Rockets beat Magic to extend win streak to 7
Wall leads Wizards past Timberwolves
ORLANDO, Fla. — Ryan Anderson had 19 points, all in the second half, and Eric Gordon scored 17 off the bench as the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to seven games with a 100-93 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night.
In a game that was close throughout, Anderson led five Rockets players in double figures. He hit five 3-pointers on a night when Houston attempted 49 of them and made 15.
Patrick Beverley also scored 17 points, while leading scorer James Harden had an off shooting night and finished with 14.
D.J. Augustin led five Magic players in double figures with 19 points. WIZARDS 112, TIMBERWOLVES 105: In Washington, John Wall had a season-high 18 assists and scored 18 points to help Washington beat Minnesota for its ninth straight home victory.
Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins had 41 points on 16-of-30 shooting after scoring eight points in a loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
Bradley Beal had 22 points for Washington, and Marcin Gortat hit all nine of his field-goal attempts and scored 19 points. The Wizards have won 10 of 15 overall.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which has dropped six of its last eight Gorgui Dieng added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Zach Lavine had eight points on 3-of-14 shooting. CAVALIERS 116, NETS 108: In New York, LeBron James scored 36 points, carrying Cleveland while Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love had slow starts in their return to the lineup, and the Cavaliers beat Brooklyn.
Irving added 32 points and Love had 17 points and 13 rebounds, but both shot poorly early as the Nets kept it competitive for 1½ quarters. James helped the Cavs open a double-digit lead by halftime and they led comfortably most of
the rest of the way in the opener of a six-game trip.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points for the Nets, who have lost five straight and 10 of 11.
Love missed a loss to Chicago on Wednesday and was limited in the previous game after suffering from food poisoning on New Year’s Day. Irving had sat out the last three games with right hamstring tightness.
CELTICS 110, 76ERS 106: In Boston, Avery Bradley had 26 points and nine rebounds, and Boston rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Philadelphia.
Isaiah Thomas added 24 points, and Al Horford scored 14 of his 19 in the final period. The Celtics have won nine of their last 11 and four straight at home.
Boston was trailing by two when Horford got wide open in the corner and hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17.2 seconds left.
Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Ersan Ilyasova scored 20.
Philadelphia led by 14 in the
first half before the Celtics took the lead early in the fourth quarter.
LAKERS 127, HEAT 100: In Los Angeles, Lou Williams scored 24 points and Luol Deng added 19 points and 14 rebounds in Los Angeles’ win over Miami.
Goran Dragic scored 16 points for Miami before getting ejected along with Los Angeles’ Jordan Clarkson after a third-quarter scuffle in which both players appeared to be narrowly stopped from throwing punches.
Notes
MAVERICKS: The Dallas Mavericks and their fans should be done in time to watch the Dallas Cowboys play their Jan. 15 NFC divisional playoff game. The NBA team announced Friday that tipoff for its game that day against Minnesota is being moved up two hours to 1 p.m. Central.
While the Mavericks didn’t offer a reason for the time switch, the Cowboys’ home playoff game that day starts at 3:40 p.m.