Wizards’ 6-game winning streak ended by Blazers
Anfernee Simons scored 20 of his 33 points in the third quarter and the Portland Trail Blazers erased a 20-point deficit, snapping Washington’s six-game winning streak Friday night with a 124-116 victory over the Wizards.
Simons made six of Portland’s nine 3-pointers in the third, and the Trail Blazers finally caught and passed the Wizards in the fourth. Simons finished 9 of 12 from beyond the arc.
Damian Lillard added 29 points for Portland, which has won five of six.
Bradley Beal scored 34 points for the Wizards, and Kristaps Porzingis had 32. 76ERS 137, SPURS 125 >> Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds and Philadelphia sent San Antonio to its eighth straight loss.
Tyrese Maxey had 25 points and James Harden added 16 for Philadelphia, which has the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.
San Antonio rookie Malaki Branham set a season high for the second straight game with 26 points, eclipsing the 22-point outing he had Wednesday in a loss to Sacramento. Keldon Johnson added 18 points and Jakob Poeltl had 16 points and 10 rebounds in San Antonio’s final home game before embarking on a nine-game road trip that ends Feb. 28. RAPTORS 117, ROCKETS 111 >> Fred VanVleet scored 32 points, Gary Trent Jr. added 29 and Toronto Raptors ended a two-game skid.
After the Raptors were up by double-digits for most of the fourth quarter, five straight free throws by the Rockets cut the lead to 110104 with about 30 seconds left. Pascal Siakam, who had 23 points, then made two free throws.
Both teams made two free throws before Daishen Nix’s basket cut Houston’s deficit to six again. VanVleet made one of two free throws before a 3 by Jabari Smith Jr. made it 115-111 with 1.2 seconds to go. Trent added two free throws to secure the victory.
Houston got a seasonhigh 28 points from Eric Gordon and Alperen Sengun added 21 on night when Jalen Green missed a third straight game with a bruised right calf.
PISTONS 118, HORNETS 112 >>
Saddiq Bey scored 22 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 32.1 seconds left, and Detroit rallied to beat Charlotte.
Mason Plumlee missed five free throws in the last 6:04 as Detroit outscored Charlotte 27-18 in the fourth quarter.
Jaden Ivey had 24 points for the Pistons, Jalen Duren had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Isaiah Stewart had eight points and 16 rebounds as Detroit outrebounded Charlotte 51-37.
LeMelo Ball had 23 points, eight assists and eight rebounds for the Hornets before fouling out. Terry Rozier added 23 points.
PACERS 107, KINGS 104 >>
Buddy Hield scored 21 points against his former team and Indiana beat Sacramento to stop a four-game losing streak.
Hield shot 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Aaron Nesmith added 17 points for the Pacers, going 4 for 7 on 3s.
Myles Turner had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Harrison Barnes led the Kings with 23 points. Kevin Huerter scored 16, and Domantas Sabonis and Terence Davis each had 15. The Kings were without leading scorer De’Aaron Fox, who sat out for personal reasons.
MAGIC 127, TIMBERWOLVES 120 >>
Cole Anthony had 20 points and fellow reserve Moritz Wagner scored 19 as Orlando’s bench propelled the Magic to a 127-120 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves that included a fight between the teams and five player ejections Friday night.
The brawl broke out in front of the Orlando bench late in the third quarter, when Minnesota guard Austin Rivers and Magic center Mo Bamba got into an altercation. Bamba came off the bench and Rivers threw punches at him in a tussle that spilled over to include several others on the court.
As play initially continued at the far end, Jalen Suggs pulled Rivers away from Bamba and to the ground while other players joined in.
Rivers, Jaden McDaniels and Taurean Prince were ejected for the Timberwolves, who had lost forward Kyle Anderson earlier in the game due to injury. Bamba and Suggs were tossed for Orlando.