SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams each scored 25 points and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder improved to 23-1 with their 15th straight victory, routing the Utah Jazz 131-101 on Sunday night. Holmgren added nine rebounds, and Williams had eight assists. Aaron Wiggins scored 19 points, while Branden Carlson had a season-high 13 points. Oklahoma City shot 58% from the field and made 21 3-pointers. The Thunder scored 27 points off 17 Utah turnovers. Kyle Filipkowski led the Jazz with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Walter Clayton Jr. and Taylor Hendricks added 20 points apiece. Clayton had nine assists. Both teams played without their leading scorers. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was sidelined because of left elbow bursitis. Utah’s Lauri Markkanen sat out with an undisclosed illness. Oklahoma City raced out to a 13-1 lead before the Jazz scored their first basket 3 1/2 minutes in. Utah made it 18-9 on a layup from Keyonte George and then got buried under an avalanche of baskets from Carlson. The second-year center dunked the ball and made three 3-pointers over five possessions to ignite a 25-7 run that made it 43-16 going into the final minute of the

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks jumped on the Utah Jazz for a 23-0 lead Friday night, the largest game-opening run in the NBA since the league began keeping detailed play-by-play for all four quarters. The Knicks pitched a shutout for half the first quarter and led by 28 by the time it was over. Karl-Anthony Towns opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and when Jalen Brunson made one midway through the period, the Knicks had scored the first 23 points. That was the most one team had before the other scored since the NBA began keeping detailed play-by-play for the entire game in 1997. “You’re not really thinking about it,” Brunson said. “You’re just going out there and executing and that’s what it turned out to be.” The Jazz missed their first 12 shots before Keyonte George finally got them on the scoreboard when he converted a three-point play with 5:27 remaining in the quarter. Deuce McBride, who went back to his reserve role with OG Anunoby returning from a nine-game absence with a strained left hamstring, hit a 3-pointer during the run. He said he was aware of how crooked the numbers were above him. “I

NEW YORK (AP) — Lauri Markkanen scored 30 points, Keyonte George had 29 and the Utah Jazz used a huge fourth quarter to beat the Brooklyn Nets 123-110 on Thursday night. The Jazz outscored the Nets 42-20 in the final quarter after trailing by 15 points in the first half. Markkanen and George nearly outscored the Nets by themselves, combining for 18 points. Kyle Filipowski had 15 points and Walter Clayton Jr. added 13 off the bench for Utah, which shot 14 for 22 (63.6%) in the fourth. Noah Clowney scored 29 points and Ziaire Williams had 23 off the bench for Nets, who had their two-game winning streak snapped. With the game tied at 98 with 6:29 remaining, George hit consecutive 3-pointers. Williams answered with a 3 that made it 104-101. On the ensuing possession, Tyrese Martin turned the ball over after stepping out of bounds and Bryce Sensabaugh was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two free throws to extend the lead 106-101. Filipowski then connected on another 3-pointer and Markkanen followed with one of his own after Clowney’s layup with 3:39 to play to make it 112-103. The Nets rested leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. for

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Lauri Markkanen scored 29 points and Keyonte George added 28 as the Utah Jazz outlasted the Houston Rockets 133-125 on Monday night. Kevin Durant, off target much of the game, scored 16 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter for Houston. Alperin Sengun had 31 points and tied a career high with 14 assists. Amen Thompson added 23 points for the Rockets (13-5), who had won five straight on the road. Sengun’s contested layup pulled the Rockets to 126-123 with 52.7 seconds remaining, but George hit 5 of 6 free throws and added a steal down the stretch to seal the win. The teams played Sunday night in Utah and the Rockets rolled to a 129-101 victory. This one was quite the contrast as the Jazz led almost all game. George, who went scoreless with eight turnovers Sunday, shot 8 for 14 from the field and handed out eight assists. Jusuf Nurkic had a season-high 18 points and nine rebounds before fouling out, and Ace Bailey added 13 points as Utah (6-13) improved to 6-6 at home. The Jazz built a 98-77 lead after Nurkic’s hook shot with 1:37 left in the third quarter.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 25 points in his return from a two-game absence, leading the Houston Rockets to a 129-101 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday. Alperen Sengun had 27 points to help the Rockets win their fifth straight road victory. Steven Adams chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, and Amen Thompson had nine assists. Houston’s defensive pressure led to the Rockets forcing 17 turnovers and scoring 22 points off those takeaways. The Rockets outscored Utah 21-8 in fastbreak points. Ace Bailey led the Jazz with 19 points. Lauri Markkanen added 18 points and eight rebounds. Jusuf Nurkic totaled 14 points, nine assists, and six boards. The Rockets held Keyonte George scoreless on 0-of-6 shooting. George also committed eight turnovers. Houston held the Jazz to a single basket for a 6 ½ minute stretch in the first quarter, opening the door for the Rockets to go on a 19-4 run and stake out a 30-16 lead. Kevin Durant scored a basket, assisted another, and had three steals to fuel the spurt. Utah drew as close as eight points in the second quarter, cutting Houston’s lead to 39-31 after Bailey tipped in

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry made six 3-pointers and scored 31 points, Jimmy Butler had 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds and the Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz 134-117 on Monday night. Curry shot 12 for 24 on the way to his fifth 30-point game in the last six. Moses Moody had 15 points and six rebounds, while Gary Payton II contributed nine points, career-best eight assists and six rebounds in a rare start. Keyonte George finished with 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, seven assists and six rebounds to lead Utah, which has lost four straight and five of six after dropping the first game of a back-to-back at home Sunday to the Lakers. Coming off their first home loss of the season Friday against Portland, the Warriors shot 49.5%, committed only 10 turnovers, scored 14 points off the 17 they forced and finished with 52 points by the bench — 20 by Buddy Hield. Golden State debuted new “The Town” edition jerseys and a matching floor to honor the franchise’s long history in Oakland before moving across the bay into Chase Center for the 2019-20 season. The Warriors have won 10 straight at home against

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James had 11 points and 12 assists in the first game of his unprecedented 23rd NBA season, and Luka Doncic had 37 points and 10 assists in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 140-126 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. The 40-year-old James made his season debut in the Lakers’ starting lineup and played 30 minutes after missing training camp and their first 14 games due to sciatica. Vince Carter is the only other player in NBA history to participate in 22 seasons, but James passed him while opening the next chapter of a pro career that began in 2003. James didn’t take long to find the flow: He put on a playmaking clinic in the second half, and Doncic scored 17 points in the third quarter while the Lakers pulled away from Utah. Austin Reaves added 26 points as the Lakers improved to 11-4 with their third straight victory. Keyonte George, who was born 10 days after James’ NBA debut, matched his season high with 33 points for the Jazz two nights after hitting the winning 3-pointer in a double-overtime thriller against Chicago. Lauri Markkanen had 31 points for Utah, which has lost five