
Andre Drummond had 17 points and 17 rebounds, and the Detroit Pistons beat the Portland Trail Blazers 111-91 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.
Detroit has won three in a row with Blake Griffin in the lineup after acquiring him in a trade last week. The victory Monday pulled the Pistons back to .500 and even with Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Griffin had 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and did a good bit of his offensive damage from the perimeter, making three 3- pointers. Anthony Tolliver added 15 points for Detroit, and Reggie Bullock and Langston Galloway contributed 13 apiece.
Damian Lillard scored 20 points and C.J. McCollum added 14 for the Blazers, who lost again after falling at the buzzer at Boston on Sunday. Portland was without Evan Turner on Monday because of a left calf injury.
Wizards 111,
Pacers 102
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — All-Star guard Bradley Beal scored 21 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 15 to help Washington hold on to beat Indiana.
The Wizards have won five straight overall, all without John Wall, and four in a row over the Pacers.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 29 points for the Pacers, trying to spur a fourth-quarter rally. Joe Young added 17 as Indiana’s six-game home winning streak ended.
Without starting guards Victor Oladipo (illness) and Darren Collison (left knee surgery), the Pacers were out of sync all night.
Jazz 133, Pelicans 109
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Rodney Hood scored 30 points in his second game back from a lower leg bruise and surging Utah extended its winning streak to six with a victory over New Orleans.
Ricky Rubio had 20 points and 11 assists, and Rudy Gobert added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who made 14 of 21 3-point attempts and shot 58.4 percent (52 of 89) overall their highest-scoring game this season.
Jrue Holiday scored 28 points, and Anthony Davis had 15 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, which has lost four of five since losing All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins to a season ending left Achilles tear on Jan. 26.
Magic 111, Heat 109
MIAMI (AP) — Mario Hezonja scored 20 points, Jonathan Simmons made the tiebreaking dunk with 1:31 remaining, and Orlando beat Miami.
The Heat appeared to tie the game after Tyler Johnson was credited with a basket when Orlando’s Bismack Biyombo was called for goaltending with 2.8 seconds remaining. A video review overturned the call.
Starting for the injured Aaron Gordon, Hezonja shot 7 of 14 from the field and 4 of 9 3-pointers as the Magic won their third road game in the last 24.
Nuggets 121,
Hornets 104
DENVER (AP) — Gary Harris scored 27 points, Nikola Jokic had 15 points and 16 rebounds, and Denver beat Charlotte.
Will Barton and Jamal Murray scored 18 apiece for Denver, which had seven players in double figures. Murray played 34 minutes and attempted a game-high 15 shots while playing with a bruised right thigh sustained Saturday against Golden State.
Clippers 104,
Mavericks 101
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Danilo Gallinari had 28 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 24 seconds left, and Los Angeles scored the last 13 points of the game to rally past Dallas.
On a night when his last name was misspelled on the back of his jersey, Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 50,000 career minutes. Nowitzki finished with 12 points, but the Mavericks failed to score in the final 4:42.
Kings 104, Bulls 98
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Bogdan Bogdanovic made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 52 seconds remaining and Sacramento overcame a dismal start with a strong finish to beat Chicago.
The Kings scored just nine points in the first quarter, trailed by as many as 21 and were down by seven with 10 minutes left before rallying to complete a season sweep of the Bulls.
Bogdanovic had 15 points, George Hill scored 14 and Garrett Temple added 12 for Sacramento.
Zach LaVine scored 27 points and Justin Holiday had 20 for Chicago.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less