HOUSTON (AP) — Tyrese Maxey had 42 points and the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers outlasted the Houston Rockets 131-127 on Friday night.
Philadelphia superstar Joel Embiid was out for a third consecutive game with a sprained right ankle and will miss at least one more game with the 76ers ruling him out Saturday night at Chicago. Nicolas Batum sat out for a fifth game with a strained right hamstring.
Tobias Harris added 22 points for the 76ers. They won for the fourth time in five games and sent Houston to its third straight loss.
Fred VanVleet had 33 points and 10 rebounds for Houston. Jalen Green added 31 points and Alperen Sengun had 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
THUNDER 119, NUGGETS 93
DENVER (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, 17 in the decisive third quarter and Oklahoma City overcame another efficient shooting game from Nikola Jokic to beat Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points or more for the fifth time this season and was four shy of his career best set last season. He was 14 of 20 from the field and made all 10 of his free throws.
Oklahoma City has won three straight and eight of its last 10 to surge past Denver in the Northwest Division. The Nuggets, who had their six-game winning streak snapped, have lost just three home games this season and the last two have come against the Thunder.
Jokic, who finished with 19 points, made 9 of 10 shots and over the last two games he is 20 of 21 from the field. Jokic had 10 rebounds but committed seven turnovers.
CELTICS 120, RAPTORS 118
BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown returned from a one-game absence to score 31 points and feed Luke Kornet for the tiebreaking basket in Boston’s victory over Toronto.
After Scottie Barnes tied it at 116 with a 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining, Boston found…