Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points, Rudy Gobert returned to action with 18 points and 19 rebounds, and the visiting Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 125-102 on Sunday night.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 21 points for Utah, while Jordan Clarkson had 16, Royce O’Neale finished with 11 and Eric Paschall scored 10.
Gobert missed the last five games while in health and safety protocol and the Jazz struggled without him. Utah lost four straight and earned its first victory since winning at Denver on Jan. 5.
Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists for the Nuggets. Aaron Gordon scored 20 points, Will Barton finished with 16 and Bones Hyland and Monte Morris scored 13 each.
Timberwolves 119, Warriors 99
Karl-Anthony Towns put up a 26-point, 11-rebound double-double, and host Minnesota took advantage of the absence of Golden State stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green to post a victory at Minneapolis.
Jaylen Nowell (17 points) and Malik Beasley (16) combined for eight 3-pointers off the bench, helping the Timberwolves win for the fifth time in their past seven games.
The Warriors, who were without Green (strained lower back/calf) all four games of their 1-3 trip, sent Curry home a night early with right-hand soreness he experienced in Friday’s win at Chicago. Jordan Poole had 20 points Sunday to pace Golden State.
Suns 135, Pistons 108
Devin Booker scored 30 points in 30 minutes, and visiting Phoenix rolled past Detroit.
Booker made 11 of 18 field-goal attempts and sat out the fourth quarter. Teammate Cameron Payne had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, and fellow reserve JaVale McGee supplied 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field.
Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, the top pick in the 2021 draft, was ejected after being assessed two technicals during the third quarter. The second technical came after he pointed toward a Suns player after dunking, which the officials interpreted as taunting. Cunningham scored 21 points in 25 minutes.
Rockets 118, Kings 112
Christian Wood posted his 20th double-double of the season and Eric Gordon converted a teammate’s timely offensive rebound into a basket in the waning moments as Houston beat host Sacramento.
Wood had 23 points and 14 rebounds while Kevin Porter Jr. added 23 points and seven assists to help the Rockets hold on. Houston survived when Jalen Green snagged an offensive rebound after Porter had missed a 3-pointer and Gordon followed with a driving layup with 12.5 seconds left for a 116-112 lead.
Green and Gordon scored 15 points apiece for the Rockets while Garrison Mathews added 17 off the bench, drawing a flagrant-2 foul on Kings guard De’Aaron Fox that led to his ejection with 8:14 left to play. Buddy Hield scored 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field off the Sacramento bench while Terence Davis added 17 points and Harrison Barnes 12.
–Field Level Media
