Shai Gilgeous-Alexander earned a dramatic win for the Oklahoma City Thunder as the Golden State Warriors and the Brooklyn Nets were beaten.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Thunder a 104-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Warriors, playing a fifth game in eight days, were without Stephen Curry as they suffered a 119-100 defeat by the Toronto Raptors.
A weakened Nets were beaten 100-93 by the Orlando Magic.
The Eastern Conference leaders had 10 players in the Covid-19 health and safety protocol, with rookie Day’Ron Sharpe being ruled out for Covid-related reasons just before the game.
Kevin Durant was going to be rested against the Magic but he was also sidelined under NBA health and safety protocols.
Orlando let a 17-point lead slip but eventually won to stop a seven-game losing streak.
The Warriors – second in the Western Conference – rested Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr as they had been sent home by coach Steve Kerr and Toronto capitalised to secure a home win.
Fred VanVleet scored a game-high 27 points for the Raptors, whose game against Chicago Bulls on Thursday had been postponed for Covid reasons.
Elsewhere, the Detroit Pistons suffered a 14th consecutive defeat as they were beaten 116-107 by the Houston Rockets, while the Boston Celtics earned a 114-107 victory over the New York Knicks.
The Washington Wizards stopped a run of four defeats with a 109-103 win over the Utah Jazz and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their sixth successive game by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 119-90 to move to third in the Eastern Conference.
