Returning from a five-game absence, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 129-119 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Sunday.

The Thunder swept the two-game home set with the Jazz, who lost their third consecutive game.

Jalen Williams added a career-high 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting for Oklahoma City.

It didn’t take long for Gilgeous-Alexander to get going.

Less than 30 seconds into the game, Gilgeous-Alexander hit a turnaround jumper along the baseline. On his way to the other end, he said said, “I’m back.”

Oklahoma City led the rest of the game.

By the end of the first quarter, the Thunder led 35-20 with Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey combining for more points (21) than the Jazz scored as a team. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 13 points in the first.

The Jazz were just 5-for-21 from the floor in the first quarter.

Gilgeous-Alexander had been out with an abdominal strain and was in the league’s health and safety protocol.

Late in the third quarter, when Utah trimmed what was a 24-point Thunder lead down to 10, Gilgeous-Alexander dove on the floor to grab a loose ball and fed it to Isaiah Joe, who drained a long 3-pointer to give Oklahoma City control again.

In Friday’s loss to the Thunder, the Jazz committed 26 turnovers, leading to 32 Oklahoma City points.

Turnovers were once again a major issue for Utah on Sunday. The Jazz had 16, and the Thunder converted them into 28 points on the other end.

Utah scored 14 points off Oklahoma City’s 12 turnovers.

The Jazz were without leading scorer Lauri Markkanen, who was sidelined with lower back soreness.

Jordan Clarkson returned after missing Utah’s last two games with a thumb sprain, while Collin Sexton missed his fifth consecutive game with a left hamstring strain.

Clarkson led the Jazz with 18 points but was just 6 of 15 from the floor. Clarkson added 12 assists.

Walker Kessler (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Kelly Olynyk (15 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles in the loss.

Giddey added 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for Oklahoma City.

–Field Level Media

Jalen Green scored 13 of his game-high 31 points in the third quarter as the host Houston Rockets completed a back-to-back sweep of the San Antonio Spurs with a 142-110 victory Sunday.

After pulling away from the Spurs early in the fourth quarter Saturday, Houston seized control in the first half and never relented. Green was instrumental in landing the knockout blow in the third, scoring eight points during a 10-0 run that allowed the Rockets to extend to a 99-76 lead.

Green shot 11 of 19 overall and finished 4 of 8 on 3-pointers. His backcourt mate, Kevin Porter Jr., added 19 points and 13 assists in his best performance since returning from a 20-game injury absence last week. Alperen Sengun posted a double-double (15 points, 14 rebounds) while Tari Easton and Jae’Sean Tate tallied 17 and 16 points off the bench, respectively.

Eason added eight rebounds for Houston, which earned a season series split with the Spurs by shooting 61.2 percent in the series finale. The Spurs were without starters Zach Collins (left ankle), Tre Jones (left foot) and Jeremy Sochan (right knee). San Antonio has dropped 18 of 20 games.

Keita Bates-Diop paced the Spurs with 17 points while Charles Bassey and Devonte’ Graham scored 14 apiece. San Antonio surrendered 74 points in the paint and 34 points in transition.

Houston answered an early burst by the Spurs with an extended 29-8 run that yielded a 31-18 lead. San Antonio attempted to slow the surge with a timeout following an Eason fast-break dunk with 3:18 remaining in the first, but Green followed with a 3-pointer before Eason and Tate added layups that extended the rally.

The Rockets shot 62.5 percent in the opening period and missed just seven of their final 22 attempts after the Spurs darted to a 10-2 lead. Houston quickly pushed the advantage to 17 points on a Tate three-point play before the Spurs mounted an 11-2 run that included a pair of three-point plays, the last coming from Bates-Diop and cutting the deficit to 43-35.

But, despite the Spurs’ 39-point second period, the Rockets maintained their double-digit cushion at the intermission when Porter drilled a buzzer-beating 3 for a 73-63 halftime lead. Four Spurs made multiple field goals in the second as part of 58.3 percent shooting in the period, but the Rockets shot 59.6 percent in the first half and kept the Spurs at bay with their balanced attack.

–Field Level Media

Damian Lillard scored 41 points and Nassir Little sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 35.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to fuel the visiting Portland Trail Blazers to a 122-119 victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

Lillard, who reached the 40-point plateau for the 14th time this season, sank 17 of 20 shots from the free-throw line to offset a 10-for-25 shooting performance from the floor and 4-for-16 effort from 3-point range.

