HOUSTON (AP) — Bradley Beal scored 33 points and Paul Pierce added 21, and the Washington Wizards survived a furious fourth-quarter charge by the Rockets for a 104-103 victory Monday night.
Nene added 12 points to go with five rebounds, and John Wall racked up 12 assists to go with 13 points for Washington, which won its third straight to open a five-game road trip.
James Harden scored 33 points ”“ including a 3-pointer with under a second to go in regulation to get Houston within a point ”“ and Corey Brewer added 15 from the bench for the Rockets.
Houston outscored the Wizards on second-chance points (18-9) and points in the paint (50-34) but was plagued by poor shooting. Washington had no such issues, shooting nearly 93 percent from the free-throw line and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.
MAGIC 102, HEAT 101
MIAMI (AP) — Nikola Vucevic scored 26 points, Victor Oladipo scored seven of his 22 in the final minutes and Orlando beat Miami.
Oladipo had a layup to tie it, then a free throw to put the Magic ahead to stay and give them their first win against Miami in 11 tries.
Tobias Harris scored 18 for the Magic, who got 13 from Channing Frye.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points for Miami, which has lost 12 of 18 at home. Danny Granger had 21 points and Chris Bosh scored 20 in his return after missing eight games with a strained left calf.
Granger was 6 for 7 from 3-point range, including one that put Miami up 101-97 with 1:38 left. The Heat didn’t score again.
There were nine lead changes and four ties in the fourth, with the Magic knotting the game at 101-all when Oladipo drove by Wade and scored with 45 seconds left.
BUCKS 104, HORNETS 94, OT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Brandon Knight scored 18 points, including a layup to force overtime, and Milwaukee pulled away to beat Charlotte.
Jared Dudley scored 17 points, Giannis Antetokounm had 16, Zaza Pachulia had 15, O.J. Mayo had 13 and John Henson added 11 for the Bucks (16-16), who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Hornets dating back to the 2011-2012 season.
Kemba Walker scored 28 points, Gerald Henderson added 19 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 10 for the Hornets (10-22), who fought back from a 21-point deficit in the first half.
Walker’s layup with 54.5 seconds remaining gave Charlotte an 83-81 lead, but Knight followed up his own blocked shot for a layup with 16 seconds left to tie the score and force overtime.
Milwaukee then pulled ahead for good on Henson’s three-point play with 3:51 left in overtime. The Bucks led by 13 points in the extra period.
BULLS 92, PACERS 90
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jimmy Butler had 27 points and nine rebounds to lead Chicago to a victory over Indiana.
Pau Gasol had 20 points and Derrick Rose added 17 for the Bulls (22-9), who have won seven straight.
Chris Copeland scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, and George Hill and C.J. Miles each added 11 points for the Pacers (11-21), who trailed by as much as 21 points in the second half.
Butler scored a 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining to put the Bulls ahead for good 92-90.
That was after the Pacers went on a 23-2 run and regained the lead on Lavoy Allen’s basket to make it 84-83 with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter.
CLIPPERS 101, JAZZ 97
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Griffin scored 24 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Utah 101-97 Monday night for their 12th straight victory over the Jazz, breaking the franchise record for consecutive losses against one club.
Chris Paul finished with 20 points and eight assists.
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