HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant had 28 points to become the eighth player in NBA history to score 31,000 career points as the Houston Rockets rolled to a 117-98 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
It was Durant’s first game against his former team since a blockbuster seven-team trade that sent Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to the Suns. Durant missed Houston’s 114-92 win at Phoenix on Nov. 24 for personal reasons.
Amen Thompson scored a season-high 31 to help the Rockets to their fifth victory in six games.
Durant made two free throws for his first points of the night and hit jumper midway through the first quarter that gave the 15-time All-Star to reach the historic milestone. Durant, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter, has 31,024 career points.
The Rockets trailed by as many as nine early but used a 44-point second quarter, powered by 17 points from Durant, to take the lead.
CELTICS 126, LAKERS 105
BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown had 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Boston cruised past short-handed Los Angeles, playing without LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
Derrick White had five 3-pointers and added 19 points, and Jordan Walsh finished with 17 points for the Celtics, who have won four straight and six out of seven. Boston hit a season-high 24 3-pointers and had 31 assists.
The Lakers lost for just the second time in 10 games. James sat with sciatica, which kept him sidelined for the first 14 games this season, and left foot joint arthritis. Doncic was out for the second straight game for personal reasons.
Austin Reaves led Los Angeles with 36 points and eight assists. Gabe Vincent added 18 points.
With the game out of hand in the fourth quarter and his father looking on from the…