OKLAHOMA CITY -- Harrison Barnes scored 24 points, Dennis Smith Jr. got 11 of his 19 points in the final 1:39 and the Dallas Mavericks closed 2017 with their season-best fourth straight win, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-113 on Sunday night.
Dirk Nowitzki added 13 points for Dallas, which had lost four straight in Oklahoma City and seven of nine overall against the Thunder.
Dallas won despite Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook recording his 12th triple-double of the season with 38 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. The Thunder had been 11-3 in December before consecutive home losses to Milwaukee and Dallas to end the month.
Paul George scored 25 points and Carmelo Anthony had 21 for Oklahoma City, combining to go 8 of 14 from 3-point range. Despite their hot shooting, Westbrook took the big shots late for OKC and missed a trio of 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds. He was 0 for 4 from deep for the game.
The teams matched each other shot for shot during a first half in which the Thunder hit 8 of 17 3-pointers while the Mavericks made 8 of 18. Oklahoma City emerged with a 63-57 lead. Westbrook fed rookie Terrance Ferguson for a buzzer-beating layup in the third quarter to put the Thunder up 85-84 (see full recap).
Paul helps Rockets past Lakers in double OT
HOUSTON -- James Harden scored 40 points before leaving with a hamstring injury late in the fourth quarter, and Chris Paul scored 15 of his 28 points in overtime as the Houston Rockets snapped a five-game skid with a 148-142 double-overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.
Los Angeles led by as many as 17, but couldn't hold on as the team's season-long losing streak stretched to six games.
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Paul made a pair of free throws to tie it at 142 with about a minute left in the second overtime before Tarik Black blocked Kyle Kuzma's shot on the other end to give Houston the ball back. P.J. Tucker grabbed a rebound on a miss by Paul and put it back up to put Houston on top.
Tucker blocked a 3-point attempt by Kuzma, and Paul added two more free throws to make it 146-142 with three seconds left. Paul made two more free throws after that to secure the win.
The Rockets had hoped to limit Paul's playing time in his second game back after missing three games with a groin injury. But with Harden out, he ended up playing 42 minutes.
Julius Randle set season highs with 29 points and 15 rebounds, but fouled out with about three minutes left in overtime (see full recap).
Irving scores 28 for Celtics in win over Nets
BOSTON -- Kyrie Irving scored 28 points, Al Horford had 10 points and 10 rebounds and the Boston Celtics held off the Brooklyn Nets 108-105 on Sunday.
Marcus Morris added 15 points, Terry Rozier scored 14 and Jaylen Brown finished with 13 points as Boston closed 2017 by winning three straight and four of five.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 22 points and 12 rebounds and Caris LeVert scored 16 for the Nets, who could not overcome 10 turnovers in the second half.
The Celtics won their seventh straight against the Nets, although Boston didn't have the game in hand until Irving made a pair of free throws with 7.7 seconds remaining. Boston went the final 4:27 without a field goal and struggled from the foul line, going 13 of 21 in the second half and missing several opportunities to put Brooklyn away.
Hollis-Jefferson pulled the Nets within 103-95 on a dunk, and then converted a three-point play with 2:05 left to cut the margin to 103-98. Quincy Acy hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left after the Nets grabbed two offensive rebounds and Brooklyn was within 105-103.
Marcus Smart made 1 of 2 free throws with 15.2 seconds left, and then Irving -- who went 4-for-4 from the foul line -- added two more to seal it.
Acy scored 14 for the Nets, DeMarre Carrol and Allen Crabbe scored 12 points apiece and Spencer Dinwiddie had 10 points and nine assists (see full recap).
