot of guys step up and play a big role in the win tonight,” Portis said. “A lot of guys got defensive stops, made a lot of baskets. Ultimately, it was a great team win.”

It’s out of the heat and into the frying pan for the Spurs, who look to snap a five-game losing streak with the latest setback a 124-222 overtime defeat at home to Memphis on Wednesday.

San Antonio had shots to win the game with a final possession in both regulation and at the end of overtime, but Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell, respectively, missed with the game in the balance.

“Great game — our guys were fantastic against a heck of a basketball team,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said afterward. “To play (Memphis) the way we did feels really good. You’re always disappointed when you lose but there’s so many good things. These guys are growing.”

Jakob Poeltl and Vassell led the Spurs with 22 points apiece in Wednesday’s loss, with Johnson scoring 16, Josh Richardson and Jeremy Sochan adding 13 apiece, Tre Jones hitting for 11 points and dishing out 11 assists and Charles Bassey tallying 10 for San Antonio.

“We had a couple of chances to win the game, but it just didn’t fall,” Poeltl said. “We got to learn from those experiences. We haven’t been in those positions a lot.”

After a hot start that saw the Spurs win five of their seven games, they are struggling to get back in the victory column. It hasn’t helped that San Antonio has faced some of the best teams in the league — with its losses over their five-game swoon coming against opponents with a combined record of 38-20.

–Field Level Media

Washington Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said that Kristaps Porzingis is day-to-day with a groin strain and will miss Thursday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Porzingis will sit out a matchup against the team that traded him to Washington at last season’s deadline. He’s already faced the Mavs once since that trade, going for 24 points and nine rebounds on April 1 in a 135-103 Wizards win.

The 27-year-old Latvian is averaging 19.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists this season, his seventh NBA campaign that includes stints with the New York Knicks (2015-18), Dallas (2019-22) and Washington. He has scored 18.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots across 348 career games (347 starts).

The Wizards will open a six-game homestand Thursday. They have a back-to-back against the Western Conference-leading Utah Jazz and the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday and Sunday.

–Field Level Media

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was diagnosed with a strained left adductor, coach Darvin Ham told reporters on Thursday.

James is doubtful to play in Friday’s home game against the Sacramento Kings.

James sustained the groin injury midway through the final quarter of Wednesday’s 114-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Ham was encouraged that the MRI exam didn’t detect a more serious injury.

“It’s not torn, that’s the biggest thing, that he didn’t tear anything,” Ham said. “So it was good news. You know, I’m sure it’s painful. Doubtful, day-to-day, whatever — I’m just happy there wasn’t anything torn.”

James dealt with a significant groin injury during the 2018-19 campaign when he was limited to 55 games.

And he knew something was wrong immediately on Wednesday night.

“I didn’t do anything extraneous on the play,” James said. “Just when I landed, I felt a little spasm or strain in my groin. So immediately I had to come out after that on the next play down when I went to the free-throw line.”

James is averaging 24.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 10 games this season. He had 30 points in 32 minutes against the Clippers before exiting.

The Lakers (2-9) are tied with the Houston Rockets for the fewest wins in the NBA.

–Field Level Media