Deandre Ayton scored 29 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to carry the Phoenix Suns to a 113-112 home victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

Ayton had a big steal in the final minute, made 11 of 19 field goals, dished out three assists and blocked two shots in leading the Suns to their second win in as many nights.

Devin Booker added 27 points as the Suns won their fourth consecutive game after surviving a wild last minute.

Jordan Clarkson scored 22 points and Collin Sexton had 20, but the Jazz couldn’t maintain an early 10-point lead en route to their season-high fourth straight loss.

The setback ended a difficult stretch of schedule for the Jazz, who played six games in nine nights, including two games against Phoenix. The Jazz won that previous matchup on Nov. 18, 134-133, in Salt Lake City.

Phoenix didn’t score for the final 2:03 of the game, but Utah was only able to muster two points from the free-throw line by Clarkson with 26 seconds remaining. Booker missed a 3 with 2.1 seconds remaining, but Ayton snagged the offensive rebound to seal the victory.

The Suns have now beaten the Jazz in eight of their last 10 meetings. Utah, which began the season 10-3, lost for the seventh time in nine outings.

The Jazz scored the first five points and held the lead throughout the first quarter, taking a 10-point edge into the second quarter.

The Suns used a 9-0 run, capped by an Ish Wainright 3-pointer, to knot things back up at 40-40. Sexton pushed Utah back ahead with six straight points, and the Jazz went into the locker room at halftime up 54-51 thanks to a last-second floater by Clarkson.

Utah maintained that three-point lead through the third quarter despite Booker going off for 14 points in the period.

Damion Lee began a 7-0 run for the Suns with a triple followed by buckets from Mikal Bridges and Ayton.

Utah responded with five straight points, but the Suns kept answering the Jazz and used a three-point play by Ayton to go ahead by four again with 3:52 left to play.

Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back set. Phoenix defeated Detroit at home, while the Jazz were blown out at Golden State on Friday.

–Field Level Media

LeBron James scored a season-high 39 points — 16 of them in a decisive stretch — as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 143-138 on Saturday in the second game of a back-to-back between the teams.

James added 11 rebounds.

The Lakers played without Anthony Davis, who has a left calf contusion, and Patrick Beverley, sitting out the second of a three-game suspension. But James and Dennis Schroder were plenty tough to handle as Los Angeles won for the fifth time in its past six games.

On the other hand, the Spurs are in a downward spiral, losing their eighth straight contest (three of them against the Lakers). The Spurs lost for the 13th time in their 14 November games.

Los Angeles rallied to take a two-point lead at halftime and led just 91-90 after Tre Jones’ driving layup with 3:24 to play in the third quarter. That’s when James and company took charge, reeling off an 8-0 run to go back up by nine points.

James then scored 12 of the Lakers’ 15 points over the first 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. San Antonio never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

Schroder added 21 points for Los Angeles, with Lonnie Walker IV hitting for 19 and Austin Reeves scoring 16.

Seven players scored in double figures for San Antonio, led by Keldon Johnson’s 26 points, 23 from Jones and 20 from Devin Vassell. Johnson also took 10 rebounds and Jones dished out 13 assists.

The first quarter had eight lead changes and four ties before ending with the Spurs up 34-33.

San Antonio led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter before the Lakers rallied, using a 15-3 run through the middle of the period jump back in front at 55-54 after Schroder’s step-back jumper at the 4:10 mark. Two buckets by Jones over the final 37.4 seconds of the quarter brought the Spurs back to within 70-68 at the break.

James and Schroder led the Lakers with 16 points apiece before halftime. Vassell had 14 to pace San Antonio, with Poeltl adding 12 and Jones scoring 10.

–Field Level Media

Jalen Green scored a team-high 28 points, Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. recorded double-doubles and the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-105 on Saturday to sweep both games of a home back-to-back.

After rallying from a 16-point deficit in the second half to defeat the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, the Rockets seized control with an 18-2 second-quarter run in cruising past the Thunder. Houston led by as many as 27 points.

Oklahoma City was coming off an overtime win against the visiting Chicago Bulls on Friday.

Green shot 11 of 19 while adding a team-best nine assists. His dynamic play started early and continued throughout, particularly in the second period, when Houston shot 16 of 20 overall.

Sengun produced 21 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists, while Smith paired 15 points with 13 rebounds. Kevin Porter Jr. added 16 points and Eric Gordon 15 for the Rockets. Garrison Mathews chipped in 11 off the bench.

The Rockets shot a robust 18 of 36 from behind the arc, with Green leading the way at 6 of 9.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poured in a game-high 32 points, his 14th 30-point game this season. But the Thunder didn’t produce enough offensively to supplement Gilgeous-Alexander, shooting 39.2 percent overall while missing 34 of 44 3-pointers. Josh Giddey scored 18 points for the Thunder.

After Oklahoma City responded to the Rockets’ 14-4 start with a 9-0 spurt, Houston needed a 3-pointer from Gordon just prior to the first-quarter buzzer to take a 23-22 lead into the second.

Then the Rockets ran away and hid that period, starting with two Mathews 3s and another from Smith in transition that helped extend their lead to 49-29 midway through the quarter.

Six Rockets players scored during the aforementioned 18-2 blitz, with Mathews, Smith and Porter all drilling 3-pointers. The Rockets led 65-44 at the intermission on the strength of their perimeter shooting, going 11 of 19 from deep.

