AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The rim kept getting bigger and bigger for Anthony Davis on Sunday afternoon. He felt like he couldn’t miss, which led to a rare feat for the New Orleans Pelicans’ All-Star power forward.
Davis poured in a career-high 59 points, the NBA’s highest-scoring outing this season, to carry the New Orleans Pelicans to a 111-106 victory over the slumping Detroit Pistons at The Palace.
The All-Star shot 24-for-34 from the field and made 9-of-10 free throw attempts. He also grabbed a season-high 20 rebounds.
Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Webber are the only other players in the past 30 seasons to have a 50-point, 20-rebound performance. He’s the second-youngest player in NBA history to have a 50-20 game.
Davis’ previous career high was 43 points. Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins had the previous NBA high this season with 56 points.
Davis set franchise records for points, field goals made and field goals attempted, as well as the single-game scoring record at The Palace, which opened during the 1988-89 season.
Reggie Jackson’s 34 points led the Pistons, who have lost a season-high five straight.
Celtics 121, Nuggets 101
DENVER — Isaiah Thomas had 22 points and 12 assists, and Boston beat Denver to win 11 of its last 14 games.
Jared Sullinger had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who had a 48-36 edge in rebounding despite being undersized against the Nuggets. Avery Bradley added 20 points for the Celtics.
Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Danilo Gallinari scored 17 for Denver, which has lost its first two games out of the All-Star break.
D.J. Augustin, acquired from Oklahoma City in a trade for Randy Foye on Thursday, had 13 points and four assists in his home debut for Denver.
Spurs 118, Suns 111
PHOENIX — Tony Parker scored 22 points and Patty Mills added 21 as San Antonio struggled but beat Phoenix.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Rasual Butler had 12 points for the Spurs, who won for the eighth time in the last nine games to improve to 47-9, the best 56-game start in franchise history.
Alex Len had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Suns.
Cavaliers 115, Thunder 92
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Love scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which also got 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds from LeBron James in a win vs. Oklahoma City.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points to lead the Thunder, and Russell Westbrook added 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
Kyrie Irving left the game early in the second quarter with flu-like symptoms.
Hornets 104, Nets 96
NEW YORK — Kemba Walker scored 28 points, and Charlotte ran its season-high winning streak to five games with a victory over Brooklyn.
Walker shot 11-for-18 from the field and made four 3-pointers. Al Jefferson made his first five shots and scored 18 points, while Nicolas Batum contributed 16 as the Hornets shot 50.6 percent.
Joe Johnson led the Nets with 17 points, and center Brook Lopez had 16. Thaddeus Young contributed 14, but the Nets struggled outside the paint and especially on the perimeter, misfiring on 17 of 22 3-point attempts.
Pacers 105, Magic 102
ORLANDO — Monta Ellis had 21 points and Paul George 20, leading Indiana to its fourth win in the last five games.
Ian Mahinmi had 14 points and nine rebounds. Reserves C. J. Miles and Jordan Hill had 14 and 13 points, respectively. Hill added 10 rebounds.
The Magic were led by Evan Fournier with 23 points. Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Victor Oladipo had 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Magic forward Aaron Gordan hit a jumper and Vucevic added a free throw to close the gap to 103-102, and Ellis missed a shot with 10 seconds remaining. But Oladipo missed a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining, and Myles Turner finished with two free throws to end the game.
Raptors 89, Grizzlies 85
TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points for Toronto, which halted its brief two-game losing streak.
Kyle Lowry added 18 points and seven assists for the Raptors, while Zach Randolph scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Grizzlies, who had won their two previous games.
The Grizzlies trimmed the deficit to five points late in the fourth, but Raptors reserve guard Cory Joseph hit a 3-pointer with 1:09 to play to give Toronto a 10-point lead.
Mavericks 129, 76ers 103
DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki hit another milestone in Dallas’ relatively stress-free victory over Philadelphia. The Mavericks posted their highest point total and enjoyed their largest margin of victory of the season.
Nowitzki eclipsed the 29,000-career point plateau with a 3-pointer early in the third quarter. The league’s sixth all-time leader scorer needed 10 points coming into the game and ended up with 18, hitting five from beyond the arc.
Nowitzki’s night overshadowed a special performance from Philadelphia rookie Jahlil Okafor. The third pick in last summer’s draft scored a career-best 31 on 12-of-19 shooting and added eight rebounds.
Bulls 126, Lakers 115
CHICAGO — E’Twaun Moore matched a career high with 24 points, and Chicago outlasted Los Angeles.
Bulls guard Derrick Rose scored 24 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished six assists. Pau Gasol added 21 points and seven rebounds for Chicago. Lakers forward Kobe Bryant scored 22 points on 8-for-20 shooting in his final game at the United Center. Julius Randle scored 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.
Los Angeles lost its fifth straight game and fell to 4-40 when allowing 100-plus points.