Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 50 points as the Boston Celtics claimed a 116-111 overtime win over the Orlando Magic.
Brown, whose previous best was 46 against the New York Knicks in October, scored 21 points in the fourth quarter.
It helped the Celtics come from 14 points down with four minutes and 20 seconds left in regulation time.
He started overtime with his fifth three-pointer of the game, and also had 11 rebounds and four assists.
“I was just trying to be aggressive the entire time,” he said.
“My team-mates encouraged me to take the shots. I feel like I took some good looks and they went down tonight.”
Brown’s layup with 38 seconds left in regulation levelled the score at 98-98 and he scored again to put Boston up 100-98 with 30 seconds left, but Tim Frazier scored for Orlando to force overtime.
Both teams were missing their leading scorers with Orlando’s Cole Anthony sidelined by a sprained ankle while Boston’s Jayson Tatum missed a fourth straight game because of Covid-19 concerns.
Elsewhere, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic marked his return from a 10-game absence with 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in their 95-86 away victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The 22-year-old had missed five games with an ankle injury and then five more because of Covid.
“My chest was burning,” said the Slovenian, who played 31 minutes on his comeback. “It was a weird feeling, but happy. Very happy.”
Thunder rookie Josh Giddey became the youngest NBA player to post a triple-double with 17 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds.
Aged 19 years and 84 days, Giddey surpassed LaMelo Ball’s record of 19 years and 140 days, and also came up with four steals in his first game back after missing the last three for Covid reasons.
