Sacramento Kings 108-112 Oklahoma City Thunder

Which team are the most dangerous when they are trailing? The Kings must know the answer because they just suffered a 19-point comeback loss at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Thursday, thanks to the Thunder and Chris Paul.

When Nemanja Bjelica buried a 3-pointer at 7:03 in the third quarter to expand Sacramento's lead to 19 points (78-59), he could hardly see that Paul would lead a ridiculous scoring-run immediately. After all, the 34-year-old point guard only got two points and four assists in the first half.

OKC scored a 22-4 in the following seven minutes. Paul, unlike himself five years ago, did not have to be there for every point. His orchestrating reached a new level of seeing the big picture: like an old butler, Paul set the table before his teammates could enjoy the dinner.

Though the Kings remained leading (82-81) when the game entered the fourth quarter, they apparently forgot to learn more about their opponents: the Thunder claimed 14 victories when they began the fourth quarter as the trailing side. No other team in the league could do that.

Paul drained a valuable triple at 3:32 in the fourth quarter to expand OKC's lead to six points (103-97) while drawing a foul. Though he missed the free throw, two minutes later, the veteran made a deal-sealing layup, leading OKC to their fifth straight win.

Besides helping his team continue to win, Paul is also a mentor to many of his teammates. "And I'm constantly telling Shai all the time that, 'I had to go out there and try and guard AI. I had to try and guard Gil. It's cuz it's alright to get your ass busted on a given night…you're learning," said Paul.

Los Angeles Lakers 116-86 Golden State Warriors

LeBron James was ruled out for the game against the Warriors at the Chase Center on Thursday. Usually, his absence would make the Lakers worry because the have been relying too much on the 35-year-old King in offense this season.

Fortunately, Anthony Davis stood out and proved that he could lead the purple and gold, too. Having gone 6-13 in field goals, Davis scored 23 points in 25 minutes. He earned a total of 12 free throws in the game, two more than that of the Warriors as a team.

"LeBron, when he's out, it's taking away a lot of things that we do. It's on all of us to make sure we try to fill those voids, and I think we did that. Usually when he's playing and he comes off the floor we kind of take a dip in all aspects of the game. We've got to play how we did tonight when he's playing and he's not on the floor," said Davis.

By contrast, the Warriors simply had too many voids to fill. The chances of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson returning this season is getting even smaller. Moreover, the team's only maximum contract holder, Andrew Wiggins also sat on the game. Draymond Green had to lead the team and he was helpful when he's on the court, but ceased to be so after he was ejected with two technical fouls.

New York Knicks 106-115 Philadelphia 76ers

We questioned the ability of Al Horford and Tobias Harris to help the 76ers win when Joel Embiid's injury cost the team the game on Wednesday. Twenty-four hours later, Horford and Harris proved that they could lead the 76ers to victory by themselves at the Wells Fargo Center.

Harris was 14-21 to drop game-high 34 points plus seven rebounds and seven assists. Horford buried four shots from the 3-point line to get 15 points while delivering nine assists. The two gave what Philadelphia expected from them: scoring and orchestrating.

Now the question is, will they be able to continue such good performance? The MRI result for Embiid's shoulder was released on Thursday. Though there was no structural damage, the All-Star center will still be absent for a week. During the same period of time, the 76ers will meet the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers and the Kings. Can Horford and Harris be trusted with those games?

In the last game on Thursday, the Indiana Pacers defeated the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 106-100 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Having finished the past 10 games with a poor 3-7 record, Rip City are slipping further from the playoffs.