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Josh Smith, Al Horford lead Hawks past Magic 108-76

Josh Smith had 30 points and 10 rebounds and Al Horford added 26 points and 12 rebounds as the Atlanta Hawks blew past the Orlando Magic 108-76 on Wednesday night.

The Hawks led by as many as 38 points and decimated the Magic defense on the way to earning their ninth consecutive regular-season win over their division rivals.

Jameer Nelson and Andrew Nicholson led the Magic with 10 points apiece. No other Orlando players reached double-figures.

The Magic have now lost 24 of their last 27 games.

It was the last game for both teams before the All-Star break. Orlando heads to Charlotte on Feb. 19 and Atlanta next plays at Miami on Feb. 20.

Horford and Smith scored at will both inside and from the outside, and had a combined point total that equaled the Magic’s team total after three quarters…

The Hawks’ started the game just 1 for 10 from the field and had just a six-point cushion after one. They erupted in the second, though, outscoring the Magic 32-17 as they built a 21-point halftime lead…

Horford and Smith combined for 30 points and 17 rebounds in the half, just a shade under the 36 points and 18 rebounds the Magic had as a team.

— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press

Kawhi Leonard 3-pointer helps Spurs edge Cavs 96-95

Kawhi Leonard made a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining to give the San Antonio Spurs a 96-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Leonard’s clutch basket came after Dion Waiters’ jump shot with 9.5 seconds remaining put Cleveland ahead 95-93.

The Spurs, who have won 14 of 15, had stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili on the floor together for the first time since Jan. 13.

Kyrie Irving, who was held to a season-low six points, missed a desperation runner from the top of the key as time expired.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 24 points while Gary Neal scored 15.

Waiters scored 20 points to lead Cleveland, which has dropped three straight after winning a season-high three in a row…

Irving, who rolled his left ankle Monday against Minnesota, was 2 of 15 from the field with seven assists.

Tyler Zeller, who was scoreless in 25 minutes Monday, had 16 points, including 12 in the first half, for Cleveland.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Paul George gets triple-double, Pacers beat Bobcats 101-77

Paul George posted his first career triple-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists, and the Indiana Pacers snapped a two-game losing streak with a 101-77 rout of the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night.

Tyler Hansbrough tied a season high with 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Pacers starting in place of David West, who was sidelined by an eye injury.

Byron Mullens led the Bobcats with 19 points and Gerald Henderson chipped in 14.

The first quarter started as a shootout with Indiana and Charlotte combining for 59 points on 55.6 percent shooting. The Pacers held a 30-29 lead after the first before limiting the Bobcats to 23 percent shooting (14-for-61) over the final three quarters.

George opened the game with a corner 3-pointer and finished the opening quarter with 11 points.

The Pacers stepped up on the defensive end in the second quarter, holding Charlotte without a field goal for nearly three minutes and to only 17 points in the quarter on 5-of-20 shooting. But Indiana’s offense didn’t fare any better with 19 points in the second.

— Reported by the Associated Press

James Harden leads Rockets past Warriors 116-107

James Harden sat in a chair in the visiting locker room with his feet in a bucket of ice and his knees wrapped in bandages when somebody plopped a laptop on his thighs to watch the replay of his scary fall.

The bearded All-Star guard played through the pain in his right ankle and his already nagging left knee to finish with 27 points and seven rebounds, stealing the spotlight from backcourt teammate Jeremy Lin in the Houston Rockets’ 116-107 victory over the slumping Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

”Very tough. I can barely walk. Still limping,” Harden said. ”I kind of felt the momentum going our way in the third quarter … so I didn’t want to shut it down.”

He didn’t.

And neither did the rest of the Rockets.

Chandler Parsons had 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and Lin added 14 points and 10 assists to help Houston past his former team for the second time in eight days.

