John Lucas steps up in 4th, Raptors beat Hornets 102-89

John Lucas

John Lucas scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to match his season high, Rudy Gay had 20 points and the Toronto Raptors beat the New Orleans Hornets 102-89 on Sunday.

Kyle Lowry had 14 points and 10 assists and Amir Johnson scored 14 points for the Raptors, who won consecutive games for the first time since beating Philadelphia and Charlotte on Jan. 9 and 11.

Jonas Valanciunas had 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors blew open a close game by outscoring the Hornets 33-23 in the final quarter.

Robin Lopez scored 19 points, Greivis Vasquez had 17 and Ryan Anderson 15 for the Hornets, who lost for the first time in three games. Brian Roberts had 13 points for New Orleans, which has won more than two straight just once this season…

Johnson scored 12 points in the first and Gay had eight as the Raptors took advantage of six New Orleans turnovers to take a 32-21 lead after one quarter…

Toronto C Andrea Bargnani did not dress because of flulike symptoms. … Valanciunas started for the first time in five games since returning from an 18-game injury absence. … Toronto F Landry Fields, returned after missing the previous three games with back spasms.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Magic beat Blazers to end 12-game losing streak

jj redick

J.J. Redick scored 22 points, Nikola Vucevic added 17 points and 19 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic snapped a 12-game losing streak with a 110-104 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.

The Magic shot 50 percent from the field in earning their first win since Jan. 16. They play their next two games at home. Reserve Gustavo Ayon had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando.

LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 25 points. Nicolas Batum added 19 points and Wesley Matthews chipped in 17.

The Blazers, who have lost three in a row overall, fell to 1-7 in their last eight road games. They play at Miami on Tuesday and New Orleans on Wednesday before the All-Star break.

Orlando held a 79-72 lead entering the final quarter but had to push back against multiple attempts at a run by the Blazers down the stretch…

Orlando is the second straight opponent to shoot at least 50 percent against Portland…

Magic F Hedo Turkoglu missed his third straight game with flu-like symptoms.

— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press

Tayshaun Prince shoots 8-of-8 as Grizzlies beat Wolves 105-88

tayshaun prince

Tayshaun Prince scored 18 points, hitting all eight of his shots from the field, and the Memphis Grizzlies pulled away in the second quarter before coasting to a 105-88 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.

Three other Memphis players – Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Austin Daye – each finished with 16 points. Conley also handed out eight assists, while Randolph grabbed eight rebounds to help the Grizzlies win their second straight.

Luke Ridnour and Ricky Rubio led the Timberwolves with 17 points apiece, and both finished with four assists. Mickael Gelabale scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Alexey Shved had 10 points and nine assists for Minnesota.

The loss continues a tailspin for the Timberwolves, who have lost 15 of their last 17 – including eight straight on the road.

Memphis outscored the injury-depleted Timberwolves 50-32 in the paint, and had a 20-4 advantage in fast-break points. The Grizzlies, as they did in Friday’s win over Golden State, did a good job in spreading the ball, recording 30 assists on 41 field goals…

The wounded Wolves were without F Chase Budinger, F Andrei Kirilenko, F/C Kevin Love, G Malcolm Lee and G Brandon Roy because of an array of injuries, leaving Minnesota with only 10 players. J.J. Barea didn’t play because of a left foot sprain…

Grizzlies F Quincy Pondexter played for the first time since suffering a left MCL sprain on Dec. 29 against Denver.

— Reported by Clay Bailey of the Associated Press

LeBron scores 32, Heat beat Lakers 107-97

lebron james

LeBron James scored 32 points on 12-for-18 shooting in a record-setting show, Dwyane Wade scored 30 and the Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-97 on Sunday for their fifth straight win.

It was James’ fifth straight game with at least 30 points, a franchise record. He also joined Adrian Dantley (1979) and Moses Malone (1982) as the only NBA players to score at least 30 and shoot at least 60 percent in five straight outings, the team said.

”Don’t take it for granted,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ”He’s making greatness look easy.”

