MANILA, Philippines — The Brooklyn Nets are back on top of the Eastern Conference standings after a 117-102 win over the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center in Texas on Friday (Saturday, Manila time).
James Harden had a monster triple-double of 37 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to pace the Nets to their second win in a row.
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The Nets pulled away in the fourth salvo, after a seesaw game in the first three quarters.
After 12 deadlocks and 16 lead changes, the Nets outscored San Antonio, 38-28, to finally pull away.
Brooklyn is now half a game ahead of erstwhile East No. 1 Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls lost their game on Friday (Saturday in Manila), falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in a close game, 90-94.
Giannis Antetokounmpo paced the Bucks at Fiserv Forum with a double-double of 30 points and 12 rebounds.
Elsewhere, the Utah Jazz bounced back with a win over the Detroit Pistons at Vivint Arena, 111-101.
Still without Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz leaned on Rudy Gobert and Bojan Bogdanovic on offense.
Gobert and Bogdanovic chipped in 24 and 23 points, respectively.
It was a season-high in scoring for Gobert.
Fil-Am Jordan Clarkson, meanwhile, added 20 points off of the bench.
In the other games, the Memphis Grizzlies outbattled the Denver Nuggets on the road, 122-118.
Ja Morant continues his fine play for the season with a 38-point outburst.
For their part, the Golden State Warriors barged back into the win column with a close shave win over the Houston Rockets, 105-103.
Steph Curry hit a step back jumper at the buzzer to improve their record on the current homestand, 2-1.
Curry finished with 22 points as he was without the services of both Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.