AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Tobias Harris scored 21 points to help the Detroit Pistons snap a five-game losing streak by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-90 on Monday night while LeBron James sat out resting.
James missed his third game of the season, and Cleveland has lost all three. The Cavaliers had their five-game winning streak snapped on a night they never led.
Cleveland was playing its fifth game in seven days and coming off a thrilling win Sunday over Golden State. So James sat, and the Pistons took advantage.
Detroit scored the first eight points, led 50-44 at halftime and took control near the end of the third quarter. Harris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made 3-pointers early in the fourth, and the Pistons led 82-65.
Kevin Love had 17 points and 14 rebounds for Cleveland.
PELICANS 111, MAVERICKS 104
NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis had 28 points and 16 rebounds and New Orleans beat Dallas.
Langston Galloway made all five of his 3-point shots and finished with 17 points for the Pelicans, who’ve won three of four as they try to climb back into the race for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Davis made four free throws and a 19-foot jumper in the final 2:12 and got his second block on Harrison Barnes’ layup attempt with 22 seconds remaining.
Deron Williams scored 24 points for Dallas, while Wesley Matthews scored 17 and Seth Curry 16. Dirk Nowitzki, who’s been nursing a sore right Achilles tendon, scored 10 points in 17 minutes but did not play in the second half.
ROCKETS 131, SUNS 115
HOUSTON — James Harden had 32 points and 12 assists in three quarters and Houston never trailed in a win over Phoenix.
It was the 12th 30-point game this season for Harden, who made 12 of 15 free throws.
Houston led by at least 20 points for most of the night and was up by 27 entering the fourth quarter. Harden didn’t play after that, and coach Mike D’Antoni had the rest of his starters on the bench by the middle of the fourth quarter.
Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 24 points, and Brandon Knight added 21 off the bench.
BULLS 90, PACERS 85
CHICAGO — Dwyane Wade scored 21 points, Nikola Mirotic added a season-high 20 and Chicago overcame a poor shooting performance to beat Indiana and snap a three-game skid.
Jimmy Butler had 16 points despite shooting only 3 of 12 from the field. Chicago, which had dropped nine of 12, was 32 for 83 (38.6 percent) from the field.
Aaron Brooks had a season-high 19 points to lead the Pacers, who have lost three straight.
Michael Carter-Williams returned to the Bulls’ lineup after missing nearly two months with left knee and left wrist injuries. He finished with one point (0 for 5 from the field) in 18 minutes.
WIZARDS 107, BUCKS 102
WASHINGTON — Otto Porter scored 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, John Wall had 18 points a season-high 16 assists, and Washington came from behind to beat Milwaukee.
Bradley Beal scored 22 points as Washington turned the game around with a 15-2 fourth-quarter run. Markieff Morris added 18 in the Wizards’ sixth straight home win and seventh this season after trailing by double figures.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who beat the Wizards by 27 points in Milwaukee on Friday.
Milwaukee’s Tony Snell made a career-high six 3-pointers and set a season high with 20 points, but missed a baseline 3 late that could’ve tied it at 105.
Down 10 early in the fourth quarter, Washington roared back while holding Milwaukee to just one field goal over a stretch of 6:41.
TIMBERWOLVES 104, HAWKS 90
MINNEAPOLIS — Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Zach LaVine hit six 3-pointers to lead Minnesota over Atlanta.
LaVine scored 21 points, Andrew Wiggins had 21 and was 4 for 6 on 3-pointers, and Towns was 8 for 8 from the field, including 3 for 3 from 3-point range. Minnesota hit a season-high 15 3s and led by as many as 29 points.
Dwight Howard had 20 points on 9-for-9 shooting and 12 rebounds for the Hawks in his return from a back injury. But Paul Millsap was just 2 for 13 from the field, and Atlanta’s 19 turnovers led to 22 points by the Timberwolves.
MAGIC 112, GRIZZLIES 102
ORLANDO, Fla. — Aaron Gordon scored 30 points, and Serge Ibaka and Elfrid Payton had 16 apiece to help Orlando beat Memphis.
Seven players reached double figures for the Magic, who maintained a large lead most of the night despite playing without leading scorer Evan Fournier (bruised heel). Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Bismack Biyombo added 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Mike Conley led Memphis with 17 points. Troy Daniels had 16 and Zach Randolph 13, but the Grizzlies were down early and never recovered.
NETS 120, HORNETS 118
NEW YORK — Randy Foye made a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and give Brooklyn a victory over Charlotte.
The Nets overcame the loss of Jeremy Lin and a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to stop a five-game losing streak. Bojan Bogdanovic led Brooklyn with 26 points, Sean Kilpatrick had 23 and Brook Lopez scored 10 of his 21 in the fourth.
Nicolas Batum had 24 points and Jeremy Lamb added 17 for Charlotte, but Kemba Walker was scoreless in the fourth quarter as the Hornets had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Lin strained his left hamstring in the third, the same injury that forced him to miss 17 games earlier this season.
RAPTORS 95, TRAIL BLAZERS 91
PORTLAND, Ore. — Kyle Lowry scored 27 points and Toronto won its franchise-best seventh consecutive road game with a victory over skidding Portland.
Lowry, coming off a season-high 36 points last Friday at Utah, had 20 in the second half as the Raptors (22-8) handed Portland its sixth consecutive loss.
Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan nearly had his first triple-double of the season, with 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Patrick Patterson scored 15, and Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
C.J. McCollum scored 27 points to lead the Trail Blazers (13-20), who have lost 10 of 11.
Portland guard Damian Lillard sat out with a sprained ankle. Lillard, averaging 27 points per game, was injured last Friday against San Antonio.
NUGGETS 106, CLIPPERS 102
LOS ANGELES — Nikola Jokic had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Danilo Gallinari and Will Barton each scored 23 to lead Denver past undermanned Los Angeles.
The Clippers played without their three leading scorers — Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and J.J. Redick — but came from 17 points down to start the second half and took a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Denver responded with a 9-0 run of its own and used four clutch free throws by Gallinari down the stretch to hold on.
Jamal Crawford led the Clippers with 24 points, and Austin Rivers added 19.
KINGS 102, 76ERS 100
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — DeMarcus Cousins made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 20.9 seconds remaining and added a clutch free throw moments later, lifting Sacramento over Philadelphia.
After Ersan Ilyasova drove around Rudy Gay for a layup that tied the score at 96, Cousins made his second 3 of the game to put Sacramento ahead. Garrett Temple, who had put the Kings up 96-94 with his own 3-pointer with 58.7 seconds left, followed with two free throws.
Sergio Rodriguez’s 3 pulled Philadelphia to 101-100 before Cousins made the second of two free throws. Sacramento’s 6-foot-11 center then sealed the win by blocking Joel Embiid’s 3-point attempt. Embiid got the ball back but shot an airball at the buzzer.
Cousins finished with 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists while helping the Kings extend their winning streak to a season-high four games. Rudy Gay added 17 points and nine rebounds in his return to Sacramento’s lineup following a two-week absence.
Embiid had 25 points and eight rebounds for the 76ers.
