Wade, Love, James lead surging Cavaliers over Bulls 113-91
CHICAGO (AP) Dwyane Wade and Kevin Love each scored 24 points, LeBron James had 23 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Chicago Bulls 113-91 Monday night for their 12th straight win.
Backed by a trio of stars, the Cavaliers matched their longest winning streak since the 2014-15 season.
Wade made 9 of 13 shots in his first game in Chicago since agreeing to a buyout with his hometown team in late September. Love grabbed 13 rebounds and made 8 of 13 from the field. James finished 9 of 15 with seven rebounds and six assists. The Cavaliers shot just under 52 percent.
Kris Dunn led Chicago with 15 points. Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday scored 14 apiece as the Bulls fell to 3-19 with their ninth straight loss.
WARRIORS 125, PELICANS 115
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Stephen Curry had 31 points and 11 assists but sprained his ankle late in the game, and Golden State came back from 21 points down late in the first half to defeat New Orleans.
Klay Thompson scored 22 points and Kevin Durant and Draymond Green each had 19 for the Warriors, who won their fourth straight. After it was over, Curry went for X-rays on his right ankle.
Jure Holiday scored 34 and E'Twaun Moore added a career-high 27 for the Pelicans, who lost for the fourth time in five games.
CELTICS 111, BUCKS 100
BOSTON (AP) - Kyrie Irving had 19 of his 32 points in the second half, helping offset a 40-point night by Giannis Antetokounmpo as Boston held off Milwaukee.
Al Horford added 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Jayson Tatum chipped in 17 points to help Boston improve to an NBA-best 21-4. The Celtics have won five of their last six.
It was the third 40-point game this season for Antetokounmpo. Khris Middleton added 19 points while Eric Bledsoe had 18 points.
SPURS 96, PISTONS 93
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 10 rebounds and San Antonio rallied to beat Detroit.
Reggie Jackson had 27 points for Detroit, which led by as many as nine points before dropping its third straight.
The Spurs were without Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Anderson, who has started in place of Leonard all season.
Rudy Gay, making his first start in place of Anderson, had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. His final points came on a three-point play that gave San Antonio an 88-86 lead with 3:39 remaining.
JAZZ 116, WIZARDS 69
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Alec Burks scored 27 points for his third straight game with 20 or more, and Utah blew out Washington for its sixth straight win.
Burks is on his best string since three straight 20-point games in February 2014. He helped the Jazz put on a show during the first 24 minutes to lead 64-30 at halftime, their second-biggest output in a half this season.
Utah moved the ball crisply, leading to wide open 3-pointers, layups and dunks. It shot 56.8 percent in the first half and knocked down seven 3s. Every Jazz player that played had an assist in the half, and the team scored 34 points in the paint.
Washington set a season low for points. Otto Porter Jr. led the Wizards with 14 points.
HORNETS 104, MAGIC 94
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Kemba Walker had 29 points and seven assists in his return from a shoulder injury, Dwight Howard reached a rebounding milestone and Charlotte beat Orlando to snap a four-game losing streak.
Walker, who missed the previous two games, was the spark plug all night for the Hornets and became the first player in franchise history with 200 career 20-point games. He made all 14 free throw attempts.
Howard had 12 points and nine rebounds, moving past former Charlotte coach Paul Silas and Dikembe Mutombo for 19th on the all-time NBA rebounding list.
KNICKS 115, PACERS 97
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Thaddeus Young scored 20 points to lead seven Indiana players in double figures as the Pacers routed short-handed New York.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and Victor Oladipo added 16 for the Pacers, who led by 26 at half and 95-65 after three quarters
The Knicks were without leading scorers Kristaps Porzingis (25.8 ppg) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (17.8 ppg) for a second consecutive loss. Porzingis is dealing with a sprained right ankle and illness and Hardaway has a lower left leg injury.
Michael Beasley led the Knicks with 13 points.
SUNS 115, 76ERS 101
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Devin Booker scored 46 points and TJ Warren added 25 to lead Phoenix over Philadelphia.
Booker made 17 of 32 shots and hit four 3-pointers, including three in the fourth quarter that helped the Suns put away a Sixers team that played one of their worst games of the season. Booker scored 32 points on 11 of 17 shooting in the second half.
Joel Embiid had 22 points and 12 rebounds and Ben Simmons, battling an illness, scored 20 points. JJ Redick led the Sixers with 25 points.
GRIZZLIES 95, TIMBERWOLVES 92
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Marc Gasol scored 21 points, Tyreke Evans added 16 - including two key free throws with 12.7 seconds left - and Memphis snapped an 11-game skid with a victory over Minnesota.
Memphis, which hadn't won since Nov. 7, had to wait a bit longer after Evans' free throws. On the ensuing possession, Jimmy Butler's off-balance, 26-footer over Andrew Harrison bounced off the backboard and grazed the rim, snapping the Grizzlies skid.
Butler led Minnesota with 30 points, his second-straight game with at least 30. Taj Gibson finished with 14 points, while Andrew Wiggins and Jeff Teague added 12 points each.
MAVERICKS 122, NUGGETS 105
DALLAS (AP) - Harrison Barnes scored 22 points, Dennis Smith Jr. added 20 and Dallas beat short-handed Denver.
Six Dallas players scored in double figures as the Mavericks earned their second straight wire-to-wire win after beating the Clippers by 26 on Saturday. Dallas had its highest scoring game of the season and has won five of eight since starting 2-14.
Will Barton led Denver with 23 points, Jamal Murray added 22 and Gary Harris had 21.
Denver played without two-thirds of its starting frontcourt as Paul Millsap (left wrist injury) and Nikola Jokic (sprained left ankle) remained out.
NETS 110, HAWKS 90
ATLANTA (AP) - Caris LeVert scored a season-high 17 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 16 points and Brooklyn used a strong third quarter to grab momentum and beat Atlanta.
Brooklyn, avenging Saturday's home loss to Atlanta, had everything working in its favor in the second half. It began the third trailing by one but went on a 17-0 run to go ahead 70-54 on DeMarre Carroll's 3-pointer. The lead swelled to 29 in the fourth as the Nets earned their largest win of the season.
Dennis Schroder finished with 19 points and Kent Bazemore and DeAndre' Bembry each had 13 for Atlanta, which dropped to 5-18, second-worst in the NBA.
