LOS ANGELES: Dallas held off a late rally by the winless Los Angeles Lakers for a 103-93 victory on Sunday, with Mavericks talisman Dirk Nowitzki leading the scoring with 25 points.

This is the first time in franchise history the Lakers have started 0-3 in consecutive seasons. Last season, they lost their first five games and ended up with their worst record ever (21-61).

Elsewhere, Oklahoma City had a comfortable win against Denver and Miami dominated the second half against Houston to turn a 21-point deficit into a 20-point win.

Dallas opened its game with a 15-0 blitz that included two 3-pointers each by Wesley Matthews and Nowitzki — the latter has made more 3-point shots than any 7-footer in league history (1,580).

The Lakers missed their first five shots before Julius Randle’s dunk with 7:13 left in the first quarter. Randle posted his second consecutive double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds.

Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 25 points as the Thunder beat Denver 117-93.

Durant made 8 of 11 field goals and all six of his free throws to help new coach Billy Donovan remain unbeaten in the NBA with a 3-0 record.

Serge Ibaka had 18 points, seven rebounds and five blocks for the Thunder, who shot 52 percent from the field and had the luxury of resting all five starters for the entire fourth quarter.

Danilo Gallinari and Will Barton each scored 15 points for the Nuggets, who shot just 38 percent.

Miami’s Hassan Whiteside had 25 points and 15 rebounds as the Heat overwhelmed Houston in the second half and won 109-89.

Chris Bosh scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter for Miami, which outscored Houston 65-24 in the final 23 minutes.

Marcus Thornton scored 21 points for the Rockets who have dropped their first three games of the season — all by exactly 20 points.

Chicago withstood a late surge from Orlando to win 92-87, with Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic each scoring 16 points.

The Bulls led by 14 at halftime and 12 after three quarters, and appeared to be headed for an easy win. But Orlando cut the lead to two with just under 3 minutes left before Chicago’s Jimmy Butler came up with a couple of key takeaways to foil the Magic.

Chicago’s Derrick Rose, still playing with a face mask as he recovers from a broken orbital bone, was held scoreless in the second and third quarters and finished with just six points.

Atlanta held on to beat Charlotte for the second time in three days, winning 94-92 with Kent Bazemore scoring 20 points.

San Antonio’s new addition LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 14 rebounds to steer the Spurs to a 95-87 win against Boston.

Toronto coach Dwane Casey got his franchise-record 157th win as coach of the Raptors with a 106-87 victory over Milwaukee.

In Charlotte, N.C., Kent Bazemore scored 20 points, Al Horford added 16 points and 12 rebounds and Atlanta held on to beat Charlotte for the second time in three days.

The Hornets had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Kemba Walker’s 17-footer from the left wing hit the back rim and bounced out. Walker also missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds of Charlotte’s 97-94 loss to Atlanta on Friday night.

Jeff Teague had 18 points and Paul Millsap added 16 points, including a key 3-pointer to give Atlanta the lead for good with less than a minute to play.

In Boston, LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 14 rebounds, Kawhi Leonard added 19 points and San Antonio beat Boston.

Manu Ginobili scored 13 points and Boris Diaw had 10 for the Spurs

Avery Bradley led Boston with 18 points and Marcus Smart had 17. Isaiah Thomas scored 15, but shot only 4 of 18 from the floor. Jared Sullinger had 10 points and eight rebounds.

San Antonio opened a double-digit lead early in the game and held off Boston’s charges the rest of the way.

In Toronto, Dwane Casey got his franchise-record 157th win as coach of Toronto with a victory over Milwaukee.

The milestone came in his 315th game with the Raptors, besting the previous record held by current Minnesota Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell.

Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and eight rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry had 15 points each.

The victory boosted Toronto’s record to 3-0, just the third time in team history that it has been perfect through the season’s opening three games, and the first time since 2008-09.