Houston shot 64.1 percent in the first half, boosted by a 42-point second period that featured 7-of-11 3-point shooting.

Gilgeous-Alexander had 18 points at the break, but his teammates hit only 11 of 34 field goals.

–Field Level Media

The Philadelphia 76ers will look to record their second win in three days over the Magic on Sunday night when the undermanned teams reconvene in Orlando, Fla.

Shake Milton came within an eyelash of his first triple-double in the NBA on Friday after collecting 24 points, a career-high 10 assists and nine rebounds in the 76ers’ 107-99 victory over the Magic.

Milton made 7 of 13 shots from the floor — including four 3-pointers — to propel Philadelphia to its fifth win in seven games.

The fifth-year guard is averaging 22.3 points in his last four games on 56.9 percent shooting from the floor and 52.6 percent from 3-point range. He also is averaging 7.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists over that same span.

Tobias Harris added 23 points and 10 rebounds and Georges Niang stepped up with five 3-pointers for the 76ers, who played without five-time All-Star Joel Embiid for the third straight game due to a left mid-foot sprain. Philadelphia also was without James Harden (right foot strain) for a 10th consecutive contest and Tyrese Maxey (left foot fracture) for a fourth straight outing.

Despite their absences, Philadelphia kept its resolve and fended off Orlando in the late going of the fourth quarter on Friday.

“For us, it’s just an energy thing and it’s contagious,” Milton said. “(Georges) hits a big 3 and then Tobias does too, and it’s a momentum thing. With us being down as many players as we are, we need those loose-ball plays to get us going.”

Like the 76ers, the Magic were missing significant firepower as well. Wendell Carter Jr (right plantar fascia strain), Chuma Okeke (left knee soreness) and Terrence Ross (illness) were spectators as Orlando fell for the fifth time in its last six games.

The Magic welcomed the return of star rookie Paolo Banchero following a seven-game absence due to a sprained left ankle. The top overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft scored 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor. He also made 8 of 11 attempts from the free-throw line.

“(He adds) a ton,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We talk about his ability to get to the rim. His ability to get to the free throw line. His physical stature (which allows him to) punish defenses is going to be big for us. Our switching gets back into play the same way with bigger-sized bodies.”

Franz Wagner recorded a team-high 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. Bol Bol added 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, and Moe Wagner chipped in seven points and five boards in 17 minutes while making his season debut.

“His energy, his enthusiasm, those bell plays we talk about — whether that’s taking a charge, making the extra pass, getting under the skin of the defender — he’s great at those things,” Mosley said of Wagner, who returned after spraining his right foot in a preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 14.

“The other side people don’t recognize because of that energy is he has a high basketball IQ.”

–Field Level Media

For the New York Knicks, home is not where their defense is.

But Madison Square Garden is where the high-powered Memphis Grizzlies will be Sunday night when the Knicks are slated to close out a two-game homestand by hosting the Grizzlies.

Both teams were off Saturday after playing at home Friday. The Knicks squandered a 14-point first-half lead and fell to the Portland Trail Blazers, 132-129, in overtime. The Grizzlies never trailed in a 132-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Knicks opened their home schedule with a pair of strong defensive efforts in a 130-106 win over the Detroit Pistons and a 115-102 victory over the Orlando Magic. But New York has given up at least 130 points in four of its last six home games after surrendering at least 130 points just three times — anywhere — in the first two seasons under defensive-minded head coach Tom Thibodeau.

The loss Friday was particularly discouraging for the Knicks, who didn’t have to face Trail Blazers superstar guard Damian Lillard (right calf strain) but were victimized instead by the trio of Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons and Josh Hart.

Grant scored a career-high 44 points while Simons added 38 points, tied for the second-most he’s scored in a single game. Hart pulled down six offensive rebounds, tied for his career-high, on his way to finishing with a career-high 19 rebounds.

“We took a step back,” Knicks center Mitchell Robinson told reporters Friday night. “Our defense, we allowed guys to get in the paint, stuff like that. We got to be better.”

The task could be even tougher on both ends of the floor Sunday night for the Knicks, who announced Saturday that Jalen Brunson is questionable for the game due to a quad contusion. Brunson scored a season-high 34 points in a 129-119 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night before leading New York with 32 points Friday night.

The Grizzlies unveiled a balanced attack Friday, when they finished just shy of their season-high for points in a single game. Memphis, which beat the Brooklyn Nets 134-124 on Oct. 24, entered Saturday averaging 115.1 points per game, eighth-most in the NBA.

Six players scored in double figures Friday for the Grizzlies, led by star guard Ja Morant, who is playing through a Grade 1 left ankle sprain. Morant finished with a double-double (23 points, 11 assists) despite playing just 28 minutes. He missed the Grizzlies’ 127-115 loss to the Nets on Nov. 20 due to the injury but has scored 57 points while shooting 54.1 percent from the field in his last two games.

Steven Adams (15 points, 11 rebounds) also had a double-double for the Grizzlies on Friday night while Dillon Brooks (25 points), Jaren Jackson Jr. (20 points), Brandon Clarke (12 points) and David Roddy (11 points) also reached double figures.

“Definitely a really solid win by our group,” Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said afterward. “Lot of guys contributed tonight on both ends.”

–Field Level Media