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Amir Johnson leads Raptors past slumping 76ers

After finishing off a long stretch of games with another deflating defeat, the Philadelphia 76ers are finally getting a chance to rest.

Jrue Holiday, for one, couldn’t be more excited.

Amir Johnson had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Jose Calderon added 14 points and 11 assists, and the Toronto Raptors never trailed in a 90-72 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday night, handing the slumping 76ers their fifth straight loss.

Holiday and Thaddeus Young each scored 16 points and Evan Turner had 10 as the Sixers set a season low in points and lost for the 13th time in 16 games. Philadelphia has played 12 of its past 16 on the road, winning just twice…

Starting for the first time since Nov. 7, Toronto’s Landry Fields set season highs with 10 points and 11 rebounds…

DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points and Ed Davis had 17 for the Raptors, who had lost six of their previous seven meetings with Philadelphia, including three straight…

Philadelphia’s Jason Richardson did not play because of a sore wrist. Collins said he gave Richardson, who has missed time with back and ankle injuries this season, ”a San Antonio Spur day.”

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Reggie Evans grabs 23 rebounds in Nets win over 76ers

P.J. Carlesimo had little patience for questions about Andray Blatche before the Brooklyn Nets routed the Philadelphia 76ers.

”He’s been playing well and I expect him to play well today,” he said.

Blatche did play well, scoring 20 points hours after he was questioned by Philadelphia police as part of a sexual assault investigation at an upscale hotel. He helped the Nets improve to 6-1 under Carlesimo with a 109-89 win over the 76ers on Tuesday night…

Reggie Evans grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds, and Williams scored 22 points for the Nets.

Evans dominated on the glass, outrebounding the undersized Sixers 23-22 through three quarters. Evans had 22 rebounds against Seattle in 2006.

Up by one at halftime, the Nets routed the Sixers in the third. Joe Johnson, who scored 15 points, and Gerald Wallace each hit 3-pointers during a game-changing 16-2 run to open the quarter. The Nets made 14 of 19 shots in the third to stretch the lead to 23 points…

Evans had 16 rebounds (12 defensive) by halftime, three fewer than Philadelphia’s total. He had 20 rebounds with 6:54 left in the third, one more than the Sixers. He finished with 17 defensive rebounds, but scored only two points..

”It don’t matter to me about scoring,” Evans said. ”We’ve got guys in here that can go out and score 100 points every night. When I score, it’s a bonus. I just want to go out, do what I do, and get wins.”

Jrue Holiday scored 19 points and Spencer Hawes had 14 for the Sixers, who stumbled home from a 2-6 trip and on a three-game losing streak.

— Reported by Dan Gelston of the Associated Press

Rockets beat banged-up Lakers 125-112 for 5th straight win

James Harden scored 31 points and Chandler Parsons added 20 to help the Houston Rockets pick up their fifth straight win with a 125-112 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Houston trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, but used a pair of runs in the third quarter to go on top and build a big lead.

World Peace had a season-high 24 points for the Lakers, who were playing without their top three big men: Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill – who are all out with injuries.

Bryant added 20 points for the Lakers and Nash had 16 points and 10 assists to become only the fifth player to surpass 10,000 career assists, joining John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Mark Jackson and Magic Johnson…

The Rockets have rallied from double-digit deficits for their last three wins. As usual, they did it on Tuesday night behind the strong play of Harden, who has scored at least 25 points in 13 straight games…

Howard has a torn labrum in his right shoulder, Gasol has a concussion and Hill a right hip injury. All three are out indefinitely. Seven-foot rookie center Robert Sacre made his first career start due to the injuries, and finished with 10 points, four blocked shots and three rebounds…

Jeremy Lin chipped in 19 points with six rebounds and five assists for Houston, and Carlos Delfino also scored 19.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Nikola Pekovic powers Timberwolves over slumping Hawks

Nikola Pekovic is bulldozing the paint and Ricky Rubio is ready to start ramping up his minutes, giving the Minnesota Timberwolves hope that they can withstand another long stretch without All-Star forward Kevin Love.