A week after the Rockets tied the NBA record with 23 made 3-pointers in a testy 140-109 rout of the Warriors, Harden took the Bay Area rematch off script…

Stephen Curry had 27 points and six assists and Jarrett Jack scored 22 points off the bench after missing the past three games with a right shoulder injury for the Warriors, who head into the All-Star break on a season-high five-game losing streak. The first four losses had come on the road.

”We’re not there yet. We’re not where we think we are,” said Warriors center Andrew Bogut, who had six points and 12 rebounds. ”I think we thought we were maybe a little better than we were.”

— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Kobe Bryant 4 points, 8 turnovers, yet Lakers beat Suns

Just when the Los Angeles Lakers thought their season was fully saturated with weirdness, Kobe Bryant made one shot and committed eight turnovers in one of the worst games of his career – and the Lakers still beat Phoenix.

Although the Lakers keep finding new ways to flummox their fans and themselves, they’re also still finding ways to win.

Dwight Howard had 19 points and 18 rebounds, Antawn Jamison added 19 points, and the Lakers survived Bryant’s bizarre four-point performance for their eighth victory in 11 games, 91-85 over the Suns on Tuesday night.

Even in this tumultuous season jam-packed with statistical oddities and high-profile failures, the Lakers’ latest victory is a curiosity. Returning from a seven-game road trip, the Lakers hung on to win despite the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history, who had never played this many minutes (36) with just one field goal in his 17-season career.

Bryant didn’t attempt a shot in the first half and scored his first basket with 2:13 to play, finishing 1 for 8 in his lowest-scoring game since Jan. 13, 2005, when he left a game against Cleveland after six minutes with an injury.

Yet after the win, he greeted his horrific statistics with a smile.

”I thought it was great, actually,” Bryant said. ”Obviously, scoring four points, going 1 for 8, that’s not necessarily a recipe for success. … But it’s not about us as individuals. It’s about what we can do to help the team.”

Bryant counteracted his nine assists -just one in the second half – with a raft of turnovers, yet the Lakers survived against one of the NBA’s worst teams with big plays from Howard, Steve Nash and Metta World Peace, who scored 17 points. Bryant finally got an 8-foot leaner to fall, keeping the Lakers in control.

— Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press

Tony Allen steps up, Grizzlies beat Kings 108-101

Known for his stellar defensive play, Tony Allen has been coming through offensively for the Memphis Grizzlies the past few games.

Allen scored a season-high 19 points and led a key late third-quarter run in the Grizzlies’ 108-101 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday night, helping Memphis beat the Kings at home for the seventh straight time.

An 8.4-point scorer on the season, Allen has averaged 14.7 points in his last three games – all Memphis wins.

”The last few games he’s been scoring a few points and he’s made shots,” said Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins. ”He’s gotten to the basket, he’s made good decisions.”

Allen had seven points during a 13-8 run that gave the Grizzlies a 10-point lead in the closing seconds of the third quarter. He could have had two more points during the run, but his reverse layup was tipped in by Darrell Arthur.

”Tony is everywhere, he’s all over the place,” Grizzlies center Marc Gasol. ”We need Tony to do what he did. He’s a great player.”

Gasol led the Grizzlies with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Mike Conley scored 22 points. But it was Allen’s accuracy (8-of-12 shooting) and energy that helped Memphis enter the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak…

DeMarcus Cousins scored 23 points and Tyreke Evans had 20 for the Kings, who were attempting to win three straight for the first time in more than two months.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Jazz step up and beat Thunder 109-94

Al Jefferson scored 23 points, Paul Millsap had 18 and the Utah Jazz beat Oklahoma City 109-94 Tuesday night to break the Thunder’s four-game winning streak.

Utah’s bench outscored Oklahoma City’s 49-25, and the Jazz bigs dominated the boards, holding a 16-7 edge on offensive rebounds.

The Thunder also committed 20 turnovers.

The game was scrappy from the start, with Kendrick Perkins Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Durant both called for flagrant fouls, and Perkins whistled for a technical. It was the first flagrant foul of Durant’s career.

