Harden, Anderson help Mavs cruise in Chicago
CHICAGO — James Harden had 19 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds, and Houston used a dominant third quarter for a 115-94 victory over Chicago.
Ryan Anderson added 21 points as the Rockets avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season.
Houston outscored Chicago 36-14 in the third quarter — after scoring the last nine points of the first half — on 13-of-22 shooting, including 7 of 12 on 3-pointers. Harden had six points, six assists and five rebounds in the period.
• Hawks 105, Raptors 99 — At Atlanta: Dennis Schroder scored 26 points, including 13 in the final period, and Atlanta beat Toronto to pull closer in the race for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 28 points. He became the first player to score 11,000 points with the Raptors.
Atlanta won the season series 2-1 and would win a head-to-head tiebreaker if needed to determine a playoff position. Toronto is fourth in the East, two games ahead of the Hawks.
• Bucks 99, Pacers 85 — At Milwaukee: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton each scored 21 points, and Milwaukee won its season-high fifth straight game by beating Indiana.
John Henson added eight points, seven rebounds and four blocks for Milwaukee, which clinched the season series against Indiana. They are two of five teams competing for the final three spots in the Eastern Conference playoff race, so the Bucks secured an important tiebreaker over the Pacers.
Paul George had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, which trailed for most of the second half. The Pacers cut it to 79-76 with 8:23 left before the Bucks asserted control with an 8-2 run highlighted by a 3-pointer and floater for Jason Terry.
• Nuggets 119, Celtics 99 — At Denver: Nikola Jokic had 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in his return to the lineup, and Denver beat Boston.
Jokic played 27 minutes after missing two games because of illness. Wilson Chandler had 23 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets, and Danilo Gallinari returned from sitting out Wednesday’s game with vertigo to score 20 points.
• Hornets 121, Magic 81 — At Charlotte, N.C.: Kemba Walker scored 23 points, Nic Batum and Marvin Williams had double-doubles and Charlotte beat Orlando for its third win in the last four games.
Walker, who earned NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week earlier this week, was 9 of 13 from the field and knocked down five of his first seven 3-point attempts in only 24 minutes of action.
• Mavericks 105, Nets 96 — At Dallas: Harrison Barnes scored 21 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 13 after a slow start in his first game since reaching 30,000 points and sluggish Dallas beat lowly Brooklyn.
The Mavericks, appearing flat three nights after a raucous celebration of Nowitzki’s milestone, trailed in the fourth quarter with the NBA’s worst team missing leading scorer Brook Lopez because of an ankle injury. But they pulled away and matched a season best with a fourth straight win.