Nine games populated the NBA's schedule on Saturday night, beginning with a showdown of Texas teams when the Rockets traveled to Dallas to take on the Mavericks. That one didn't disappoint, as Luka Doncic led the Mavericks on a late comeback to get their ninth straight win at home. 

The Pacers went on to take down the Kings in a matchup of two teams looking to improve their playoff positioning, while the Celtics manhandled the Bulls in Chicago and the Lakers took care of business against the upstart Grizzlies. 

In the late slate, the Trail Blazers got a nice win over the Timberwolves, while the Heat crushed the Clippers on the road.

Here's everything you need to know about Saturday's NBA action:

NBA schedule for Saturday, Dec. 8

NBA schedule for Sunday, Dec. 9

*All times Eastern

Doncic rescues Mavericks in closing minutes

The Mavericks won their ninth straight game at home, beating the Rockets in thrilling fashion. Once again, Luka Doncic proved he's the truth, as he single-handedly rescued the Mavericks in this one. Down eight in the closing minutes, Doncic went on a personal 11-0 run to rescue the Mavs. He finished with 21 points and seven rebounds. 

Celtics crush the Bulls by historic margin

The Boston Celtics have faced their fair share of criticism after their sluggish start to the season but things were certainly clicking this evening against the Chicago Bulls. The C's opened the game on a 17-0 run, and went on to win by a whopping 56 points, 133-77.

Wade shines in 1,000th career game

Dwyane Wade is back for "one last dance," as he put it prior to the season, and he's dancing his shoes off. In his 1,000th game on Saturday, he had another strong night, finishing with 25 points, six rebounds and six assists in the Heat's big win over the Clippers. 

Lillard's big night gets Trail Blazers past Wolves

Damian Lillard stepped up for the Trail Blazers on Saturday night, putting up 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead his squad to a much-needed win over the Timberwolves. This was the second win in a row for the Blazers after previously losing six out of seven. More importantly, though, it was a win over a good team, something they haven't had many of lately. 

Jokic does it again

Nikola Jokic has always been a great passer, but this season he's stepped up the difficulty with some truly spectacular assists. He added another to the highlight reel against the Hawks, dropping a blind behind-the-back feed to Trey Lyles. Later on, Jokic did it again to set a teammate up for an emphatic slam dunk. 

LeBron starts off the night with a monster slam dunk

LeBron James has gotten off to a record start in his Lakers career and he continued that trend on Saturday night by helping the Purple and Gold get going on the offensive end with this emphatic slam dunk.

Carter throws down a tip-dunk for the Hawks

Vince Carter might be one of the oldest players in NBA history to throw down a tip-dunk like he did against the Nuggets on Saturday night as he cleaned up his teammate's missed shot in style. 

Wall finds Beal with a wicked bounce pass

John Wall showed off his passing skills early against the Cavaliers. Just a few minutes into the game, he whipped a wicked bounce pass through traffic to find Bradley Beal for a slam. 

Brunson finds DAJ on long-range oop

Jalen Brunson isn't Chris Paul, but he looked like him for a second against the Rockets, tossing up a long-range alley-oop to DeAndre Jordan that was reminiscent of the Lob City days in Los Angeles.  

Lakers' Ingram out for at least a week 

Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram will miss at least three more games after an MRI revealed a left ankle sprain, according to Mike Trudell of Spectrum Sportsnet. 

Ingram didn't travel with the Lakers for their weekend road trip to San Antonio and Memphis, and he will now also miss the team's upcoming games on Monday and Thursday against the Miami Heat and Houston Rockets, respectively. He will be re-evaluated in a week and his status will be updated at that time.