The Jazz led by seven entering the fourth but quickly put the game away, opening on a 6-0 run.

The Thunder were already down 17 when Durant bumped a driving Alec Burks out of bounds, then exchanged words with DeMarre Carroll after drawing the flagrant.

Durant finished with 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting, and Russell Westbrook added 22 points…

Derrick Favors added 15 points, Burks and Carroll had 13 apiece and Earl Watson finished with six.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin of the Associated Press

LeBron domination continues, Heat beat Blazers

It’s not the type of streak that LeBron James ever thought about, this run of putting together at least 30 points and 60 percent shooting in six straight games.

Still, it’s something he’ll savor. He’s rolling right now, and so are the Miami Heat.

James scored 30 points on 11 for 15 shooting to get into the NBA record books, Chris Bosh scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and the Heat wound up beating the Portland Trail Blazers 117-104 in a wild, momentum-swinging game on Tuesday night.

It was the 1,000th regular-season win in Heat history. But on this night, the only history anyone will remember was what James accomplished…

Dwyane Wade added 24 points for Miami, which wasted a pair of 14-point leads – then put the game away with a 14-0 run in the final minutes. Ray Allen added 14 for Miami.

Damian Lillard had a game-high 33 points for Portland, which got 29 from LaMarcus Aldridge and 20 from Wesley Matthews.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Raptors edge banged-up Nuggets 109-108

Rudy Gay hit a pull-up jump shot with less than five seconds remaining and the Toronto Raptors beat the short-handed Denver Nuggets 109-108 [in Toronto] on Tuesday.

DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points, Gay had 17 and John Lucas scored 12 of his 14 points in the final quarter as the Raptors won their third straight.

It was the second game-winner in three games for Gay, who beat Indiana with an overtime jumper last Friday.

Kyle Lowry had 11 points and 10 assists and Alan Anderson had 10 for Toronto, which made seven 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Ty Lawson led Denver with 29 points, Kenneth Faried had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Anthony Randolph scored 16.

Andre Miller scored 12 points for the Nuggets, who came in having won nine of their past 10 overall and 15 of their past 17 meetings with Toronto…

The Nuggets had to juggle their starting lineup due to the absences of leading scorer Danilo Gallinari (sinus infection) and third-leading scorer Andre Iguodala (strained neck). Corey Brewer started in place of Gallinari, while rookie Evan Fournier took over for Iguodala.

Denver was also depleted by the loss of forward Wilson Chandler, sidelined by a sore groin. Things got worse for the Nuggets when center JaVale McGee left at halftime with a sore left leg.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Paul, Griffin help Clippers cruise past 76ers

Some of the Los Angeles Clippers’ players were practicing a variety of high-flying dunks during pregame warm-ups. The fun continued when the real game tipped off.

Chris Paul had 21 points and 11 assists, Blake Griffin scored 20 points and the Clippers dunked their way to a 107-90 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.

Jamal Crawford also scored 20 points and Matt Barnes had 11 for the Pacific Division-leading Clippers. Eric Bledsoe scored 10 points while DeAndre Jordan grabbed 10 rebounds.

”We were out there having fun,” said Jordan, who watched some of those highlight-reel dunks on an iPad in the locker room. ”When we’re active and moving the ball, good things happen. I think dunks and layups come when we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing on offense.” …

Los Angeles won the finale with ease without guard Chauncey Billups and forward Caron Butler. Both players were nursing sore lower backs and were replaced in the starting lineup by Matt Barnes and Willie Green…

Nick Young led the Sixers with 29 points while Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner and Jeremy Pargo had 10 each. Spencer Hawes had 10 rebounds…

Lavoy Allen struggled against the Clippers, two nights after the best performance in his career. Allen had 14 points and a career-best 22 rebounds in an 87-76 win over Charlotte last Saturday. Against the much more athletic Clippers, Allen managed just four points and two rebounds in 28 minutes.

— Reported by the Associated Press