Lillard also had nine rebounds and six assists for Portland, which snapped a three-game losing skid and exacted a measure of revenge after dropping a 109-106 decision to Orlando on Jan. 10.

Jerami Grant collected 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Cam Reddish added 16 points for the Trail Blazers.

Orlando rookie Paolo Banchero made all seven of his shots in the first half and finished with 26 points for the game. Franz Wagner had 24 points and Moritz Wagner, Markelle Fultz and Jalen Suggs each added 15 for the Magic, who have alternated wins and losses over their last 12 games.

Fultz’s layup forged a tie at 113-113 with 58.8 seconds to play before Little drained a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.

Orlando and Portland each made four free throws before Banchero sank a pair from the charity stripe with 6.2 seconds to play. Lillard drained two more from the foul line to give Portland a 122-119 lead with 4.3 seconds remaining, and Banchero’s desperation heave at midcourt was off the mark.

Lillard drained 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and Shaedon Sharpe followed with a trey of his own to push Portland’s lead to 92-83 with 2:02 remaining in the third quarter.

Banchero’s layup gave the Magic a 51-46 lead with 2:53 remaining in the second quarter before the Trail Blazers went on a 12-5 run to end the first half. Matisse Thybulle converted a three-point play and Reddish drained a 3-pointer to highlight the surge.

Orlando played without Wendell Carter Jr. (left hip), while Anfernee Simons (right ankle) sat out for Portland.

–Field Level Media

Mikal Bridges scored 33 points as the Brooklyn Nets led most of the way in a 102-86 victory over the Charlotte Hornets Sunday night in New York.

The Nets followed up their stirring comeback from a 28-point deficit Friday in Boston by leading for the final 43:36 and leading by as many as 37 points before withstanding a slight Charlotte charge in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn improved to 3-6 with Bridges in the lineup and earned consecutive wins for the first time since beating the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers Jan. 28-30.

Bridges made his first nine shots and scored 19 points in the first quarter for his most points in any quarter this season. He surpassed the 17 he scored in the fourth quarter against Miami Feb. 15 when he finished with a career-high 45 points.

Bridges shot 12-for-21 and surpassed 30 points for the fourth time in nine games since the Nets acquired him from Phoenix for Kevin Durant on Feb. 9.

Spencer Dinwiddie added 24 points as the Nets swept all four meetings with Charlotte this season and moved 2 1/2 games ahead of seventh-place Miami in the Eastern Conference. Joe Harris contributed 12 points and Cameron Johnson chipped in 11 as the Nets survived shooting 39.1 percent.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 17 points for Charlotte, which dropped its third straight. Terry Rozier added 16 points but shot 5-for-17 as the Hornets shot 37.5 percent.

Bridges went 9-for-9 as the Nets took a 36-21 lead through the opening quarter when he hit an 11-footer with 2.4 seconds left.

Consecutive threes by Harris opened a 51-26 lead with 7:44 remaining in the first half, and the Nets held a 70-41 lead at the break. After a sluggish start to the second half, the Nets opened a 79-47 lead on a 3-pointer by Bridges with 6:40 remaining in the third quarter, and he surpassed 30 points with a finger roll layup that made it 82-47 a little over two minutes later.

The Hornets scored 15 straight points bridging the final 55 seconds of the third and the first 1:47 of the fourth, getting within 86-71 on a trey by Svi Mykhailiuk. Gordon Hayward’s basket made it 96-82 with about 4 1/2 minutes left, but a basket by Dinwiddie with about two minutes to go made it 100-83 and effectively sealed matters.

–Field Level Media

The New Orleans Pelicans will attempt to repeat recent history when they wrap up a three-game Western swing with a stop in Sacramento to take on the Kings on Monday night.

New Orleans has split the first two games of the trip, winning 121-110 on Wednesday at Portland before losing 108-99 at Golden State on Friday.

In the meantime, Sacramento saw a five-game winning streak come to an end with a 138-134 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.

The Kings haven’t lost two in a row since the last time they saw the Pelicans. That was one month ago on Feb. 5, when the Kings followed a loss at Indiana with a 136-104 shellacking at New Orleans two days later.

Trey Murphy III shocked the visitors with six 3-pointers and 30 points in that New Orleans win, which came during a stretch in which the Pelicans won four of five to solidify their standing in the Western Conference playoff race.

