The Oklahoma City Thunder finished strongly to beat the Portland Trail Blazers, replacing their rivals at the top of the Northwest Division last night.

Kevin Durant's strong shooting form continued, as he added 46 points, including 11 in the final three-and-a-half minutes, to seal the win.

LaMarcus Aldridge tried to keep up with the NBA's leading points scorer, but the Thunder were tight defensively late on to hold the power forward to 29.

The Brooklyn Nets continued their good start to the year with a win over the Orlando Magic.

The team made it eight wins from nine games in 2014 with Andray Blatche scoring 18 off the bench to open up a big lead, which kept them ahead when the visitors fought back in the fourth quarter.

A strong finish by the Miami Heat helped the defending champions hold on for a win, despite the Boston Celtics coming back from 18 points down.

LeBron James scored 11 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to restore the Heat's lead after the Celtics dominated the third.

The Sacramento Kings cruised to a comfortable win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

The visitors had an 18-point lead by the end of the first quarter, but the Pelicans were able to slash the advantage to eight by half time.

However, the Kings started the third quarter well, extending their lead again, with Rudy Gay finishing the game with a career-high 41.

The Minnesota Timberwolves eased past the Utah Jazz, surviving a late run from the home side.

Kevin Love added 19 to put the visitors in a strong position, giving them enough of a lead to hold off a Gordon Hayward push late on.

Results in full: Orlando Magic 90-101 Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics 86-93 Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings 114-97 New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers 97-105 Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves 112-97 Utah Jazz