Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points, 16 rebounds and six assists to lift the host Milwaukee Bucks past the Philadelphia 76ers 124-117.
Philadelphia 76ers 117 - 124 Milwaukee Bucks
Khris Middleton added 24 points, Bobby Portis had 23 and Brook Lopez 16 for the Bucks, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Jrue Holiday had 12 points and 11 assists for the Bucks (36-22).
The Bucks hit their first 10 shots of the game, bolted to a 20-point advantage and led 77-60 at halftime. Milwaukee sank 13 of 21 first-half 3-point attempts and was led by Middleton with 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting. Embiid paced the Sixers with 17 at the break.
Philadelphia cut the deficit to 94-85 late in the third, but the Bucks finished strong and held a 108-87 advantage at the end of the quarter. Portis scored Milwaukee's last nine points on three 3-pointers to help build a 21-point lead. A late 14-1 run closed Philly within six, 123-117 in the waning seconds.
Philadelphia's Ben Simmons (illness) did not travel to Milwaukee, missing a third consecutive game. Reserve Furkan Korkmaz also sat out after tweaking his ankle Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns.
Joel Embiid led the Sixers (39-20) with 24 points. Shake Milton added 20 and Tobias Harris had 18 in his first game back after missing the previous three with knee soreness. Seth Curry, Tyrese Maxey and Mike Scott contributed 11 each.
The Sixers have now dropped three in a row without Simmons. The Bucks, who made 20 treys on 40 attempts, will host the Sixers again on Saturday.
Los Angeles Lakers 110 - 115 Dallas Mavericks
Luka Doncic finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 115-110 victory at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mavericks (32-26) won their second in a row and tied Portland for sixth place in the Western Conference. Dallas moved to within 2.5 games behind the Lakers (35-24) for fifth place. The teams will play again in Dallas on Saturday night.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Lakers, who have lost three of their past four games, with 29 points. Dennis Schroder finished with 25 points and 13 assists before fouling out with 18.3 seconds remaining in the game.
Anthony Davis played for the first time since February 14 due to a calf strain and tendinosis in his right leg, but played only 16 minutes and 40 seconds - all in the first half. Davis scored four points on 2-for-10 shooting.
The Mavericks prevailed despite losing Kristaps Porzingis with 2:32 left in the third quarter when he sprained his left ankle. Porzingis, who finished with 19 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes, played on the second night of a back-to-back for only the fourth time this season.
Phoenix Suns 86 - 99 Boston Celtics
Kemba Walker matched his season-high with 32 points to lead the banged-up Boston Celtics past the visiting Phoenix Suns 99-86.
Walker shot 11 of 17 from the field for the Celtics (32-27), who won for the ninth time in their last 11 games. Jayson Tatum had 15 points and 11 rebounds on 3-for-17 shooting as he continues to nurse a left ankle injury.
Boston played without Jaylen Brown (shoulder), Evan Fournier (health and safety) and Robert Williams III (knee).
Chris Paul had 22 points with eight rebounds and eight assists to lead the Suns (42-17), who lost for just the third time in their last 16 games. Devin Booker had 15 points before fouling out.
Phoenix shot just 6 of 35 (17.1 per cent) from 3-point range and was held to the team's second-lowest scoring total on the tail end of a back-to-back.
New Orleans Pelicans 135 - 100 Orlando Magic
Brandon Ingram scored 29 points, Zion Williamson added 23 and the visiting New Orleans Pelicans raced to a 22-point halftime lead and routed the Orlando Magic 135-100.
Ingram made 11 of 17 field-goal attempts and Williamson sank 9 of 12 as the Pelicans (26-33) ended a four-game losing streak.
Willy Hernangomez had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Eric Bledsoe added 15 points for New Orleans, making 5 of 7 from 3-point range. Steven Adams had 12 points and nine rebounds before sitting out the second half to rest a sore ankle, and Jaxson Hayes scored 10.
Mo Bamba had 17 points and 12 rebounds, Devin Cannady scored 17 and Cole Anthony had 14 points for the Magic (18-41), who lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Gary Harris contributed 11 points while R.J. Hampton 10 and Chasson Randle had 10 each.
New Orleans led by just two points after the first quarter but outscored Orlando 45-25 in the second quarter to take a 74-52 halftime lead. The Pelicans matched their highest first-half point total of the season.
The Pelicans led by as many as 42 points.
Charlotte Hornets 91 - 108 Chicago Bulls
Nikola Vucevic, Coby White and Thaddeus Young all scored 18 points as the Chicago Bulls thumped the visiting Charlotte Hornets 108-91.
Lauri Markkanen recorded 11 points and Tomas Satoransky provided 10 points for Chicago, which led by double figures for most of the game. The Bulls (25-34) won for the third time in their past four games.
Devonte' Graham had 16 points and Miles Bridges added 13 points for the Hornets (28-30), who lost for the sixth time in seven games. Terry Rozier and Brad Wanamaker each finished with 11 points.
Vucevic also had 16 rebounds to bolster the Bulls' 49-39 advantage on the boards. His six assists were one shy of Satoransky's team-high total. Vucevic had scored at least 16 points in his first 14 games with the Bulls until a nine-point outing Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Detroit Pistons 91 - 106 San Antonio Spurs
Derrick White scored 26 points, 11 of them in the pivotal third quarter, to help the San Antonio Spurs earn a 106-91 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons in a battle of short-handed squads.
The game was the second of a back-to-back for both teams, and play was ragged.
The Spurs lost at home to the Miami Heat on Wednesday while Detroit fell on the road to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Spurs (29-29) were up by 12 heading into the fourth quarter, but Detroit clawed back within 84-81 after a layup by Hamidou Diallo with 7:20 to play.
San Antonio responded with a 13-1 surge that was capped by a 3-pointer from Keldon Johnson with 4:24 remaining, and that was more than enough to get the Spurs to the finish line.
Lonnie Walker IV contributed 18 points for the Spurs, who have won three of their past four games. Jakob Poeltl added 17 points and 11 rebounds, Rudy Gay scored 14 points and Johnson scored 10 for San Antonio.
The Spurs rested Dejounte Murray and Patty Mills, and they announced just prior to tipoff that DeMar DeRozan, their leading scorer on the season, would sit due to a right quad contusion.