The Los Angeles Clippers came from 17 points down with only 4 and a half minutes to play to beat Dallas 129-127 in a Wednesday thriller, moving two games clear atop the NBA Pacific Division.
The Clippers eked out their lead over Golden State, who were beaten at home by Denver, while Washington recorded a surprise victory over Miami and San Antonio hung on to edge Utah and continue their winning streak.
Los Angeles' J.J. Redick scored a career-high 33 points and Matt Barnes added 25 for the Clippers, who improved to 18-3 at home but had to fight hard to overhaul the Mavericks.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points for Dallas, who could not hold a seemingly invincible 123-106 lead.
Denver's Nate Robinson scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to steer the Nuggets to a 123-116 win at Golden State.
Warriors centre Andrew Bogut tallied 10 boards and 10 points in the loss.
J.J. Hickson grabbed a season-high 24 rebounds for Denver, who outshot their opponent 54 to 43 per cent and gave first-year coach Brian Shaw a victory in his home town of Oakland.
David Lee had 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who took the lead with 1:13 remaining before the Nuggets pulled away again.
Washington had a 34-point lead against Miami whittled away to single digits but hung on for a 114-97 victory.
Chris Bosh scored 26 points for the Heat, who have dropped three straight, all on the road.
Miami's Greg Oden stepped onto the court for his first regular-season game in over four years since the latest in a series of knee injuries.
San Antonio pushed their winning streak to six games by rallying for a 109-105 win over Utah.
Tony Parker had 25 points and nine assists while Marco Belinelli, Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard all had 15 for the Spurs, who led by 18 points in the first half but in the end had to cling on as Utah closed on a 19-7 run.
Patrick Mills came off the bench to score six points for the Spurs.
Meanwhile, Portland posted a 108-96 win over Cleveland, and Houston hung on for a 103-100 victory over New Orleans.
In other results, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 121-114; Boston beat Toronto 88-83; while Sacramento's Rudy Gay had 33 points in a 111-108 win against Minnesota.
The Philadelphia 76ers had a 95-92 win over Charlotte; Memphis downed Milwaukee 82-77; and Chicago's Joakim Noah had a season-high 26 points as the Bulls won 128-125 in triple overtime to send the Orlando Magic to a ninth-straight defeat.
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