THE BROOKLYN NETS needed every ounce of their offensive firepower against the Atlanta Hawks, pulling out a 132-128 victory in overtime.
Neither side were able to pull ahead in regulation time, trading the lead multiple times before James Harden had the opportunity to win the game for the Nets at the buzzer.
However his stepback three-pointer rimmed out, leading to an extra five minutes of play-off-level basketball.
Although Atlanta put up a strong fight, Brooklyn’s big three were simply too much for the Hawks to handle in crunch time as the Nets escaped with a five-point win.
Harden and Kevin Durant combined for 63 points, while Trae Young finished with 28 for Atlanta.
.@KDTrey5's 32 PTS in tonight's @BrooklynNets win put him in elite company! pic.twitter.com/ACy6iBeptU
— NBA (@NBA) January 28, 2021
Things also went down to the wire in Philadelphia, where the 76ers overcame the Los Angeles Lakers 107-106.
The Sixers led for much of the game, but were unable to deal a killing blow to the Western Conference powerhouse.
A go-ahead basket from Anthony Davis gave the Lakers the lead with 11 seconds left, but Tobias Harris bailed the hosts out by sinking a mid-range jumper over Alex Caruso as the clock ran out.
Joel Embiid led the way for Philadelphia with 28 points as LeBron James finished with 34 to go along with six rebounds and six assists.
𝙶𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝙷𝙸𝙶𝙷𝙻𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝚂
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 28, 2021
Los Angeles Lakers | 01.27.21
📼 presented by @PALottery pic.twitter.com/yN0RFc8L9s
The San Antonio Spurs moved up to seventh in the Western Conference with a 110-106 victory against the Boston Celtics.
After both sides gave up big leads, San Antonio ultimately fared better down the stretch to improve to 10 wins and eight losses on the season.
A 32-point effort from Chris Paul was not enough for the Phoenix Suns to overcome the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Suns were left to rue a horror second-quarter in which they scored just 10 points as the loss pushed them out of the top eight in the west, losing 102-97.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished one assist shy of a triple-double to help lead the Milwaukee Bucks over the Toronto Raptors 115-108.
The Utah Jazz took over the top spot in the west with a 116-104 victory against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Denver Nuggets defeated Miami 109-82 to hand the Heat their fourth-straight loss.
In the rest of the day’s action: James Wiseman scored 25 to lead the Golden State Warriors over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Indiana Pacers made the most of Charlotte’s sloppy start to beat the Hornets 116-106, the New Orleans Pelicans overcame the Washington Wizards despite a 47-point effort from Bradley Beal, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons 122-107, and Sacramento cruised to a 14-point win over the Orlando Magic.
