Durant reaches 31,000 career points as Rockets dominate Suns

HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant had 28 points to become the eighth player in NBA history to score 31,000 career points as the Houston Rockets rolled to a 117-98 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.

It was Durant's first game against his former team since a blockbuster seven-team trade that sent Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to the Suns. Durant missed Houston's 114-92 win at Phoenix on Nov. 24 for personal reasons.

Amen Thompson scored a season-high 31 to help the Rockets to their fifth victory in six games.

Durant made two free throws for his first points of the night and hit jumper midway through the first quarter that gave the 15-time All-Star to reach the historic milestone. Durant, who didn't play in the fourth quarter, has 31,024 career points.

The Rockets trailed by as many as nine early but used a 44-point second quarter, powered by 17 points from Durant, to take the lead.

Houston was up by 11 with about 7 ½ minutes left in the third before using a 16-2 run to make it 92-67 with about two minutes left in the quarter. Thompson had six points in that stretch and Durant and Reed Sheppard both made 3-pointers for Houston. Phoenix had five turnovers during the spurt.

Brooks had 23 points to lead the Suns, who lost for the third time in four games.

Houston played without Alperen Sengun, who missed the game with an illness. Steven Adams started in his place and had four points and eight rebounds.

The Rockets played a tribute video for Brooks during pregame introductions and played one for Green, who is out due to a hamstring injury, between the first and second quarters. Both players received hearty ovations from the crowd at the end of their videos.

Green spent his first four seasons in Houston after being taken second overall by the club in the 2021 draft and Brooks spent the previous two seasons with the Rockets.

Suns: Visit the Timberwolves Monday night.

Rockets: Visit the Mavericks Saturday night.

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Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) waves after a tribute video played before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green waves after a tribute video plays during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) celebrates during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) shoots against Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant celebrates during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesman said early Tuesday the death toll from an airstrike by Pakistan that hit a hospital treating drug users in the Afghan capital Kabul has increased to 400.

In a post on X, Hamdullah Fitrat said the strike on Monday night had destroyed large sections of the hospital. He said the death toll so far stood at 400, while a further 250 people had been reported injured. Fitrat said rescue teams were trying to control the fire at the building and recover the bodies of the victims.

Pakistan had earlier denied that it had hit a hospital, saying its strike in Kabul and other strikes in eastern Afghanistan Monday had not hit any civilian sites.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan on Monday accused Pakistan's military of targeting a Kabul hospital that treats drug users in airstrikes, with the country's Health Ministry spokesman saying more than 200 people had been killed. Pakistan dismissed the accusation, saying the strikes — which were also conducted in eastern Afghanistan — did not hit any civilian sites.

Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman gave the death toll during a television interview with local media that was posted on X. He said all parts of the drug treatment hospital had been destroyed.Afghanistan's government spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, also posted the video interview. Local television stations posted footage showing firefighters struggling to extinguish flames among the ruins of a building.

The alleged attack came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides exchanged fire along their common border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbors in years entered a third week.

Mujahid had earlier condemned the strike on X, before the death toll had become apparent, saying it violated Afghanistan’s territory. He said most of those killed and wounded were patients undergoing treatment at the facility.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying no hospital was targeted in Kabul.

In a post on X, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said the strikes "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban” and Afghanistan-based Pakistani militants in Kabul and Nangarhar, saying the facilities were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians.

It said Pakistan’s targeting was “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted.” The ministry said Mujahid’s claim was “false and misleading” and aimed at stirring sentiment and cover what it described as ”illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism."

It came hours after the U.N. Security Council called on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately step up efforts to combat terrorism. Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which it says carry out attacks inside Pakistan.

The Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously, didn't name Pakistan but condemns “in the strongest terms all terrorist activity including terrorist attacks.” The resolution also extends the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, for three months.

Pakistan’s government often accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe haven to the Pakistani Taliban, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, as well as to outlawed Baloch separatist groups and other militants who frequently target Pakistani security forces and civilians across the country. Kabul denies the charge.

Earlier, Afghan officials said four people, including two children, were killed and 10 other people in southeastern Afghanistan were wounded in Monday's exchange of fire. Mortar shells fired from Pakistan overnight struck villages in Khost Province and destroyed several homes, said Mustaghfar Gurbaz, a spokesperson for the provincial governor.

On Sunday, Pakistan said a mortar fired from Afghanistan hit a house in northwestern Bajaur district, killing four members of a family and wounding two others, including a 5-year-old. Residents and officials said the military on Monday targeted Afghan positions along the border, where Sunday’s attack originated.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, which repeatedly has said its military only targets Afghan posts and militant hideouts.

Islamabad has described the situation as an “open war.” The cross-border clashes have included multiple Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said Afghanistan's Taliban administration crossed a “red line” by deploying drones that injured several civilians in Pakistan last week.

Responding to those attacks, Pakistan’s air force over the weekend struck equipment storage sites and “technical support infrastructure” in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province, saying it was being used for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul said Pakistan hit two locations, including an empty security site and a drug rehabilitation center that sustained minor damage.

In Kabul, Afghanistan’s administrative Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi overnight said defending sovereignty is the duty of all citizens. Speaking during a meeting with political analysts and media figures, Hanafi expressed regret over civilian casualties in recent Pakistani attacks, saying the war was imposed on Afghanistan.

The fighting began in late February after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul said killed civilians. The clashes disrupted a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October after earlier fighting killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Sunday that the military has killed 684 Afghan Taliban forces, a claim rejected by Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, which says casualties are far lower. Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry and other officials have said Afghanistan has killed more than 100 Pakistani soldiers.

Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed.

People attend the funeral prayers of police officers, killed in the roadside bomb explosion, outskirts of Lakki Marwat, a district in northwest Pakistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/G.A. Marwat)

Residents inspect the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Barackatullah Popal)

Residents and Taliban police gather the remains of a projectile at the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Barackatullah Popal)