Pistons stay unbeaten with Griffin, beat Blazers 111-91
DETROIT (AP) Andre Drummond had 17 points and 17 rebounds, and the Detroit Pistons beat the Portland Trail Blazers 111-91 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.
Detroit has won three in a row with Blake Griffin in the lineup after acquiring him in a trade last week. The victory Monday pulled the Pistons back to .500 and even with Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Griffin had 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and did a good bit of his offensive damage from the perimeter, making three 3-pointers. Anthony Tolliver added 15 points for Detroit, and Reggie Bullock and Langston Galloway contributed 13 apiece.
Damian Lillard scored 20 points and C.J. McCollum added 14 for the Blazers, who lost again after falling at the buzzer at Boston on Sunday. Portland was without Evan Turner on Monday because of a left calf injury.
WIZARDS 111, PACERS 102
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - All-Star guard Bradley Beal scored 21 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 15 to help Washington hold on to beat Indiana.
The Wizards have won five straight overall, all without John Wall, and four in a row over the Pacers.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 29 points for the Pacers, trying to spur a fourth-quarter rally. Joe Young added 17 as Indiana's six-game home winning streak ended.
Without starting guards Victor Oladipo (illness) and Darren Collison (left knee surgery), the Pacers were out of sync all night.
JAZZ 133, PELICANS 109
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Rodney Hood scored 30 points in his second game back from a lower leg bruise and surging Utah extended its winning streak to six with a victory over New Orleans.
Ricky Rubio had 20 points and 11 assists, and Rudy Gobert added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who made 14 of 21 3-point attempts and shot 58.4 percent (52 of 89) overall their highest-scoring game this season.
Jrue Holiday scored 28 points, and Anthony Davis had 15 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, which has lost four of five since losing All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins to a season-ending left Achilles tear on Jan. 26.
MAGIC 111, HEAT 109
MIAMI (AP) - Mario Hezonja scored 20 points, Jonathan Simmons made the tiebreaking dunk with 1:31 remaining, and Orlando beat Miami.
The Heat appeared to tie the game after Tyler Johnson was credited with a basket when Orlando's Bismack Biyombo was called for goaltending with 2.8 seconds remaining. A video review overturned the call.
Starting for the injured Aaron Gordon, Hezonja shot 7 of 14 from the field and 4 of 9 3-pointers as the Magic won their third road game in the last 24.
Josh Richardson scored 20 points for Miami. Hassan Whiteside added 19 and Justise Winslow finished with 16.
NUGGETS 121, HORNETS 104
DENVER (AP) - Gary Harris scored 27 points, Nikola Jokic had 15 points and 16 rebounds, and Denver beat Charlotte.
Will Barton and Jamal Murray scored 18 apiece for Denver, which had seven players in double figures. Murray played 34 minutes and attempted a game-high 15 shots while playing with a bruised right thigh sustained Saturday against Golden State.
The Nuggets used a big third quarter to pull away and win their third in a row. Jokic had 10 points and six rebounds in the period and Murray scored eight points in 1:03 to start a 14-6 run that gave Denver a 97-79 lead.
Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 20 points and Dwight Howard had 19 points and seven rebounds. The Hornets had won three straight and four of six.
CLIPPERS 104, MAVERICKS 101
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Danilo Gallinari had 28 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 24 seconds left, and Los Angeles scored the last 13 points of the game to rally past Dallas.
On a night when his last name was misspelled on the back of his jersey, Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 50,000 career minutes. Nowitzki finished with 12 points, but the Mavericks failed to score in the final 4:42.
DeAndre Jordan won a jump ball with 4.5 seconds remaining, tipping it to Avery Bradley for a layup that made it 104-101. Yogi Ferrell had a chance to tie it with 0.4 seconds to play, but he stepped out of bounds before his shot bounced off the rim.
Wesley Matthews led the Mavericks with 23 points and Devin Harris added 16 off the bench.
Tobias Harris had 19 points for the Clippers, and Lou Williams scored 15.
KINGS 104, BULLS 98
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Bogdan Bogdanovic made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 52 seconds remaining and Sacramento overcame a dismal start with a strong finish to beat Chicago.
The Kings scored just nine points in the first quarter, trailed by as many as 21 and were down by seven with 10 minutes left before rallying to complete a season sweep of the Bulls.
Bogdanovic had 15 points, George Hill scored 14 and Garrett Temple added 12 for Sacramento.
Zach LaVine scored 27 points and Justin Holiday had 20 for Chicago. The Bulls, who lost center Robin Lopez to an ejection in the first half, have dropped seven straight.
