The Brooklyn Nets got their fourth consecutive win by defeating the Phoenix Suns 128-124 on Tuesday. Chris Paul had 29 points and seven assists by shooting an efficient 12-20 in field goals for the Suns, but he was outmatched by James Harden who put down a game-high 38 points plus seven rebounds and 11 assists.

Both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving sat out this road game and that meant Tuesday could have been really tough for the Nets at Phoenix Suns Arena. It was indeed, as the team allowed 75 points in the first half. The Nets trailed at most by 24.

Two major reasons were behind the sudden change in situation in the second half: First, the Nets came back with a more solid defense; second, the Suns got sloppy both offensively and defensively, especially when retreating.

So far this season the Nets have been quite a disappointment on defense, which is understandable considering their very limited resources in this area. Nonetheless, sometimes willpower matters more than physical condition on defense and that's how Landry Shamet, Tyler Johnson and Joe Harris managed to limit Devin Booker in the second half. None of them needed to deliver any crowd-silencing blocks. Their job was to double team Booker to force him to pass the ball and contest his shooting on one-on-one possessions.

Of course a team must outscore their opponents to win and that's Harden's job. In the last five minutes of the game, he got nine points and three assists, including making the valuable 3-pointer right in the face of Mikal Bridges to put the Nets on top 126-124.

There are two games left on the Nets' road trip in the Western Conference, both in Los Angeles.

Other games on Tuesday (away teams come first):

Denver Nuggets 99-112 Boston Celtics

The Nuggets wasted another record night by Nikola Jokic who was 16-23 in field goals to drop 43 points, six rebounds and five assists. He scored 29 in the first half of the game, the highest against the Celtics since Vince Carter in April 2005. It was also the second-highest score in a first half in Jokic's career.

Of course when Jokic has to score so much and delivered only five assists – he averaged 8.7 per game this season – it means the Nuggets are either in the playoffs or in real trouble. The latter was the story on Tuesday when JaMychal Green and Michael Porter Jr. together went 1-15 behind the 3-point line.

The good news was that Facundo Campazzo finally responded to the Nuggets' expectations by getting 15 points, three rebounds and eight assists. The team will want him to play more like this in the future if they want to make it back to the Western Conference Finals.

On the Celtics' side, Jaylen Brown drained five of his 10 attempts from the arc to score 27 points, ending the team's four-straight-loss trend. The 24-year-old's performance is drawing more attention in the ongoing All-Star voting.

The other young star of the Celtics Jayson Tatum though had 21 points and eight assists as well, he went only 1-8 in triples. Tatum said he's still dealing with the after effects of COVID-19 for which he tested positive over a month ago.

"I think it messes with your breathing a little bit. I have experienced some games where, I don't want to say (I was) struggling to breathe, but, you know, you get fatigued a lot quicker than normal. Just running up and down the court a few times, it's easier to get out of breath or tired a lot faster. I've noticed that since I've had COVID. It's just something I'm working on. It's gotten better since the first game I played, but I still deal with it from time to time," said Tatum.

New Orleans Pelicans 144-113 Memphis Grizzlies

The top two selections from 2019, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, met again on the floor at FedExForum on Tuesday. Williamson was 13-16 in field goals to put down 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Morant went 12-16 to get 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. It's basically a draw at the individual level.

Team competition was another story as the Pelicans outscored the Grizzlies 115-81 after the first quarter. Josh Hart was the biggest surprise off the bench as he had 27 points and made six triples.

Toronto Raptors 124-113 Milwaukee Bucks

Though Kyle Lowry only played 21 minutes for the Raptors before he had to leave the court due to injury, Fred VanVleet and Siakam Pascal carried Lowry's load to lead their team to victory at Fiserv Forum. The two together dropped 56 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists.

Giannis Antetokounmpo could not save the Bucks from the fourth loss in a row despite his 34 points, 10 rebound, eight assists, five steals and two blocks. Not only is he losing ground in the competition for a third consecutive MVP, the Bucks are probably kissing the Eastern Conference throne goodbye.

Los Angeles Lakers 112-104 Minnesota Timberwolves

The Lakers will have to live with the fact that Anthony Davis won't come back before the All-Star break. That makes people wonder: What will LeBron James do? The 36-year-old's answer on Tuesday was 30 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. The purple and gold avoided straight losses thanks to James' incredible performance.

Two of the Timberwolves' young men, Anthony Edwards and Jarred Vanderbilt, played well at home. Edwards was 5-10 from downtown to get career high 28 points and Vanderbilt grabbed 13 rebounds. Had Edwards not committed that offensive foul on James or Vanderbilt made that putback shot in the end of the fourth quarter, the game might have ended different for the Timberwolves.

Portland Trail Blazers 115-104 Oklahoma City Thunder

Damian Lillard was only 1-10 from the 3-point line when the Trail Blazers lost their lead thanks to a 21-4 run by the Thunder in the fourth quarter.

Then Lillard buried four triples, turning the last four minutes at Chesapeake Energy Arena into "Dame Time" and put his team back on top before claiming their fifth win in a row.

When Lillard looked at his watch, it's time not only for him to reap the game, but also to reconsider your choice for MVP this season.