Larry Drew’s Atlanta Hawks have hit the skids after a superb start to the season, prompting the coach to label them ”soft,” which never sits very well with professional athletes.

Pekovic had 25 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Andrei Kirilenko added 21 points and the Timberwolves beat the Hawks 108-103 on Tuesday night.

Derrick Williams scored 17 points and Alexey Shved had 15 for the Timberwolves, who were missing coach Rick Adelman due to personal reasons and will be without Love for the foreseeable future while he deals with a broken right hand for the second time this season. Terry Porter filled in as coach and led the Wolves to their first victory over Atlanta since 2006, snapping an 11-game skid…

Josh Smith had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Al Horford had 19 points and 11 boards for the Hawks, who have lost three straight and four of their last five. They lost for the first time this year when Smith and Horford each get a double-double…

Rubio had eight assists, four steals and four points in 18 minutes in his first game back after missing the previous four with back spasms…

Lou Williams finished with 21 points and eight assists for the Hawks, who trailed by 14 to start the fourth but had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Bucks beat Suns in first game under coach Jim Boylan

Brandon Jennings glanced over and expected to see coach Scott Skiles on the end of the Milwaukee Bucks’ bench. Instead, he saw Jim Boylan sitting in Skiles’ old spot.

Jennings scored 29 points and the Bucks gave Boylan a win in his first game as coach with a 108-99 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night…

The Bucks parted ways with Skiles on Monday in what was called a mutual decision, and the Bucks tapped Skiles’ top assistant Boylan as a replacement…

Jennings, who before the game said he was frustrated that he learned of the coaching change from Skiles himself instead of someone from the Bucks organization, made 9 of 15 shots and had nine assists…

Goran Dragic scored 21 points and Jared Dudley added 18 for Phoenix.

Larry Sanders had 10 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and three steals for Milwaukee. The Suns scored only 10 points in the paint in the second half as Sanders dominated defensively…

The Bucks won despite an off-night from leading scorer Monta Ellis, who missed 14 of 19 shots and committed five turnovers. Ellis finished with 13 points after coming in with a 19.4 average.

Boylan made a couple of significant changes in his first game at the helm, inserting forward Ersan Ilyasova into the starting lineup and giving more minutes to rookie forward John Henson, the team’s first-round draft pick.

Ilyasova had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes. Henson had 12 points and 11 rebounds in 19 minutes.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Paul George scores 29, Pacers beat Heat 87-77

Paul George had 29 points and 11 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers held Miami to a season-low point total in an 87-77 win over the Heat on Tuesday night.

George made four 3-pointers to get the best of his matchup with LeBron James. David West added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Lance Stephenson chipped in with 13 points for the Pacers (21-14), who have won 11 of their last 13 games.

Dwyane Wade scored 30 points and James had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Miami (23-10), which still has the best record in the Eastern Conference.

It was the first time the teams had met since Miami beat the Pacers in six games in the conference semifinals last year.

The Pacers outrebounded the Heat 55-36 to help make up for 36 percent shooting.

George had gone 8 for 29 in his previous two games, but he broke out of his slump by making 12 of 27 shots against Miami.

Miami entered the game leading the NBA in field goal percentage, while Indiana led the league in field goal percentage defense. The matchup resulted in the Heat scoring only 35 points in the second half, their lowest-scoring half of the season.

— Reported by Cliff Brunt of the Associated Press

Gordon Hayward scores 27 to lift Jazz over Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks had no answer for Gordon Hayward.

Hayward scored a season-high 27 points, including four 3-pointers [plus six rebounds and five assists], to lead the Utah Jazz past Dallas 100-94 on Monday night.

”He hurt us all night long,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said of Hayward. ”He’s a very athletic player. He is very skilled and he understands how to play. He got to us time and time again.”

Hayward hit back-to-back 3s and Marvin Williams followed with another to get the Jazz even at halftime. Hayward drained another with 2:19 left in the fourth to bump Utah’s lead to 93-86.

