LOS ANGELES—The Atlanta Hawks edged the New York Knicks in an unexpected NBA epic on Sunday, emerging after four overtimes and almost four hours with a 142-139 victory.
“That was fun. I don’t want to do that again ever, but it was fun,” said Paul Millsap, whose 37 points included the go-ahead basket in the fourth extra period as the Hawks withstood 45 points from Carmelo Anthony to win on their home floor.
Millsap added 19 rebounds and seven assists in 60.07 minutes on the floor, and said he was determined not to come out of the contest.
“I’ve never played 60 minutes of basketball,” he said.
Four-OT games are an NBA rarity. The Hawks won one against Utah in 2012, but the Knicks’ only other foray into a fourth overtime came back in January of 1951—when they lost to the Rochester Royals.
Four Knicks players fouled out, including Anthony.
Millsap’s put-back basket gave Atlanta a 141-139 lead with 27.4 seconds left.
After the Hawks’ Dennis Schroder made one of two free throws with 10.2 seconds left, New York’s Courtney Lee missed two three-pointers in the final eight seconds.
Mavs stun Spurs
The Dallas Mavericks ended a frustrating run of futility in San Antonio, downing the Spurs 105-101 for their first win on their Texas rivals’ home floor since November 26, 2010.
The Mavericks, who had lost 12 straight in San Antonio, were led by a career-high 24 points from Seth Curry, with Harrison Barnes chipping in 19.
They also got a boost from rookie Yogi Ferrell, a surprise starter for his new team less than 48 hours after signing a 10-day contract.
Ferrell, undrafted out of college and laboring largely in the developmental league this season, shook off his early nerves to do a solid job of defending veteran Spurs point guard Tony Parker, and produced two clutch free throws in the waning seconds to seal the win.
“He’s a fighter,” Mavs superstar Dirk Nowitzki said. “He’s strong in there. That was fun to watch.”
Another milestone for James
There were no surprises in Cleveland, where LeBron James became the first player to score 20,000 points in a Cavaliers jersey with 25 in a 107-91 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The reigning champion Cavaliers withstood Russell Westbrook’s 24th triple-double of the season, with the Thunder star notching 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists despite connecting on just seven of 26 shots.
James, who is eighth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 27,938 career points, has nearly twice as many points as anyone else in a Cleveland uniform. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is second on the team’s scoring list with 10,616 points.
“I’m blessed I’ve played with some great teammates in this uniform the last three years and obviously my first seven in the league,” James said.
The Golden State Warriors stretched their league-leading record with a 113-111 victory over the Trail Blazers in Portland, but not without a hard challenge from the hosts.
Kevin Durant scored 33 points with 10 rebounds and six assists for the Warriors, who won their third straight game and 10th in their last 11 despite the absence of star Stephen Curry — who sat out with a stomach bug.
Klay Thompson added 27 points for Golden State, who powered to an early 51-30 lead before the Blazers closed the first half on a 20-2 scoring run to trail just 53-50 at the interval.
CJ McCollum scored 28 points and pulled down seven rebounds and Damian Lillard added 19 points and eight assists for the Trail Blazers, who had a chance to win at the end only for Evan Turner’s three-point attempt to fall short.
Portland had pulled level at 64-64 early in the third on a brace of three-pointers by Turner.
But Andre Iguodala capped a 20-8 Golden State run with a two three-pointers and the Warriors took an 84-74 edge into the fourth.
Al-Farouq Aminu’s driving layup for Portland tied it at 93-93 with 6:31 to play, but the Trail Blazers couldn’t manage to get ahead.