They’ve since lost five of six to fall two games below .500, with a four-game homestand against all Western playoff contenders to follow starting on Wednesday.

With the Pelicans, who had the best record in the West in mid-December, having fallen to the lower boundary of the pack in the Western race, and with Zion Williamson’s future remaining cloudy due to a strained right hamstring, Brandon Ingram realizes it’s up to him to help keep things positive.

“I know I have a major responsibility to make sure everybody stays locked in and we have a sense of urgency as we head down the stretch,” he said. “We know every game we have ahead of us is extremely important. My responsibility is just to make sure everybody is ready and keep everybody involved so we can play our best basketball when we need it.”

Ingram has surely done just that. He had a season-high 40 points in Wednesday’s win at Portland and has topped 30 five times in his last 10 games.

He sat out the Kings’ visit to New Orleans last month, as did Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox, who has basically matched Ingram point for point in recent weeks.

The Kings’ All-Star had gone for 30 or more points in eight straight appearances before totaling 25 in Saturday’s loss to the Timberwolves. Kevin Huerter topped the team in that one with 29 points.

Sacramento hasn’t made the playoffs since 2006, and while they currently sit in a rather comfortable position — they have seven fewer losses than the Pelicans — coach Mike Brown has found himself reminding his team the job is not done.

“We have a target on our back,” he said. “We are the hunted right now. I’m not sure where we sit as a team because this is the first time we’ve gone through this — being the hunted.”

The Kings have fared well in a tough stretch of the schedule, going 6-3 against all playoff contenders. But with the New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee up next after New Orleans, there are no lightweights in sight.

The Kings and Pelicans also are scheduled to meet April 4 in New Orleans.

–Field Level Media

The Eastern Conference playoff race is so bunched up that the result of one game could change a team’s fortunes.

So a 116-109 road win over Washington on Saturday did much for the Toronto Raptors, who are sitting in the middle of the play-in bracket with 17 games left in the regular season.

Toronto has won nine of its last 12 games and has three games left on a tough five-game road trip that started with two games against the Wizards. The competition doesn’t get easier with a trip to Denver to face the Nuggets on Monday night.

The Raptors bring some inside knowledge with them to face the best home team in the NBA. They signed Will Barton, who spent seven seasons with Denver before being traded to Washington over the summer.

He was bought out by the Wizards, signed with Toronto on Tuesday and has played sparingly in his first three games with his new team.

“There were some other teams that I was considering, I just felt like it was a good opportunity,” Barton said. “This is a good team. I feel like I can come in, bring some leadership, some versatility, some bench playmaking and scoring and a lot of energy.”

The Raptors have struggled away from home this season but have played better of late on the road. They are 4-2 in their last six, including a win at Memphis last month.

Their most recent game took overtime to secure, which doesn’t help the legs when playing in the thin air — and against a team that has lost once at home since Dec. 6 and is looking to strengthen its hold on the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Nuggets have won three in a row and seven of their last eight and are coming off a 113-97 win against the Grizzlies that increased their lead over Memphis to six games.

Denver has embraced being the top team in the West, which would mean homecourt advantage through the first three rounds. The Nuggets have never advanced past the conference finals since joining the NBA and a 29-4 record at Ball Arena shows how tough they are to beat there.

The Grizzlies tried to get physical with Denver on Friday night to disrupt the high-scoring offense but it didn’t slow them down; the Nuggets just played physical in response.

“We’re at home and we’re the No. 1 team,” Jamal Murray said. “I think we just have to do that and make them play with our physicality.”

It also helps when Nikola Jokic has a triple-double, which he has reached in four of the last five games and 25 times this year. Denver is unbeaten this year when he hits that mark.

Jokic is averaging a triple-double for the year and it has put him in position to win league MVP honors for the third straight year.

The Nuggets are relatively healthy, with Zeke Nnaji being the only rotation player not available. He is dealing with a right shoulder injury that the team announced Saturday would be reevaluated in two weeks.

–Field Level Media

Anthony Davis led all scorers with 39 points, Dennis Schroder and Troy Brown buried key 3-pointers late and the Los Angeles Lakers spoiled Stephen Curry’s return with a 113-105 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors on Sunday afternoon.

