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Nets beat Pacers, now 8-1 under coach P.J. Carlesimo

Brook Lopez rebounded from an awful start to score nine points in a crucial 17-0, fourth-quarter run, leading the Brooklyn Nets to a come-from-behind, 97-86 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night at the Barclays Center.

Brooklyn (22-15) earned its sixth consecutive win, improving to 8-1 under interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo. The Pacers (23-15) saw their four-game winning streak end. Indiana had won 18 of 20 this season when taking a lead into the fourth quarter.

The Pacers led 75-69 going into the final period, and they pushed the lead to eight on a power move from Ian Mahinmi with 10:56 remaining.

The Nets scored the game’s next 17 points run over a span of 4:14, with Lopez leading the way. He entered the fourth quarter shooting 1-for-8 from the floor, but he hit two big corner jumpers and had two big dunks in the late surge. Lopez finished the night with 15 points and nine rebounds.

Brooklyn point guard Deron Williams, who suffered a thigh contusion in Friday’s win over the Phoenix Suns, scored 12 of his team-high 22 points in the first quarter. Williams also had nine assists. Joe Johnson added 20 points for the winners.

Indiana’s David West scored a game-high 27 points. Paul George added 15 points and 12 rebounds, and former Net Gerald Green had 15 off the bench for the Pacers.

— Reported by Jim Hague of the Sports Xchange

Bucks rally to beat Raptors 107-96

Milwaukee’s Larry Sanders has made a name for himself as a shot blocker this season. Few have been as pivotal as the one he pulled off against Toronto on Sunday.

Brandon Jennings had 19 points and 10 assists, rookie John Henson scored 19 and the Bucks rallied from a 20-point first quarter deficit to beat Toronto 107-96, their eighth straight victory over the Raptors.

Sanders extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one block to 23 with a pair of rejected shots. His biggest, however, was a block on DeMar DeRozan’s layup attempt with 3:09 to play and the Bucks clinging to a 92-91 lead.

”He’s a flier,” Sanders said of DeRozan. ”I just had to try and get the timing right.” …

Sanders finished with 11 points and eight rebounds for the Bucks, who won for the 12th time in 15 meetings with the Raptors.

Monta Ellis scored 17 points and Dunleavy had 15 as the Bucks improved to 3-1 under new coach Jim Boylan…

Amir Johnson had 22 points and 14 rebounds and Ed David had 20 and 12 for the Raptors, who led 32-12 early but lost their fifth straight home meeting with the Bucks.

DeRozan scored 23 points and Jose Calderon scored 15 of his 21 in Toronto’s big first quarter, but the Raptors couldn’t hold on, losing for the first time in three games.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Big Melo second quarter helps Knicks beat Hornets

Carmelo Anthony was hungry, and not just to end the Knicks’ losing streak.

He wanted something to eat.

Anthony, struggling to keep his energy up while fasting for two weeks, snapped out of a slow start by scoring 18 of his 27 points in the second quarter, and New York ended its season-high, three-game skid with a 100-87 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday.

Anthony missed seven of eight shots and scored two points in the first quarter of the noon start he dislikes, then outscored the Hornets by himself in the second period as the Knicks took the lead for good.

”I’m kind of going through something right now with my own self, trying to find some energy and things like that. But we’ll be fine,” Anthony said. ”We bounced back pretty well, I bounced back pretty well, stuck with it and won the game.”

Anthony has scored 20 or more in a career-best 24 straight games, but it’s been a struggle for him lately.

The All-Star forward said he hadn’t had any meats or carbs in 15 days, and that his body just felt ”depleted out there.” Perhaps that explains his 6-for-26 shooting night in a loss to Boston on Monday, or the consecutive 1-for-8 first quarters in the last two games…

Chris Copeland added 22 points for the Knicks, who had seen their Atlantic Division lead trimmed to two games by Brooklyn while losing five of their previous seven games. Battling injuries, they play only once in the next week, facing the Detroit Pistons on Thursday in London…

Eric Gordon scored 22 points as the Hornets had their four-game winning streak snapped. Coach Monty Williams said the Hornets didn’t bring the competitive edge they’d had lately.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Mavs step up and beat Grizzlies 104-83

Dirk Nowitzki is coming along gradually. Maybe the Dallas Mavericks are, too.

