BOSTON - Pau Gasol blocked Ray Allen's putback attempt at the buzzer in overtime and the Los Angeles Lakers held on to beat the Boston Celtics 88-87 on Thursday night.
Kobe Bryant had 27 points, Gasol finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Andrew Bynum added 16 points and 17 rebounds to help the Lakers snap a two-game losing streak.
Allen scored 22 points and Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Boston, which had won five in a row and nine of its previous 10 games. But Garnett was 6 for 23 from the field and Paul Pierce was 7 for 18, including a clean-look jumper at the end of overtime. It rimmed out and Allen tried to push the rebound in, but Gasol got his fingertips on it and it floated away as the buzzer sounded.
The Lakers had lost six of their last seven games on the road.
KINGS 106, THUNDER 101
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Tyreke Evans scored 22 points, DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and nine rebounds and Sacramento rallied to beat Oklahoma City, dropping the Thunder to second overall in the NBA.
Sacramento won for the fourth time in five games, scoring its final nine points on free throws.
Russell Westbrook scored 33 points, and Kevin Durant added 27 for Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City, at 20-6 a game behind Chicago for the overall lead. The Thunder squandered an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter, committing six of their 23 turnovers in the period.
WARRIORS 109, NUGGETS 101
DENVER (AP) — Stephen Curry scored a season-best 36 points and Golden State handed fading Denver its fifth straight loss, the Nuggets' longest losing streak in five seasons.
Denver has dropped seven of eight games overall and also has lost five in a row at home.
Klay Thompson added 19 points, Dorrell Wright had 15 and Monta Ellis 14 for the Warriors, who snapped a two-game skid and posted just their third win in nine road games.
Arron Afflalo led the Nuggets with 26 points.
ROCKETS 96, SUNS 89
PHOENIX (AP) — Luis Scola scored 16 points, Patrick Patterson added 14 to help Houston beat Phoenix.
Chase Budinger and Kyle Lowry each scored 12 points, and the Rockets used a 57-13 edge in scoring from their backups to win their third straight and fourth in five games.
Channing Frye scored a season-high 21 points, and Marcin Gortat added 16 for the Suns, who had won a season-high three straight games. Victoria's Steve Nash, selected to his eighth all-star game earlier Thursday, scored 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting and had 13 assists.
