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New guys lift Wolves to 92-79 win over Rockets

Chris Johnson arrived in Minnesota on Friday night just hoping to provide a little bit of energy and make a solid impression in his latest effort to catch on with an NBA team.

About 24 hours later, he was hearing chants of ”M-V-P! M-V-P!” and teaming with another new face to carry the Timberwolves to a much-needed victory.

Johnson and Mickael Gelabale signed 10-day contracts on Saturday morning, then scored the first 23 points of the fourth quarter to lift the Timberwolves to a 92-79 victory over the slumping Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

Johnson, signed from Santa Cruz of the NBA Development League, scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth. Gelabale, a forward who arrived from France on Thursday, had 10 of his 11 points in the final 12 minutes to help the injury-plagued Wolves snap a five-game skid…

James Harden scored 18 points on 5-of-18 shooting for the Rockets, who have lost seven straight games. Houston shot 32 percent and committed 20 turnovers in another lethargic effort that had coach Kevin McHale scrambling to find anybody who could give them some energy.

The Rockets starters shot 25.5 percent for the game and Harden is shooting 28 percent (23 for 80) over the last three games…

Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Luke Ridnour scored 16 points for the Timberwolves, who had lost each of their previous five by double digits and were playing with just nine healthy bodies…

The Wolves were missing C Nikola Pekovic (bruised right quad), F Dante Cunningham (illness), G Alexey Shved (ankle), F Kevin Love (hand), F Chase Budinger (knee), G Brandon Roy (knee), F Josh Howard (knee) and G Malcolm Lee (hip).

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Grizzlies beat weary Bulls in OT, 85-82

The game plan was simple for the Grizzles in overtime: Utilize one of the most imposing front lines in the NBA.

Marc Gasol scored 19 points, Zach Randolph had 13 points and 19 rebounds, and Memphis beat the Chicago Bulls 85-82 on Saturday night.

Gasol and Randolph combined for seven of the nine overtime points for the Grizzlies.

”When we got into overtime we went to our horses, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. We played an inside-outside game. Our All-Star bigs took over the game,” the Grizzlies’ Tony Allen said…

Chicago, playing its third consecutive overtime game in four days, didn’t have enough in overtime. The Bulls played without forward Luol Deng and had to fight back from a 17-point, third-quarter deficit.

Butler, starting in place of Deng, scored a career-high 18 points and Boozer added 17 as the Bulls had a three-game winning streak snapped…

Chicago played without Noah in the fourth quarter and overtime.

”That’s just a coaching decision,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said…

Rudy Gay finished with 16 points and Conley had 13 points and nine assists.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Thornton, Evans lift Kings over Bobcats, 97-93

The Sacramento Kings were determined Saturday night to make amends after one of their most embarrassing defeats of the season just 24 hours earlier.

Mission accomplished.

Marcus Thornton scored 18 points off the bench, Tyreke Evans came up big down the stretch, and the Kings held on to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 97-93 for their third win in four games.

After scoring just 69 points in a 16-point loss to Memphis, the Kings made sure there would not be another offensive letdown.

They led most of the way but needed a late burst from Evans, who scored six of the team’s last nine points in the final four minutes. He finished with 16 for the game.

DeMarcus Cousins added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and James Johnson chipped in with nine points and a season-high nine rebounds for the Kings (16-25)…

Kemba Walker had a chance to tie the game but shot an airball on a 3-point attempt with 3 seconds left as Charlotte lost its 14th straight game at home. Walker had 14 points and 10 assists.

Ramon Sessions scored 16 points for Charlotte (10-30) while Gerald Henderson chipped in with 15.

Brendan Haywood had a season-high five blocked shots for the Bobcats. … Thomas tied a season-high seven assists for the Kings and tied a season-high with five rebounds.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

Tony Parker, Spurs hold off Hawks, 98-93

With Tim Duncan given a night off and Manu Ginobili still out with a hamstring injury, Tony Parker took the lead for the San Antonio Spurs.

Parker had 23 points and 12 assists, and the Spurs held off the short-handed Atlanta Hawks 98-93 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

”Tony is just incredible,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. ”What competitiveness. What a will to win. What a will to carry the team. He’s really fun to watch at both ends of the court. And he’s been doing that all year.”

The Spurs snapped a streak of three straight road losses with their first win away from San Antonio since Jan. 2.