Nowitzki scored 17 points and was one of three Dallas starters who didn’t miss from 3-point range, and Shawn Marion had a season-high 20 to lead the Mavericks to consecutive wins for the first time in a month with a 104-83 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.

The Mavericks, three days removed from dropping 10 games under .500 for the first time in 13 years, beat a team with a winning record for just the fourth time this season. They did it soundly, too, taking their first 30-point lead of the season and coasting through the fourth quarter.

”It’s the kind of game we need,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. ”We need more of these, but they’re hard to come by.”

The Grizzlies were ragged a night after a big overtime win against Southwest Division-leading San Antonio. Memphis shot 38 percent and Rudy Gay was the only starter in double figures, in part because all five of them sat out the entire fourth quarter. Gay led the Grizzlies with 12 points…

All five starters scored in double figures for Dallas, with Chris Kaman stringing together eight straight in the third quarter and finishing with 14. O.J. Mayo had 11 and Darren Collison 10.

The Mavericks were 11 of 17 from 3-point range, and the starters made eight of nine. Nowitzki hit three, Mayo two and Collison had one. Marion was the only starter to miss, going 2 of 3…

Randolph, who entered the game leading the NBA with 24 double-doubles, had six points and four rebounds.

— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press

Mario Chalmers hits 10 three-pointers in Heat win over Kings

Often overlooked on the star-laden Miami Heat, Mario Chalmers came up big against the Sacramento Kings.

Chalmers had career highs with 10 3-pointers and 34 points to lead the Heat to a 128-99 victory over the Kings on Saturday night. Chalmers’ 3s tied Brian Shaw’s franchise record and set the new mark at Sacramento’s Sleep Train Arena as he finished 10 of 13 from 3-point territory.

”He had it going and we kept finding him. Mario was awesome,” LeBron James said. ”He was knocking down shots all game.”

And that included the fourth quarter, when the Heat led by more than 30 points and the only suspense was whether Chalmers would exceed his career-high for points and break the Heat 3-point record.

Chalmers came back in the game midway through the fourth quarter and made two more 3s to tie Shaw’s mark. But he never got off another 3 and left the game after playing just under three minutes in the quarter.

”I asked him (Heat coach Erik Spoelstra) to put me back in. I knew what the record was,” Chalmers said. ”I wanted to get one more to beat it.”

It was a nice bounce-back game for the Heat, who had dropped two straight and five of eight since Dec. 26. They led by 22 points at the half and outscored the Kings 37-29 in the third quarter in cruising to the lopsided victory.

James had 20 points, seven assists, five steals and two blocks for the Heat, who had a season-high point total. Miami hadn’t topped 100 points in its previous four games.

— Reported by Jeff Weidel of the Associated Press

Jrue Holiday scores 30, Sixers beat Rockets

The 76ers found the fresh start at home they wanted.

Jrue Holiday scored 30 points, Thaddeus Young had 18 points and 12 rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 107-100 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

Jason Richardson scored 16 points for the Sixers, who finally return home for a lengthy stint as they try to play their way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Sixers opened a stretch of 12 home games in the next 13 and hope they can start to offset a miserable 2-6 road trip that stretched over the new year. They played 12 of 15 on the road dating back to Dec. 14…

The road woes are one reason the Sixers are only 6-16 after a nice 10-6 start to the season. But it’s turned into crunch time quickly for the Sixers as they as try and get back to .500 in the next month before the hopeful return of injured center Andrew Bynum.

James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points and Chandler Parsons had 23. Jeremy Lin missed 11 of 13 shots for seven points en route to Houston’s third straight loss…

Houston’s cold stretch was uncharacteristic of a team that was second in the NBA in scoring (105.60 points) behind Oklahoma City. The Rockets only shot 30 percent from 3-point range (8 of 32) and had no answer to stop Holiday en route to their third straight loss.

— Reported by Dan Gelston of the Associated Press

John Wall returns in Wizards win over Hawks

John Wall gave his teammates a lift with 14 points and four assists in his first game of the season, and the worst-in-NBA Washington Wizards have their first winning streak after a 93-83 victory Saturday night over the Atlanta Hawks.