Dirk Nowitzki scored six straight for Dallas after that but also was called for a charge with 32 seconds remaining as he tried to get Dallas within two…

Nowitzki led the Mavs with 20 points in his second start this season after missing the first 27 games because of offseason knee surgery…

Derrick Favors tangled with Nowitzki in the lane, leaving him in a heap on the floor. The 14th-year pro had others swiping at him…

Al Jefferson added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Utah (18-18), which has won both meetings with Dallas this season.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin of the Associated Press

Celtics beat Knicks in first matchup of the season

Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett jawed from baseline to midcourt, and Anthony still had more to say.

So the Knicks forward went toward the Celtics locker room after the game to keep shouting, taking his frustrations from the court right along with him and perhaps risking an NBA suspension.

Paul Pierce scored 23 points, and Boston beat New York 102-96 on Monday night in a heated first meeting of the season between the Atlantic Division rivals.

Anthony left without talking to reporters and the Knicks wouldn’t comment on Anthony’s postgame trip in the wrong direction, but Celtics coach Doc Rivers didn’t deny it.

”I’m going to let you all figure that one out. I’m going to stay out of that,” Rivers said. ”If it was the playoffs I’d tell on him, but since it’s not I’m going to just be quiet.”

Rivers didn’t need to. MSG Network reported the incident, in which security had to step in and send Anthony back in the right direction, as it went to its postgame show, and the league likely will investigate and could penalize the Knicks’ leading scorer…

Garnett added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who even without the suspended Rajon Rondo won their third straight and finally are playing like the team that has ruled the division for the last half-decade…

Anthony had 20 points but shot 6 of 26 while battling his temper, Garnett and foul trouble…

J.R. Smith led the Knicks with 24 points. Tyson Chandler had 13 points and 17 rebounds.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Trail Blazers beat Magic 125-119 in overti

Wesley Matthews thinks the Trail Blazers are better suited for overtime.

That made it tough on the Orlando Magic, who were handed their ninth straight loss in Portland’s 125-119 overtime victory on Monday night. The Blazers have won all five of their games that have gone into extra periods this season.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Matthews finished with 24 points – including a dunk that all but sealed it with less than a minute left.

Both teams were clearly exhausted by the end.

”It’s alright. We’ll take it,” Matthews said. ”For whatever reason, this team is built for overtime. I’d rather not go into it, I’d rather win it in regulation. But we dug deep.”

J.J. Hickson added 20 points and 15 rebounds for his 20th double-double this season for the Blazers, who have won three straight overall and 11 of their last 14 games.

It was Portland’s eighth straight win at the Rose Garden.

Nicolas Batum, who finished with 16 points and 10 assists, said Portland’s OT successes are a credit to how well the players have come to know each other.

— Reported by Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press

Eric Gordon carries Hornets to victory over Spurs

Hornets fans grew restless as guard Eric Gordon sat out much of the early season rehabilitating his injured knee.

A New Year’s Day appearance at New Orleans Arena was met with a mixture of cheers as well as jeers.

But Gordon may be turning those dissenters into fans, proving he may just be worth the Hornets nearly $60 million investment.

Gordon scored 24 points, including six consecutive in a critical fourth quarter run, to lead the Hornets to a 95-88 victory over San Antonio on Monday night.

”That’s one of the key things I do best when it comes to late-game situations or if anything gets tough,” Gordon said. ”I like to take guys one on one and I’m able to get a shot off and get a good shot. I look forward to that.

”I love those situations,” he said.

Anthony Davis added 17 points, Greivis Vasquez 14 and Ryan Anderson 13 for the Hornets, who have won two consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 2-3, the second and third games of the season…

Manu Ginobili scored 21 points to lead the Spurs, who had won eight of their previous nine, dating to a 99-94 victory over the Hornets in San Antonio on Dec. 21.

Tony Parker added 16 points, Tim Duncan 13 and Kawhi Leonard 10 for San Antonio. Duncan was 5 of 14, at one point missing five consecutive shots in the third quarter.

— Reported by the Associated Press