For the first time in four visits there was no triple-double for Josh Giddey at Madison Square Garden.
But his Chicago Bulls still left with a 124-123 victory over the New York Knicks, the affair far tighter than it could have been considering the visitors led by 22 in the third quarter.
Boomers guard Giddey (five points, six assists) had dominated in three previous visits to the venue with Oklahoma City.
But he was relatively quiet on offence for his new team, happy to instead feed the in-form Zach Lavine (31 points, eight assists, seven rebounds).
Coby White (22 points) drained all three free-throws after he was fouled with three seconds to play.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (24 points, eight assists) then watched his potentially match-winning jump shot roll around the inside of the rim before lipping out.
Karl-Anthony Towns filled up for the hosts with 46 points and 10 rebounds as their comeback fell just short.
Australian draftee Johnny Furphy scored his first NBA points for Indiana but Orlando’s home court streak extended to 13 games, including six to start this season, with a 94-90 win.
The 19-year-old, 35th pick stole possession and tucked in a dunk for his first points in the first quarter that sparked huge celebrations on the bench.
After limited opportunities in three previous appearances, Furphy finished with seven points on three-of-six shooting, two rebounds and a steal in almost eight minutes of action.
Jock Landale didn’t stuff the stat sheet but still showed his worth in Houston’s 111-103 defeat of Los Angeles Clippers.
The back-up centre (four points, four rebounds, four assists) dismissed any lingering injury concerns after missing the last game, logging 17 minutes.
The Rockets were 26 points better when the Boomers star was on the court, while the Clippers scored 18 more points in the 30 minutes starting centre Alperen Sengun (13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, four blocks) played.
The Celtics made a slow start against Brooklyn, who were without Ben Simmons (calf), and trailed 14-5 early but stormed home to take a comfortable 139-114 win.
Cleveland improved to 13-0 thanks to a 114-106 win against a plucky Philadelphia team missing Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.
Donovan Mitchell scored 11 of his 23 points in the final three minutes of the game.
He grabbed 13 rebounds and added nine assists as Cleveland became the first team since the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors to win 13 straight to begin a season.
That Warriors team holds the record for most wins to begin a campaign at 24 straight.
