The Portland Trail Blazers withstood a late rally from the New York Knicks to claim a thrilling 116-113 win with the help of 39 points from Damian Lillard.
Portland looked to be on course for an easy evening at the office, outscoring the Knicks by 20 points in the first half.
However, the visitors roared to life in the second – spurred on by a scoring spree from Immanuel Quickley.
Went the full 12 rounds.#RipCity pic.twitter.com/DwWUhHGsx9 — Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 25, 2021
Quickley exploded for 31 points off the bench to bring the Knicks within four with a minute and 33 seconds left on the clock, but they were unable to keep the momentum going until the final buzzer.
It was another close showing in Orlando, where the Charlotte Hornets overturned a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Magic 107-104.
Gordon Hayward dominated down the stretch for Charlotte as he finished with 39 points, including a layup in the final second which led to the Hornets arresting their four-game slide.
OG Anunoby posted 30 points and eight rebounds to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 107-102 win over the Indiana Pacers.
OG showed up & showed out 30 Pts | 8 Reb | 5 Stl | 4 3pm pic.twitter.com/c7eAWsMTGY — Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 25, 2021
Myles Turner top-scored for the Pacers with 25, while the Raptors' win kept them within striking distance of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
The Boston Celtics steamrollered the Cleveland Cavaliers 141-103 on the back of 33 points from Jaylen Brown.
In the rest of the day's action, a double-double from Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks to a 129-115 win over the Atlanta Hawks, the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-100 and the San Antonio Spurs handed the Washington Wizards their ninth loss of the season, winning 121-101.