Matt Bonner added 17 points, and Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter each had 14 for the Spurs.

Parker had 10 points in the final period as the Spurs held off the Hawks’ comeback. He was effective with his drives and when setting up Splitter on pick-and-roll plays…

The Hawks announced about 90 minutes before the game that guard Lou Williams faces season-ending surgery for a torn ACL in his right knee. Williams was hurt Friday at Brooklyn and the tear was found when Williams was examined on Saturday by Dr. Michael Bernot in Atlanta…

Josh Smith led the Hawks with 21 points. Kyle Korver, who started at shooting guard, had 19 points and a season-high eight rebounds.

— Reported by Charles Odum of the Associated Press

Warriors continue to lose when playing in San Antonio

It’s been 16 years since the Warriors won in San Antonio. That means Tim Duncan has been a winner in every home game he’s ever played against Golden State, and he wasn’t about to let that change Friday night.

Duncan had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and the Spurs held off Golden State 95-88 on Friday night to extend their home winning streak to 14 games.

The Warriors have lost 28 straight games in San Antonio, the longest current road drought for one NBA team against another.

”Don’t say that. Why do you say that?” Spurs guard Tony Parker said, joking about jinxing the streak. ”We don’t really pay attention to those stats because every year is different, every team is different. Golden State is for real. They are a really, really good team. It’s going to be tough against them.”

The last time the Warriors won in San Antonio was 108-94 on Feb. 14, 1997. Four months later, the Spurs selected Duncan with the top pick in the NBA draft.

Parker added 25 points and eight assists for San Antonio (31-11), an NBA-best 18-2 at home. Tiago Splitter added 19 points and nine rebounds, and Danny Green scored 13.

”It was another tough game with playoff intensity,” Parker said. ”It was very physical and they are a very good team. They are playing very well and they played very hard tonight.”

David Lee had 22 points, Klay Thompson added 21 and Jarrett Jack 20 for Golden State (23-15).

— Reported by the Associated Press

Grizzlies beat Kings to end 3-game losing streak

After a trio of blowout losses, the Memphis Grizzlies got back in rhythm for their own double-digit victory.

Mike Conley scored 19 points, Marc Gasol added 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Grizzlies snapped a three-game losing streak Friday night with an 85-69 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

The Grizzlies lost 103-82 San Antonio, 99-73 against the Los Angeles Clippers and 104-83 to Dallas in their last three games.

”It was a must-win game,” said forward Marreese Speights, who had 10 points and nine rebounds filling in for the injured Zach Randolph. ”We knew that before the game. We knew that (Thursday) when we had a team meeting. We knew we couldn’t lose at home and get blown out like we did the last three games.”

All five Memphis starters were in double figures as Tony Allen had 14 points and nine rebounds, plus six assists. Allen also had three blocks, while Rudy Gay scored 15 points.

The tailspin, amid trade talks involving Gay and other distractions, such as Gasol and Conley being the only players invited to a dinner with new owner Robert Pera, led to worries from fans and the team meeting Speights mentioned…

DeMarcus Cousins was the only Sacramento player in double figures with 22 points, plus 12 rebounds as the Kings saw their two-game winning streak end. Isaiah Thomas had nine points and five assists as the Kings recorded a season-low nine assists in the game.

— Reported by Clay Bailey of the Associated Press

Nets beat Hawks 94-89 for home-and-home split

The Brooklyn Nets paid back the Hawks and now want to get even with the Knicks.

Deron Williams scored 24 points, making four free throws in the final 43.4 seconds, and Brooklyn beat Atlanta 94-89 on Friday night to earn a split of a home-and-home series.

Brook Lopez added 20 points for the Nets, who bounced back from a 109-95 loss in Atlanta on Wednesday that snapped their seven-game winning streak.

The Nets pulled within two games of the first-place Knicks ahead of Monday’s matchup at Madison Square Garden, their final meeting of the season. New York has won the last two after Brooklyn took the first game as city rivals.

”We’ve got to go in there with the mind-frame that we understand it’s going to be a hostile environment and some way, somehow we’ve got to come out of there on top,” Nets guard Joe Johnson said. ”They beat us the last two times and we owe them.”

