Luka Doncic starred for the Dallas Mavericks as they sent the Los Angeles Lakers to a third straight defeat.
Doncic scored 25 points and won eight rebounds as the Mavericks turned a six-point deficit with seven minutes remaining into a five-point victory.
The result means the Lakers have lost 10 of their past 13 matches.
The Lakers – ninth in the Western Conference – are at risk of not making the post-season play-in tournament which precedes the play-offs.
“We still have games to play,” said Lakers star LeBron James who scored 26 points and collected 12 rebounds. “As long as we’ve got ballgames to play, we’ve got a chance.”
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said defeat owed much to a spell Doncic enjoyed in the match, adding: “Not good enough. It hurts. All these guys are hurting in there.”
‘Warriors must weather a storm’
Elsewhere Karl-Anthony Towns scored a superb 39 points to help the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 129-114.
Steph Curry managed 34 points for the Warriors, who were without Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala.
“We were really short-handed obviously, but we’ve just got to keep going,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
“We’re going to be fine long-term. I’m excited about our team and where we can go. But we’ve just got to weather this storm.”
The Toronto Raptors earned a 109-108 home win over the Brooklyn Nets, with Gary Trent Jr scoring 12 of his 24 points in a decisive final quarter.
“I’m really proud that we just hung in there and stayed with it when it was kind of tough,” Toronto coach Nick Nurse said.
Ivica Zubac recorded his 18th double-double on the season as the LA Clippers overpowered the Houston Rockets 113-100.
The Rockets have now lost 10 games in a row and sit bottom of the Western Conference while the Clippers have won six of their past seven matches and sit eighth.
The Washington Wizards beat the Detroit Pistons 116-113, while the Boston Celtics overcame a 17-point deficit in the first half to beat the Atlanta Hawks 107-98, with Jayson Tatum scoring 33 points for the victors.
