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 Cavaliers 120, Raptors 112
The Cleveland Cavaliers weathered a fourth quarter surge by the
Toronto Raptors and held on for a win.
LeBron James led the way with 28 points 13 assists while guard Kyrie
Irving chipped in with 24 points for Cleveland (39-24).
The Raptors (38-24) were led by center Jonas Valanciunas' team-high
26 points and 11 rebounds.
Toronto used a 20-7 run to pull to within one at 91-90 in the fourth
quarter but the Cavs pulled away down the stretch.
- - -
Trail Blazers 98, Clippers 93 (Overtime)
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and
the Portland Trail Blazers rallied for an overtime victory over the
short-handed Los Angeles Clippers.
Nicolas Batum added 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and
he hit a 3-pointer in overtime that allowed the Trail Blazers
(40-19) to win their fourth in a row.
Chris Paul scored 36 points and had 12 assists to lead the Clippers
(40-22).
 - - -
Grizzlies 102, Rockets 100
Marc Gasol sank a running jumper with 0.01 seconds remaining to lift
the Memphis Grizzlies to a victory over the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets (41-20) rallied from a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit
and twice tied the game in the last minute and a half.
But, following a Harden turnover with 5.4 seconds left, Gasol
tracked down an errant inbounds pass, dribbled hard to his right and
scored over Jones.
Gasol finished with 21 points for Memphis (43-17) who extended their
lead over Houston in the Southwest Division to 2 1/2 games.
- - -
Thunder 123, 76ers 118 (Overtime)
Russell Westbrook posted 49 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists to
lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to an overtime victory over the
Philadelphia 76ers.
It was the fourth consecutive triple-double for Westbrook. He is the
first player since Michael Jordan in 1988 to accomplish the feat.
The Thunder improved to 34-27 on the season and have won nine of
their last 11 games.
- - -
Warriors 102, Bucks 93
Draymond Green scored a game-high 23 points on his 25th birthday,
and Stephen Curry bombed in 3-pointers on three consecutive
possessions during a decisive fourth-quarter burst, leading the
Golden State Warriors to a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The win improved the Western Conference-leading Warriors to 47-12.
- - -
Pelicans 88, Pistons 85
Playing for the first time after missing five games with a sprained
right shoulder, Anthony Davis scored a game-high 39 points, grabbed
13 rebounds and blocked eight shots to power the New Orleans
Pelicans to a victory over the Detroit Pistons.
The win kept the Pelicans (33-28) one game behind Oklahoma City for
the eighth spot in the Western Conference.
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Spurs 112, Kings 85
Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points and helped the San Antonio Spurs open
a six-game homestand with a win over the Sacramento Kings.
San Antonio guard Tony Parker added 19 points to help the Spurs win
a third straight.
DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting
from the field as he played through foul trouble for the majority of
the game.
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[to top of second column] |
Heat 100, Lakers 94
The Miami Heat, battling to earn one of the two final seeds in the
Eastern Conference playoff race, beat the Los Angeles Lakers behind
18 points and a career-high 25 rebounds from Hassan Whiteside.
Dwyane Wade finished with a game-high 25 points and six assists as
Miami (27-33) kept a half-game edge on the seventh spot in the
Eastern Conference.
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Suns 105, Magic 100
Recently-acquired guard Brandon Knight scored 28 points and the
Phoenix Suns kept their flickering playoff hopes alive with a
victory over the slumping Orlando Magic.
The Suns (32-30) trail the Oklahoma City Thunder by 2 ½ games and
and the New Orleans Pelicans by 1 ½ in the race for the eighth and
final Western Conference playoff spot.
- - -
Pacers 105, Knicks 82
George Hill scored a season-high 21 points and handed out six
assists, and the improving Indiana Pacers led from start to finish
in an easy victory over the New York Knicks.
Indiana (26-34) earned its third win in a row and its sixth in seven
games while battling for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
They currently trail eighth place Charlotte by a half-game.
- - -
Hornets 115, Nets 91
Al Jefferson scored 19 points as the Charlotte Hornets rode a hot
start and never trailed en route to a rout of the Brooklyn Nets in a
matchup of teams vying for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Charlotte (26-33) won for the fourth time in five games and moved a
game ahead of Brooklyn (25-34) into eighth place.
- - -
Celtics 85, Jazz 84
The Boston Celtics blew an eight-point lead in the final 2:17 but
pulled out a victory over the Utah Jazz when center Tyler Zeller
scored on a reverse layup at the buzzer.
Gordon Hayward had put the Jazz ahead with a jumper with 1.7 seconds
left before the Celtics scored the winner out of a timeout.
The win was the eighth in the last 13 games for the Celtics (24-35).
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Nuggets 100, Timberwolves 85
Kenneth Faried had 18 points and 14 rebounds, leading the Denver
Nuggets to a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The victory improved the Nuggets (22-39) to 2-0 under interim coach
Melvin Hunt, who took over after Brian Shaw was fired on Tuesday.
- - - (Editing by Jahmal Corner)
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reserved.]
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