Wall’s playing time will be limited as he returns from a knee injury, but he appeared to have his old speed and explosiveness back while playing seven minutes in the first half and 15 in the second half.

No. 3 overall pick Bradley Beal, getting to play with Wall for the first time, scored 16 points for the Wizards, who are 6-28 but have strung together two wins in a row following their upset of Oklahoma City on Monday.

A.J Price added 16 points and Martell Webster had 15 for the Wizards, who never trailed in the second half.

Jeff Teague scored 19 points, Al Horford had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Josh Smith added 11 points for the Hawks, who have lost five of six. Atlanta had won 18 of its previous 19 against Washington, including six in a row.

— Reported by Joseph White of the Associated Press

Magic break 10-game losing streak with road win over Clippers

Two streaking teams going in opposite directions. The Clippers, co-owners of the NBA’s best record and on a roll at home. The Magic, playing opponents close only to fall short while piling up the franchise’s longest skid since the 2003-04 season…

J.J. Redick gave Orlando its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left, Arron Afflalo tied his season high with 30 points, and the Magic won 104-101 on Saturday to snap a 10-game skid.

“It wasn’t a letdown by us. Don’t try to take anything away from them,” Clippers guard Chris Paul said. “They made tough shot after tough shot. J.J. Reddick had a hand in his face half the time.” …

Redick added 21 points, and Vucevic had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the injury-riddled Magic, who also stopped a four-game road losing streak. They completed a sweep of the LA teams, having beaten the Lakers 113-103 at Staples Center on Dec. 2, when Afflalo also scored 30 points.

“Too bad we can’t play here all year,” said Afflalo, who starred at UCLA before Vucevic played across town at Southern California. “I was the sour grape at the end letting guys know this only counts as one game.”

Griffin tied his season-high with 30 points, Crawford added 13 points, and Paul had 10 points and 16 assists for the Clippers…

Grant Hill made his season debut for the Clippers, entering the game to a standing ovation in the fourth. The seven-time All-Star had missed 36 games with a bone bruise in his right knee. He made two free throws and had two rebounds in six minutes.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Raptors stay hot, beat Bobcats by 21

Alan Anderson scored 16 points against his former team, Jose Calderon had 15 and the Toronto Raptors won for the 10th time in 13 games Friday night, beating the Charlotte Bobcats 99-78.

Amir Johnson had 13 points and eight rebounds while Ed Davis had 12 points and eight boards for the Raptors, who led by as many as 24.

Anderson had four of Toronto’s 12 3-pointers, while Calderon and Kyle Lowry each made three.

Toronto has not trailed in each of its past three victories, including home wins over Portland on Jan. 2 and Philadelphia on Jan. 9.

Starting for the second straight game, Toronto’s Landry Fields matched his season high with 11 rebounds.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kemba Walker and Ben Gordon each scored 12 points as Charlotte’s modest streak of two straight road victories came to an end.

Ramon Sessions scored 11 for the Bobcats, and rookie Jeff Taylor had 10.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Blazers come from behind to beat Heat

The upstart Portland Trail Blazers would not allow the Miami Heat to pull out of its funk.

Wesley Matthews hit a 3-pointer to put Portland in front with 26.9 seconds left and the Blazers hung on to beat Miami 92-90 Thursday night for their fourth straight win and ninth straight at the Rose Garden.

The Blazers (20-15) are now 12-3 in their last 15 games.

”Our confidence is extremely high,” Matthews said. ”Playing hard, playing well, we’re having fun out there. So that’s a great combination.”

The Heat, meanwhile, have lost two straight and five of eight, yet the defending NBA champions are still 23-11 and lead the Eastern Conference by a half-game over New York.

LeBron James had 15 points, snapping his 54-game streak with at least 20 points that dated back to last season. It was his lowest point total in the last 76 regular-season and playoff contests. But James did have 10 rebounds and nine assists against Portland…

Batum led the Blazers with 28 points, and Aldridge had 20 points and 15 rebounds. Matthews finished with 18 points.

”It felt great,” Matthews said about his go-ahead 3. ”It looked better.”

Bosh had 29 points for the Eastern Conference-leading Heat, who were coming off an 87-77 loss to the Pacers on Tuesday night. Dwyane Wade had 18 points.

— Reported by Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press