Mario Chalmers scored 13 and Chris Bosh finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat.

Kobe Bryant had 28 points and nine assists for the Lakers, who also got 18 points from Earl Clark. The Lakers had eight turnovers in the fourth quarter, while Miami had none…

Dwight Howard and Steve Nash each scored 15 for the Lakers…

Wade also shot 12 for 18 for Miami, which shot 55 percent as a team and held a 38-29 edge in rebounding. James scored 20 in the second half and Wade had 18 in the final two quarters, but the defending NBA champions weren’t able to pull away until the final minutes…

Rapper Lil Wayne – a semi-regular in the crowd at Heat games – was there for the first half, then tweeted that he was ejected for rooting for the Lakers. Security personnel were seen talking to the rapper at halftime, and a Heat spokesman said after the game that he chose to leave on his own and was not ejected.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Chris Paul scores 25, Clippers beat Knicks 102-88

chris paul

Chris Paul preserved the big lead that Jamal Crawford helped build, then they both looked elsewhere for the key to this Clippers victory.

”I think the game ball goes to Grant Hill,” Paul said.

Hill led the defensive effort that limited Carmelo Anthony to one basket in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles pulled away for a 102-88 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.

Anthony scored 42 points in his fifth 40-point game of the season, but took only two shots in the final period while defended by the 40-year-old Hill, who didn’t even play in the first half but was on the floor for the final 15:21…

Paul scored 25 points in his second game back from injury and Crawford, a former Knicks guard, had 27. Blake Griffin finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who bounced back from a 22-point loss in Miami on Friday to win for just the fourth time in 12 games. They finish off their eight-game Grammys road trip Monday in Philadelphia…

Raymond Felton scored 20 points for the Knicks, who lost for the second time in eight games and wrap up their successful first half Wednesday against Toronto. J.R. Smith was only 1 for 9 from the field, getting badly outplayed by Crawford in a matchup of top NBA reserves…

Paul added seven assists and six rebounds after being held to a season-low three points Friday in Miami. He had missed nine straight and 12 of the previous 14 games with a bruised right kneecap, and an excellent Clippers season hit a rocky patch without him…

The NBA’s three oldest active players were at Madison Square Garden: the Knicks’ Kurt Thomas, who turned 40 in October, Hill (a day younger) and the Knicks’ Jason Kidd (who turns 40 next month).

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Shawn Marion scores 26, Mavericks beat Warriors 116-91

Dallas didn’t have to worry about another close finish against the weary Golden State Warriors.

Shawn Marion scored a season-high 26 points, O.J. Mayo added 19 and the Mavericks handed the Golden State Warriors their fourth straight loss, 116-91 on Saturday night.

Dallas had lost its first two meetings to Golden State by a combined seven points. The Warriors beat the Mavericks 105-101 in overtime on Nov. 19 and edged Dallas 100-97 on Jan. 31. The narrow loss last week was still on Dallas’ mind, especially since coach Rick Carlisle was fined $25,000 for criticizing the late-game officiating.

Darren Collison, who had 18 points and eight assists, keyed a 21-6 first-quarter run. The Mavericks stretched the lead to 27 in the second quarter and were barely threatened after that.

”We were right in the game against Golden State when we played them at their place a week ago,” Collison said. ”I think everybody was upset about that game. We knew had to go at them in the first five minutes.”

Marion went 11 of 16 from the floor and grabbed 11 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki chipped in with 15 points for the Mavericks…

Golden State’s Stephen Curry had 18 points on 8-of-23 shooting and Carl Landry added 13. The Warriors were winless on a four-game road trip that started with a 140-109 loss to Houston on Tuesday night.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Isaiah Thomas scores 25, Kings beat Jazz 120-109

After a prolonged absence, Sacramento Kings fans did a long version of The Wave on Saturday night at Sleep Train Arena.

The Wave was embraced by Kings fans, but the question that lingers is will fans be sadly waving goodbye to the Kings after this season and moaning about their departure to Seattle?

Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points and Marcus Thornton had 24 for the Kings, who played one of their better games in a mostly dreadful season, defeating the Utah Jazz 120-109.

It was a boisterous crowd of 16,193 that was chanting ”Sacramento!” just before tipoff in support of the Kings, who could be sold and move to Seattle next season. The great fan support culminated late in the fourth quarter with The Wave taking more of the center stage than the game. Several Kings players were even doing it on the bench in the fourth quarter, including center DeMarcus Cousins.

”Their energy was crazy, nonstop,” Cousins said. ”I never had a chance to do The Wave so I made sure I included myself in that and it was an incredible experience. Yeah, I got a little fatigued at the end. I didn’t expect it to last that long.”

Sacramento led throughout most of the game and played an aggressive, up-tempo style that had the crowd loudly cheering throughout and displaying signs of support. There were more children at the game than normal, thanks to a grassroots campaign that raised more than $9,000 for kids to attend.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Jose Calderon shines as Pistons beat Bucks 105-100

Hitting a clutch 3-pointer helped Charlie Villanueva forget a critical mistake.

Villanueva big shot with 9.7 seconds left and Rodney Stuckey’s two free throws led the Detroit Pistons past the Milwaukee Bucks 105-100 on Saturday night.

Brandon Jennings, who scored 26 points, took an inbounds pass from Monta Ellis and made a tough fadeaway shot with 47.8 seconds left, but Jose Calderon, who tied his season high with 23 points, came back with a running layup for Detroit that tied it at 100.

After a timeout, the Pistons worked the ball to Villanueva, who got it at the top of the key and swished a 3 with 9.7 seconds left. On the Bucks’ next possession, Jennings fired up a 31-foot 3-point attempt with 3.2 seconds left.

”I was kind of disappointed I made a turnover,” Villanueva said after making a bad pass with less than a minute to play and the game tied at 98. ”I was down on that for a little bit, but I jumped on the next play right away.”

Villanueva said his teammates just made the play happen.

”The guys made the right play. I don’t even know who passed it to me,” he said. ”Once it hit my hand, I wanted to make sure it went in so they could forget about that turnover I did.”

Stuckey’s two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining were the final margin…

Calderon had 10 assists and three steals in his fourth game since coming to the Pistons in a trade on January 30.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Lavoy Allen grabs 22 rebounds, Sixers beat Bobcats

Lavoy Allen had 14 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday scored 20 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to an 87-76 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night.

Evan Turner had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeremy Pargo scored 12 points in his Sixers debut. Pargo signed a 10-day contract this week after he was waived by Cleveland.

The Sixers improved to 5-2 on their eight-game homestand that ends Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers. The solid showing at home has helped the Sixers inch closer to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Ramon Sessions scored 20 points, Byron Mullens had 16 and Gerald Henderson 13 as the NBA-worst Bobcats lost their seventh straight.

Wearing No. 0, Pargo was a pleasant surprise in his first game since he was waived at the end of last month. He started 11 of his 25 games played with the Cavaliers and averaged 7.8 points. He even scored a career-high 28 against the Sixers in November.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Nuggets beat Cavs 111-103 for 9th straight win

Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points, Kenneth Faried added 17 and the Denver Nuggets won their ninth straight game with a 111-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

The Nuggets, who have won 15 of 17, are on their longest winning streak since posting 10 straight victories from March 30-April 15, 2005.

Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with 26 points, but was plagued by foul trouble. The All-Star guard picked up his fourth foul with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter and went to the bench with the Nuggets leading 72-61. Irving returned to start the fourth quarter with Denver ahead 84-73. He scored 12 points in the period, but Cleveland’s rally fell short.

The loss ended Cleveland’s three-game winning streak that matched a season high. The Cavaliers haven’t won four games in a row since March 17-24, 2010, which was LeBron James’ final season with the franchise.

Alonzo Gee scored 20 points for Cleveland with 16 coming in the first quarter.

— Reported by the Associated Press