Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) drives to the basket as Detroit Pistons shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) defends during the second half of their NBA game at American Airlines Arena.
NEW YORK: Kevin Durant scored 31 points to lead Oklahoma City to a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Durant, who returned to form after his 12-game streak of 30-point games ended in Brooklyn on Friday, also racked up eight rebounds and eight assists for the Western Conference-leading Thunder (39-11).
Zach Randolph paced the Grizzlies (26-21) with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Dwyane Wade had 30 points and LeBron James nearly had his first triple-double of the season, leading the Miami Heat to a victory over the Detroit Pistons.
James had 24 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds as the Heat (34-13) avenged one of their four home losses this season. Detroit won in Miami 107-97 on December 3.
Detroit (19-28) had its two-game win streak snapped and lost ground on idle Charlotte (21-28), which currently holds the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Tony Parker scored 21 of his game-high 32 points in the second half and helped erase a 14-point deficit in the final 11 minutes with a 38-19 fourth quarter to lift the San Antonio Spurs to a victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Pelicans led by as many as 14 points early in the fourth quarter, but the Spurs (35-13) unleashed a 21-4 blitz in a 6:08 span to take an 87-84 lead.
Reserve guard Anthony Morrow scored 20 points for New Orleans (20-27).
Danny Granger scored a season-high 16 points to lead a dominant effort from the Indiana Pacers’ bench in a blowout of the Orlando Magic.
Indiana (37-10) is 25-2 against teams that are now below .500 and went on a tear midway through the second half to dispatch Orlando (13-37).
Lance Stephenson had 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Eastern Conference-leading Indiana.
John Wall scored 22 points and Trevor Ariza added 20 as the Washington Wizards moved above .500 for the first time since 2009 with a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Washington (24-23) won for the fourth time in six games. The Wizards last owned a winning record when they were 2-1 on October 31, 2009.
Damian Lillard scored 25 points for the Trail Blazers (34-14), who lost for the third time in four games.
Brandon Knight’s three-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining led the Milwaukee Bucks to a victory over the New York Knicks.
Knight’s shot, his fourth three-pointer of the night, came seconds after Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony tied the game at 98-98 with his sixth of the night from long distance.
The Bucks (9-39) had lost 15-of-16 and six in a row, but behind Knight’s 25 points, they beat New York (19-29) for the first time since March 9, 2012.
Anthony finished with 36 points.
All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a routine victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Five other Mavericks (28-21) scored in double figures, while All Star guard Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 27 for the Cavaliers (16-32).
Deron Williams broke out of a personal slump in a big way, scoring 21 points to help the Brooklyn Nets earn a win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Williams notched 20 points for the first time in about a month, while Paul Pierce had a game-high 25 points for the Nets (21-25).
Philadelphia rookie guard Michael Carter-Williams scored 21 points for the 76ers (15-34).
All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and centre Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and nine rebounds as the Toronto Raptors earned a rare win in Utah.
The Raptors improved to 26-22 after winning in Utah for just the second time in nine visits since 2006. Forward Marvin Williams scored a season-high 23 points for the Jazz (16-32).
Guard Randy Foye hit a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Denver Nuggets rallied to beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
REUTERS
