UTAH TAKES CONTROL OF NORTHWEST
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Rodney Hood scored 25 points and the Utah Jazz defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 109-89 on Wednesday night to break a tie atop the Northwest Division between the teams.
Utah led from start to finish behind 58.3 percent shooting and showed why it’s one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, holding the Thunder to 36.6 percent from the field.
Gordon Hayward scored 17 for the Jazz. Rudy Gobert added 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.
• Spurs 108, Celtics 101 — At San Antonio: Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and the San Antonio Spurs played their second consecutive solid home game, holding off the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
Spurs point guard Tony Parker had 16 points, including 10 in the final period. Parker was 8 for 15 from the field, including a turn-back-the-clock, teardrop floater in the first quarter over a hardcharging Amir Johnson after crossing over Marcus Smart.
• Wizards 109, Hornets 106 — At Washington: John Wall and Bradley Beal combined for 19 of their 45 points in the third quarter, Washington’s highestscoring period this season, and the Wizards came back to beat the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday night, handing the Southeast Division leaders their third consecutive loss.
Wall, wearing bright orange neon shoes, outplayed Hornets star Kemba Walker, finishing with more points (2517) and assists (10-9), along with seven steals to become Washington’s franchise leader in that category.
• Heat 95, Pacers 89 — At Miami: Hassan Whiteside had 26 points and 22 rebounds, Tyler Johnson scored 15 off the bench and Miami beat Indiana.
James Johnson added 14 points for the Heat, who outrebounded Indiana 58-38 and won consecutive games at home for the first time all season.
• Raptors 123, 76ers 114 — At Philadelphia: DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points and Kyle Lowry added 20 in his Philadelphia homecoming to help Toronto win its fourth straight.
DeRozan had 31 points through three quarters in his second consecutive 30point game. The Atlantic Division-leading Raptors (18-7) have won 10 of 11 and are 11 games over .500 for the first time this season.
• Grizzlies 93, Cavaliers 85 — At Memphis, Tenn.: Troy Daniels scored 20 points and Marc Gasol had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead Memphis over the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers, who left their top three players at home to rest.
Tony Allen added 16 points, eight rebounds and three steals as the Grizzlies won for the seventh time in eight games. The only loss during that stretch was a 110-89 defeat Tuesday night in Cleveland.
• Clippers 113, Magic 108 — At Orlando, Fla.: Austin Rivers made seven 3pointers and scored 25 points in his return from a concussion to help Los Angeles beat Orlando for its third straight victory.
Rivers hit the key shot when he buried a 3 from the corner with 2 minutes left to give the Clippers a nine-point lead.
• Nets 107, Lakers 97 — At New York: Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points, Sean Kilpatrick had 22 and Brooklyn sent Los Angeles to its eighth straight loss.
Brook Lopez added 20 points for the Nets, who played without Jeremy Lin again but avoided a third consecutive defeat. Trevor Booker grabbed a seasonhigh 18 rebounds.
• Pistons 95, Mavericks 85 — At Dallas: Reggie Jackson scored 20 points and Andre Drummond led a dominant rebounding effort with 17 as Detroit topped Dallas.
Jon Leuer had a season-high 19 points off the bench as the Pistons beat the team with the worst record in the Western Conference three nights after losing to Philadelphia, the last-place team in the East.