Coming off a pair of heart-breaking last-second losses, the Portland Trail Blazers showed their grit and reversed their fortunes on New Year's Eve.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 14 rebounds, helping the visiting Trail Blazers rally from 13 down in the second half to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 98-94 on Tuesday.
"That was big time," Aldridge said.
"We had two tough losses and the guys could have just laid down tonight, but we just kept fighting."
Damian Lillard added 21 points with 11 assists, Wesley Matthews scored 16 as the Trail Blazers (25-7) improved to 2-0 against the Thunder.
"Before we came on the court, we said if we want to be a good team we can't lose three in a row," explained Blazers forward Nicolas Batum, who contributed 13 points.
"That's why we came out tonight and tried to beat a good team, the best home team in the league."
League top gun Kevin Durant had 37 points with 14 rebounds but made just one free throw in the final quarter for the Thunder (25-6), who dropped to 14-2 at home after losing their third game in the last 23 overall.
The Thunder led by 13 late in the third quarter, but the Trail Blazers kept battling and went ahead on Batum's three-pointer with 3 minutes, 18 seconds remaining.
In the final seconds, Durant came up short on a wide-open jumper.
Lillard made both free throws with 2.1 ticks left to seal the win.
"My teammates told me if it was contested I probably would have made the shot and we'd probably be in overtime now," Durant said.
Elsewhere, the Indiana Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 91-76.
Paul George scored 10 of his 21 points in the decisive 26-10 fourth quarter and the NBA-best Pacers (25-5) beat the visiting Cavaliers for their fifth straight win.
The San Antonio Spurs outclassed Brooklyn Nets 113-92, with Frenchman Tony Parker scoring 18 points and Argentine Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan 15 apiece.
The Sacramento Kings lorded over Houston Rockets 110-106. Rudy Gay scored 25 points, while DeMarcus Cousins added 17 with 16 rebounds and the go-ahead basket with 56 seconds left.
Paul Millsap had season-highs of 34 points with 15 rebounds as the visiting Atlanta Hawks rallied from 18 down to slip past the Boston Celtics, 92-91.
David Lee scored 22 points and the Golden State Warriors built a 23-point half-time cushion en route to their season-high sixth straight win after knocking off the Orlando Magic 94-81.
The Milwaukee Bucks beat the LA Lakers 94-79. Brandon Knight erupted for 18 of his career-high 37 points in the third quarter, and the league-worst Bucks (7-24) handed the host Lakers their season-high sixth consecutive loss.
The Toronto Raptors outplayed Chicago Bulls 85-79, with Jonas Valanciunas scoring 15 points and Venezuela's Greivis Vasquez netting seven of his nine in the pivotal 28-17 fourth quarter, carrying the visiting Raptors to their eighth win in the last 11 games.
