Rozier, Bridges lift Hornets to win
Hornets 121, Thunder 98: Terry Rozier scored 24 points, Miles Bridges added 22 points and 14 rebounds, and host Charlotte defeated Oklahoma City on Friday night.
P.J. Washington scored 20 and Gordon Hayward 16 for Charlotte, which has won seven of eight. Lamelo Ball finished with 10 points for the Hornets.
Shai Gilgeous-alexander led the Thunder with 29 points, but was held to four in the second half. Josh Giddey added 21 and Jeremiah Robinson-earl notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Clippers 102, 76ers 101: Reggie Jackson scored 19 points, including two free throws with 18.2 seconds remaining, and visiting Los Angeles rallied from a 24-point second-half deficit to beat Joel Embiid and Philadelphia.
Nicolas Batum had 15 points, seven rebounds and a key steal late in the game for the Clippers. Los Angeles, playing the second of an eight-game, 13day trip, won for the second time in its last five games.
Embiid, who tied his career high with 50 points on Monday night, had 40 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Tobias Harris added 20 points and Tyrese Maxey had 19 points and eight assists for Philadelphia, which lost for the third time in its last 12.
Lakers 116, Magic 105: Lebron James scored 29 points and played exclusively at center in the second half as visiting Los Angeles rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit and beat Orlando.
Los Angeles coach Frank Vogel replaced starting center Dwight Howard with James to start the second half, and the Lakers opened the third quarter on a 20-2 run. They outscored Orlando 31-16 in the third, making 13 of 23 shots and 5 of 8 3-pointers in the frame.
Carmelo Anthony scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half and hit four 3pointers, while Stanley Johnson added 11 points and five rebounds off the bench. It was the eighth time the 37year-old Anthony scored at least 20 points this season.
Hawks 110, Heat 108: Trae Young scored 28 points, Kevin Huerter added 21 and host Atlanta won its third
straight game after nearly blowing an 18-point lead in a victory over Miami.
The Heat again were without star guard Kyle Lowry, who missed his third straight game for personal reasons, and Tyler Herro, the sixth man who’s averaging 20.7 points per game and was sidelined in health and safety protocols for the second game in a row. Neither made the trip.
Bam Adebayo finished with 21 points and Duncan Robinson had 19 for Miami (29-17), which had won six of seven and was 15-5 since beating Milwaukee on Dec. 8. The Heat, who didn’t lead after the 30-second mark of the first quarter, began the night six percentage points out of the Eastern Conference lead.
Trail Blazers 109, Celtics 105: Jusuf Nurkic grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a shot from the lane with 14 seconds left and visiting Portland rallied past Boston.
Nurkic had 29 points and 17 rebounds, none bigger than his board after
Jayson Tatum gave Boston a 104-103 lead with two free throws with 26.8 seconds to go.
Anfernee Simons missed at the other end, and Nurkic grabbed the ball and softly put it in from a few feet out. The Blazers sealed the victory at the foul line.
Bucks 94, Bulls 90: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 12 rebounds to help host Milwaukee overcome Grayson Allen’s ejection and beat Chicago.
Chicago’s Demar Derozan scored 35 points but missed a 3-pointer that would have put the Bulls ahead with 23 seconds left. Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton made two free throws with 15.8 seconds remaining to close out the scoring.
Both teams posted their lowest 3point percentages of the season. The Bulls shot 18.4% (7 of 38) from beyond the arc and the Bucks made 19.4% (6 of 31) of their attempts.
Raptors 109, Wizards 105: Fred Vanvleet hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 59 seconds to play, and visiting Toronto hung on after blowing an 18-point fourth-quarter lead to beat Washington.
Rookie Scottie Barnes scored a career-high 27 points, Vanvleet scored 21 and had 12 assists, Pascal Siakam also scored 21 points for Toronto, which went 2-3 on a five-game trip.
Bradley Beal led Washington with 25 points. He also had eight assists, but committed nine turnovers, equaling his career high. The Wizards, who began the season 10-3, are 13-20 since.
Nets 117, Spurs 104: James Harden had 37 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, spoiling Dejounte Murray’s ninth triple-double of the season as visiting Brooklyn overpowered San Antonio.
Murray had 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his second straight triple-double and 13th of his career, one shy of David Robinson’s franchise record. Harden’s triple-double was his 66th, which is eighth on the all-time list.
Kyrie Irving scored 24 points and Lamarcus Aldridge added 16 for the Nets.
Jazz 111, Pistons 101: Rudy Gobert scored 24 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked four shots to lead host Utah over Detroit.
Cade Cunningham scored 25 points to lead Detroit, which lost for the third time in four games. Trey Lyles had 16 points, Rodney Mcgruder 15 and Saddiq Bey 13.
Grizzlies 122, Nuggets 118: Ja Morant scored 38 points and Memphis overcame Nikola Jokic’s fourth straight triple-double to beat Denver.
Morant scored on floaters, runners, fadeaways, 3-pointers, an emphatic alley-oop and driving layups while slicing through a variety of Nuggets defenders. He set a career-high with 23 points in the first half and finished 15 of 26 from the field.
Warriors 105, Rockets 103: Stephen Curry hit a game-winning 20-foot jumper from the top of the key to beat the final buzzer, scoring 22 points and sending host Golden State past Houston.
The sellout crowd went into a frenzy, confetti fell and Curry pumped his arms while dancing at midcourt – exhaling after he had missed two 3-pointers in the final 1:48. It was the first buzzerbeating winning shot of Curry’s career.