Having missed 11 straight games with a partially torn ligament in his left knee, Curry paced the Warriors with 27 points in 32 minutes. But he missed a wide-open 3-point attempt with Golden State down four with 1:14 to play.

After the Warriors erased all of a 20-point first-quarter deficit, the Lakers found themselves in a 91-all tie following Anthony Lamb’s 3-pointer with 5:37 to go.

But Davis’ supporting cast, lacking injured LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell, came through down the stretch, with the 3-pointers by Schroder and Brown contributing to a 10-2 burst that opened a 101-93 lead with just 3:38 to go.

Curry and Klay Thompson responded with 3-pointers in a late Golden State surge, but this time Davis took matters into his own hands, hitting two free throws after the Warriors had closed within two and making a five-foot floater following Curry’s late missed three.

In addition to eight rebounds, six assists and two blocks, Davis finished 10-for-13 at the line, nearly getting as many attempts as Golden State did as a team. The Warriors finished 15-for-18.

Austin Reaves chipped in with 16 points and Brown 14 for Los Angeles, which improved to 2-2 since James suffered a tendon injury in his right foot. Malik Beasley contributed 12 points to the win, Schroder 11 and Jarred Vanderbilt 10.

Vanderbilt completed a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds. Reaves had a game-high eight assists.

Curry shot 8-for-20 overall and 5-for-13 on 3-pointers. Golden State outscored the hosts 54-33 from beyond the arc in the loss.

Thompson backed Curry with 22 points for the Warriors, who saw a five-game winning streak — all at home — come to an end.

Draymond Green compiled 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Donte DiVincenzo had 11 points and Jordan Poole 10. DiVincenzo also tied Curry with a team-high six assists.

–Field Level Media

Tyrese Haliburton scored 29 points, including a 3-pointer from 30 feet out with 2.7 seconds remaining, and the visiting Indiana Pacers withstood a late charge by the Chicago Bulls to win 125-122 on Sunday.

Haliburton had 11 assists and shot 6-of-9 from 3-point range for Indiana, which won the season series against Chicago 3-1 after Nikola Vucevic missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Bennedict Mathurin scored 17 points, Myles Turner added 16 and Chris Duarte had 15 for Indiana. Oshae Brissett and Jordan Nwora scored 10 apiece and T.J. McConnell had nine points and six assists.

Chicago lost despite a stellar effort by Zach LaVine, who made five 3-pointers and finished with 42 points. DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, Patrick Williams added 14, Vucevic had 12 points and nine rebounds and Alex Caruso scored 10.

Indiana overcame an impressive shooting performance by the Bulls, who shot 60.8 percent from the field and 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from 3-point range.

The Pacers, who moved into a tie with Chicago for 11th place in the Eastern Conference, led 119-118 on Mathurin’s dunk before the Bulls regained the lead on LaVine’s jumper with 49 seconds left.

After Buddy Hield hit a 3-pointer to put Indiana ahead by two, LaVine converted two of three free throws to tie the game at 122. Haliburton, who had missed Indiana’s previous game with tightness in his right calf, drained his long 3-pointer to seal the victory.

LaVine had 15 points in the opening quarter for Chicago, which led 35-30 after shooting 65 percent from the field. Haliburton had 16 points for Indiana in the period.

Indiana took its first lead of the game at 47-44 on Duarte’s 3-pointer with 7:01 left in the second quarter.

Brissett’s 3-pointer with two seconds left in the quarter gave the Pacers a 67-60 lead at the break. Indiana outscored the Bulls 37-25 in the second quarter.

LaVine had 24 points in the first half for Chicago, which trailed despite shooting 63.9 percent from the field. Indiana shot 54.3 percent from the field for the half and 10-of-20 (50 percent) from 3-point range.

–Field Level Media

The Washington Wizards are signing Australian league MVP Xavier Cooks, his agent told ESPN on Sunday.

Cooks, a 6-foot-8 forward with the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League, is signing a deal through the 2023-24 season, according to Daniel Moldovan of Octagon Sports.

Cooks, 27, will join the Wizards after the Kings complete play in the NBL Finals this week.

He was undrafted out of Winthrop in 2018. He played professionally in Germany from 2018-19 before hooking up with Sydney in his native Australia in 2019.

Cooks averaged 17.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.1 blocks in 30 games (29 starts) in his final season with Winthrop in 2017-18, earning Big South Player of the Year honors.

–Field Level Media