Johnson, a perennial All-Star in Atlanta before the Hawks dealt him to the Nets last summer, finished with 18 points. Reggie Evans grabbed 20 rebounds as the Nets beat the Hawks for the first time in seven meetings…

Jeff Teague had 21 points and 10 assists for the Hawks, who played without Horford, their starting center, and lost key reserve Lou Williams to a serious-looking right knee injury. Former Nets guard Devin Harris scored 17 and Josh Smith had 12 points and nine rebounds in his return from a one-game team suspension, but shot just 5 of 15.

The Hawks were only 5 of 22 from the field in the fourth quarter and lost for the seventh time in nine games…

Drew said Horford had a sore hamstring and calf. He was in uniform but didn’t start for just the second time in Hawks’ 39 games, and Drew decided not to use him at all.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Paul George leads Pacers past Rockets 105-95

Paul George made everything look easy Friday night.

Scoring, rebound, playing defense, even winning seems second-nature to the Pacers’ budding star these days.

George finished with 31 points, and David West added 20 points and 11 rebounds, helping Central Division-leading Indiana pull away from struggling Houston 105-95.

”My guys found me, so I just had to knock shots down,” George said. ”It felt good, it’s easy to start in a flow when you get some good looks early on and that was the case tonight.”

George has been the key figure in Indiana’s incredible turnaround. The Pacers (25-16) have rebounded from a sluggish start by going 15-5 over the last 20 games, pulling even in the win column with the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference and winning 11 straight at home – their longest since winning 14 in a row in 2002-03.

Plus, George continued to make his case for being on the East’s All-Star roster by going 8-of-11 from the field and knocking down five 3-pointers in the first half, and then playing a second half in which he looked content to make all the right moves regardless of his scoring chances.

The result: George finished 11 of 19 from the field, 7 of 10 from 3-point range, had six rebounds, five steals, three assists and one block in a game the Pacers dictated almost from start to finish. It was George’s third 30-point game of the season…

While Omer Asik scored a career-high 22 points and finished with 11 rebounds, the Pacers held James Harden to 17 points on 5-of-19 shooting. Harden, who was defended most of the night by George, had a career-best streak of 22 straight games with 20 or more points end on the same night the NBA’s second-best scoring team finished 10 points below it average and shot just 41.0 percent from the field.

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

Bobcats beat Magic to end 5-game losing streak

A little rest turned out to be the perfect slump-buster for the Charlotte Bobcats.

A jolt from their speedy backcourt didn’t hurt, either.

Three days after getting flicked aside in a 27-point loss against Indiana, the Bobcats got 25 points from Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson added 17 as they broke out of a five-game losing streak with a 106-100 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday night.

”It was very important to us,” Henderson said. ”A lot of games recently we put ourselves in the hole to start the game and kind of have to climb uphill to try to get a win. It’s a tough thing.” …

Charlotte started fast and shot the ball well throughout, with its field goal percentage hovering above 50 percent for most of the night. The Bobcats also shot 17 more free throws than Orlando, including some crucial ones in the final minute to secure the victory.

Their guard play off the bench was also big, with Ramon Sessions leading all reserves with 15 points and seven assists. The Bobcats also finished with just 11 turnovers…

Arron Afflalo led Orlando with 23 points, followed by Jameer Nelson with 22…

Charlotte earned its first road win since Jan. 6, improving to 5-14 on the season. … Vucevic finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, ending his string of eight straight double-doubles.

— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press

Jrue Holiday scores 33 in Sixers OT win over Raptors

After sending the game to overtime, Jrue Holiday single-handedly took over during the extra session.

In the process, the fourth-year point guard continued to make a strong case for his first career All-Star berth next month in Houston. The reserves will be announced on Thursday night.

Holiday had a career-high tying 33 points and 14 assists, including all 12 of Philadelphia’s points in overtime as the 76ers overcame a 19-point second half deficit to defeat the Toronto Raptors 108-101 on Friday.

”I really don’t know,” Holiday said about whether he deserves to play in the All-Star game. ”Obviously, that’s a goal I’d like to have under my belt. If I have to do this every game for us for our team to win, so be it.”

Thaddeus Young added 27 points and 14 rebounds while Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen had 12 apiece for the Sixers, who improved to 17-23…

Ed Davis had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors. Terrence Ross and Alan Anderson each scored 18.

Jose Calderon chipped in 13 points and Kyle Lowry had 11 points and 11 assists before fouling out for Toronto, which fell to 4-17 on the road. The Raptors lost their fourth in a row.

— Reported by the Associated Press