Agencies/New York

Kevin Durant dropped in 27 points in his season debut but the New Orleans Pelicans spoiled the occasion for the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player.
Tyreke Evans erupted for 15 of his season-high 30 points in the final quarter, Anthony Davis added 25 with 10 rebounds and a career-high-tying six steals, as the Pelicans quieted the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-104 on Tuesday.
“His first game back he scores 27 points in 29 (30) minutes,” Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. “Not many people in the league can do that.”
Davis said the game plan was simple: “We just wanted to get the ball out of KD’s hands and make everybody else beat us.”
After missing the first 17 games, Durant shook off the seven-weeks of rust from a foot injury, connecting on 9-of-18 field goals, including three triples in a restricted 30 minutes.
“It was huge to see Kevin back out there and to see him get into a rhythm so quickly,” Thunder back up guard Anthony Morrow said.  
But it wasn’t enough as the Pelicans shredded the Thunder’s normally air-tight defence all game long.
“It’s hard for me to comment on Kevin’s individual performance, that’s not who I am,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “It’s not about Kevin’s return, it’s about the way we played and we didn’t play the right way defensively.”
The Pelicans raced to a 69-52 halftime cushion behind 21 points from Davis and it eventually swelled to 19 in the third quarter.
Led by their reserves Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb and Morrow, the Thunder stormed to within 90-85 with nine minutes 24 seconds remaining.
But New Orleans responded with a 13-2 run, as Evans ran off the final 11 points on an assortment of uncontested layups to put the Pelicans back in control 103-87 with five minutes left, and stayed comfortably ahead the rest of the way.
“It was just one of those zones where I felt I could go to the basket and no one could stop me,” Evans said. “I just kept attacking.”
Ryan Anderson had 23 points with 11 rebounds, while Jrue Holiday had 16 and 10 assists as New Orleans (8-8) ended a three-game skid.
Russell Westbrook scored 21, Jackson had 17 and Lamb finished with 15 for Oklahoma City (5-13), which had its season-high two-game winning streak stopped.
Elsewhere, Kyrie Irving scored 28 points and Kevin Love added 27 to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to their fourth consecutive NBA victory, a 111-108 triumph over Milwaukee.
Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James joined his “Big Three” partners with 26 points and a game-high 10 assists while Love grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as the Cavaliers improved to 9-7.
Brandon Knight led the Bucks with 27 points while Jabari Parker added 22 as Milwaukee fell to 10-9.
Since James dubbed the Cavaliers “fragile,” the team has not lost a game and outscored foes by a combined 73 points during their win streak.
Deadlocked at 89-89 in the fourth quarter, Irving had a 3-point play and James followed with a layup for a 94-89 Cleveland edge.
The Cavaliers stretched the margin as large as 103-95 before Milwaukee rallied within 104-101 on a Giannis Antetokounmpo layup with 26 seconds to play. James hit seven of eight free throws down the stretch to keep the Bucks at bay to the finish.
The Dallas Mavericks needed all of Monta Ellis’ game-high 38 points to record a 132-129 double-overtime win over Chicago at the United Center.
Ellis scored seven of the Mavericks’ 11 points in the second overtime frame, including a long three-pointer with 39 seconds left to put Dallas in front for good 130-129.
It was the fourth win in a row, and eighth in the past 10 games, for the Mavericks (14-5), who also got 22 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds from Dirk Nowitzki.
Chandler Parsons scored 24 points, and Devin Harris added 20 for Dallas.