Australian Boomers centre Jock Landale has played a key role in the Houston Rockets' third straight NBA win as they edged out top draft pick Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
Landale posted a season-high 11 points in an impressive stat line that included four rebounds, five assists and one block from his 26 minutes off the bench.
Starting trio Fred VanVleet (21 points, seven rebounds), Jalen Green (16, seven) and Jabari Smith Jr (15, nine) also had a big say in the Rockets' 103-101 road victory on Wednesday (AEDT).
Tre Jones (24 points) and Jeremy Sochan (21) led scoring for the Spurs, while Wembanyama posted the 35th double-double of his rookie season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
It was the fifth win in six games for Houston (30-35), lifting them to 11th in the Western Conference and leaving San Antonio (14-52) last.
Melbourne product Landale was still a long way off his NBA career-best tally of 26 points, scored during his stint playing for San Antonio in a win over the Indiana Pacers more than 15 months ago.
Fellow Australian Josh Giddey provided 15 points for Oklahoma City Thunder in support of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30), but the back-court pair couldn't prevent Indiana ending their team's three-game winning streak.
Myles Turner (24 points), Tyrese Haliburton (18) and Pascal Siakam (18) steered the Pacers to a 121-111 victory at home.
Despite the loss, Oklahoma (45-20) stay top of the Western Conference with the same record as Denver, while Minnesota (44-21) made ground on the leaders with a 118-100 win over the Los Angeles Clippers behind 37 points from Anthony Edwards.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (28) and Mike Conley (23) were also busy for the Timberwolves, and Paul George (22) top-scored for the Clippers.
Elsewhere, Jayson Tatum racked up 38 points to steer Eastern Conference leaders Boston to a 123-107 road win over the Utah Jazz.
Derrick White added 24 points for the Celtics (51-14), who comfortably boast the league's best record.
The Milwaukee Bucks stay second in the East despite a 129-94 road thumping from the Sacramento Kings.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 30 points as De'Aaron Fox (29 points), Malik Monk (25) and Domantas Sabonis (22) spread the load for the Kings.
Josh Hart posted a monster triple-double with 20 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists in the New York Knicks' 106-79 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers.
