Paul, Rockets roll to fourth straight win, rout Cavs 120-88
CLEVELAND (AP) Chris Paul had 22 points and 11 assists, Ryan Anderson added 21 points and the Houston Rockets became the latest team to thump Cleveland on national TV, beating the disconnected Cavaliers 120-88 on Saturday night.
James Harden only scored 16 - 15 below his league-leading average - but Houston rolled to its fourth straight win and improved to 11-2 since Jan. 8.
Meanwhile, the Cavs' downward spiral accelerated.
Since losing at Golden State on Christmas, LeBron James and his teammates are 0-8 in network broadcasts and have been embarrassed in several matchups against quality teams. They lost by 28 at Minnesota, 34 in Toronto, 24 at home to Oklahoma City and 32 to the Rockets, who toyed with the defending Eastern Conference champs.
James finished with just 11 points and didn't play in the fourth quarter as the Rockets were too far ahead. Isaiah Thomas scored 12 for Cleveland.
NUGGETS 115, WARRIORS 108
DENVER (AP) - Nikola Jokic scored 19 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:10 left, and added nine rebounds as Denver beat Golden State.
Will Barton had 25 points and Gary Harris 16 for the Nuggets, who split the four games with Golden State this season. Denver rallied from 12 down in the second half to hand the Warriors their second loss in three games.
Kevin Durant scored 31 points and Stephen Curry had 24 for Golden State.
PISTONS 111, HEAT 107
DETROIT (AP) - Andre Drummond had 23 points and 20 rebounds, and Blake Griffin made a key 3-pointer in the final minute to lift Detroit over Miami.
Ish Smith added 25 points for the Pistons, including a late 3-pointer of his own. Detroit has won three in a row, the last two with Griffin in the lineup after acquiring him in a trade.
Griffin's 3-pointer with 44 seconds to play put the Pistons ahead 108-101, but Goran Dragic responded with a four-point play, making a 3-pointer while being fouled with 32 seconds left. Detroit ran the clock down on the next possession, and Smith sank his only 3-point attempt of the game, from the right corner with 14 seconds to play.
Dragic scored 33 points for the Heat, who have lost three in a row. Miami was without center Hassan Whiteside, who was out with an illness.
PACERS 100, 76ERS 92
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Victor Oladipo and Bojan Bogdanovic each scored 19 points and Indiana beat Philadelphia.
Oladipo added nine rebounds and four assists. Domantis Sabonis scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had six assists. Lance Stephenson finished with 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Indiana.
Joel Embiid finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds while playing on both nights of the back-to-back. Ben Simmons scored 10 points and added 11 rebounds for Philadelphia.
WIZARDS 115, MAGIC 98
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Otto Porter scored 20 points and Tomas Satoransky had a career-high 19 to lift Washington over Orlando.
Bradley Beal had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Wizards won their fourth straight without injured All-Star point guard John Wall. Washington shot 54 percent and had 35 assists, the fourth straight game with 30 or more.
Mario Hezonja and Johnathon Simmons led Orlando with 15 points apiece. The Magic had seven players in double figures, including 14 points from Elfrid Payton, but couldn't keep up with Washington's unselfish play.
TIMBERWOLVES 118, PELICANS 107
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Jimmy Butler scored 30 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 16 rebounds for his league-leading 47th double-double, and Minnesota beat New Orleans.
In front of a capacity crowd dotted with celebrities in town for Sunday's Super Bowl, the Wolves dominated from the start en route to their 12th straight home win and a four-game season sweep of the Pelicans.
Anthony Davis led New Orleans with 38 points and managed to keep the Pelicans from getting completely blown out in the first quarter, when the Wolves opened a 22-6 lead.
Nikola Mirotic scored 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting in his first game for New Orleans since being traded from Chicago on Thursday for Omer Asik, Tony Allen and Jameer Nelson.
JAZZ 120, SPURS 111
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Ricky Rubio scored a season-high 34 points and added nine assists, and Utah upended San Antonio for its fifth straight victory.
San Antonio had possession trailing 112-109, but Jazz forward Derrick Favors batted down a pass near the 3-point line and raced down the court for a monstrous one-handed dunk to essentially seal the Jazz's second win over the Spurs this season.
Favors finished with 14 points.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points for San Antonio in their final home game before embarking on their annual monthlong rodeo road trip.
The Jazz were without star rookie Donovan Mitchell, who missed the game due to an illness.
MAVERICKS 106, KINGS 99
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Yogi Ferrell made consecutive 3-pointers to spark a big run at the start of the fourth quarter and Dallas beat Sacramento to snap a five-game losing streak.
Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points and seven rebounds while inching closer to another milestone in his illustrious NBA career. Harrison Barnes scored 18 points and Dwight Powell added 17 points and nine rebounds to help Dallas win in Sacramento for the first time in nearly three years.
Nowitzki played 26 minutes and needs six more to become sixth player in NBA history to reach 50,000 for his career, joining a list that includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd and Elvin Hayes.
De'Aaron Fox and Garrett Temple had 15 points apiece for Sacramento.
CLIPPERS 113, BULLS 103
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tobias Harris scored 24 points in his Clippers debut, leading Los Angeles over Chicago.
Danilo Gallinari also had 24 points, Lou Williams added 21 points and six assists, and Montrezl Harrell scored 14 to help the Clippers win for the third time in four games.
Zach LaVine had 21 points and nine rebounds in the Bulls' sixth straight loss.
