The NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Dallas Mavericks 132-111, winning their 14th straight game and improving their record to 22-1.
NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and Jaylen Williams and Chet Holmgren each added 15 points in Friday’s win over Oklahoma City, giving the Golden State Warriors their best start to the season since they opened the 2015-16 season with a 24-0 record.
The Thunder, who had a 30-point lead by the third quarter, rested their starters in the final period, and the Mavericks’ winning streak ended at three.
On a night where star center Anthony Davis scored just two points, Jaden Hardy led the Mavs with 23 points off the bench, scoring his only basket of the night in four meaningless minutes on the court in the final frame.
Frequently injured Davis left the game in the third quarter with an apparent injury to his left knee and sat on the bench with his knee wrapped before returning to the game.
The Boston Celtics, led by Jaylen Brown with 30 points, defeated the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 126-105.
The famous game lost much of its luster when Lakers superstar LeBron James missed the first 14 games of his 23rd season with sciatica and then with arthritis in his ankle.
Luka Doncic also missed Game 2 due to personal reasons. Austin Reeves led the Lakers with 36 points, but Boston never trailed, leading by as many as 29 points.
Denver star Nikola Jokic scored 30 of his 40 points in the second half, and the Nuggets came back to beat the Hawks 134-133 in Atlanta.
Hawks forward Jalen Johnson had a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists by halftime and finished with 21 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists before intermission.
However, the Nuggets, who trailed by as many as 23 points late in the first half, fought back by scoring 80 points in the second half.
Jamal Murray scored 23 points and made a big block with just seconds remaining to help Denver cling to its ninth straight road win.
In Orlando, Franz Wagner scored 32 points and Jalen Suggs added 22 points as the Magic defeated the Miami Heat 106-105 at home.
Miami trailed by 10 points against its interstate rival early in the fourth quarter, but Norman Powell’s driving layup with 50.9 seconds left cut the deficit to one.
Miami had a chance to win with seconds remaining, but Powell missed a fadeaway jumper, the Heat were unable to inbound the ball and had to use their final timeout, and Bam Adebayo missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
🏀Friday’s final score🏀
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 30 points in less than 30 minutes as @okcthunder wins 14 straight games to go 22-1.
Jaylen Williams: 15 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST
Chet Holmgren: 15 PTS, 8 REB https://t.co/evv3lJ0XNk pic.twitter.com/ao2dympQyG— NBA (@NBA) December 6, 2025
Durant hits 31k
It was a milestone night for Houston star Kevin Durant, who became the eighth player in NBA history to score 31,000 career points in the Rockets’ 117-98 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Durant, playing his first game against his old team since the blockbuster trade in July, needed just four points to reach that mark, which he did on a jump shot midway through the first quarter.
Durant, who ranks eighth in the league’s all-time scoring list, finished with 28 points, while teammate Armen Thompson scored a season-high 31 points, and the Rockets earned their fifth win in six games.
“I’m just grateful to be in this position where I can make dreams come true every day,” Durant, a former NBA Most Valuable Player and two-time champion, said of his latest milestone. “So many people have invested in my life. I’m so grateful to them and want to continue doing so.”
At Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks opened the game with a 23-0 run, defeating the Utah Jazz 146-112.
