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NBA roundup: Rockets' D'Antoni gets 500th win

[March 11, 2017] The Sports Xchange

CHICAGO -- Despite a slow start, the Houston Rockets made sure coach Mike D'Antoni got his 500th career NBA coaching win Friday night at the United Center.

The Rockets overcame a 13-point first-quarter deficit and cruised to a 115-94 victory against the Chicago Bulls, avoiding their first three-game losing streak of the season.

James Harden had 19 points and 11 assists to lead the way for the Rockets (45-21), who swept the two-game season series from the Bulls (31-34). Lou Williams had 18 points, Clint Capela added 17 points, Trevor Ariza had 13 and Ryan Anderson finished with 21 points after missing a game with back spasms.

Timberwolves 103, Warriors 102

MINNEAPOLIS -- Andrew Wiggins scored 24 points, 20 in the second half, including two big free throws with 12.8 seconds left, as Minnesota held off Golden State.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points, and Ricky Rubio added 17 points and 13 rebounds as Minnesota won for the eighth time in 12 games and beat Golden State for the first time in their three games this season.

Stephen Curry had 26 points for the Warriors, but was 10 of 27 shooting, including 1 of 8 from 3-point territory. Klay Thompson led the way with 30 points for Golden State, which has lost four of its past six games.

Hornets 121, Magic 81

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Kemba Walker scored 23 points before sitting out the entire fourth quarter and Charlotte continued its mastery of Orlando with a victory at the Spectrum Center.

The Hornets were in command throughout and led by as many as 42 points. They scored the first eight points of the game, led 44-24 two minutes into the second quarter and never trailed. It was their first wire-to-wire victory of the season.

The Hornets have now beaten the Magic three times this season by an average of 26.6 points and have won six straight in the past two seasons.

Bucks 99, Pacers 85

MILWAUKEE -- Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 21 points each as Milwaukee extended its winning streak to a season-high five games with a victory over Indiana at the Bradley Center.

The victory moved Milwaukee a half-game ahead of Chicago for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, and 1 1/2 games behind the Pacers for the sixth seed.

Middleton hit 7 of 14 shots with three 3-pointers while Antetokounmpo went 7-for-13 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, along with eight rebounds and five assists.

Hawks 105, Raptors 99

ATLANTA -- If Atlanta and Toronto tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, the Hawks will have the tiebreaker for home court over the Raptors thanks to an edge in the season series.

The Hawks put the defensive clamps on Toronto in the fourth quarter and took two of the three regular-season games between the teams.

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Dennis Schroder scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as the Hawks broke away from a tie at 88 to move within two games of fourth-place Toronto.

Nuggts 119, Celtics 99

DENVER -- Wilson Chandler scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Nikola Jokic had 21 points and 10 rebounds in his return to the lineup, and Denver beat Boston.

Jokic missed two games with the flu but looked fresh against Boston, finishing three assists shy of his fifth triple-double. Danilo Gallinari scored 20 after missing Wednesday's game with vertigo.

The Nuggets hold a slim lead for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. Portland has won four straight and now trails Denver by just a game with 17 left. The Trail Blazers have 19 games remaining.

Mavericks 105, Nets 96

DALLAS -- Dallas probably didn't expect much of a fight from the NBA's worst team, but it got one.

If it wasn't for a fourth-quarter surge, the Mavs likely wouldn't have escaped American Airlines Center with a win over Brooklyn. Dallas went on an 22-8 run to open the final period and pulled away for its fourth straight victory, tying a season high.

The Mavericks hope to finish off a perfect five-game homestand Saturday against Phoenix. Dallas has also won six of its last seven and is 17-9 since mid-January. The Mavs remain 1.5 games behind Denver for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Wizards 130, Kings 122

SACRAMENTO -- Bradley Beal scored a game-high 38 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime as Washington defeated Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center on Friday.

Washington erased a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to claim the win, showing the mettle that has made it the winningest team (24-8) in the NBA since Jan. 1. The Wizards entered the fourth trailing 97-82 and took their first lead since the first quarter, 109-107, on a Bradley Beal layup with 2:58 to play. Beal scored 16 of his 38 in the fourth quarter to help lead the charge.

It was an especially galling loss for Sacramento, which held a double-digit lead for the majority of the second and third periods, and a 105-95 lead with just under seven minutes to play. The Wizards then went on a 10-0 run -- with eight points coming from Beal -- to pull even with 4:18 remaining.

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