NBA game roundup: Trail Blazers win ninth straight

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Wesley Matthews scored a season-high 28 points and the Portland Trail Blazers ran their winning streak to nine with a 105-97 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.

The Trail Blazers rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half, outscoring the Hornets 34-20 in the third quarter and then pushing the lead to as many as 14 in the fourth.

They won despite an off night from leading scorer LaMarcus Aldridge, who made only two of his first 16 field-goal attempts and finished with a season-low nine points and 14 rebounds. The power forward ended up 3 of 18 from the field.

The Hornets (4-12) have now lost seven straight and nine of their last 10.

Nets 99, 76ers 91

PHILADELPHIA — Once again, it was not Philadelphia’s night.

Not even on a night when they erased a deficit that reached 20 in the first half and 17 in the third quarter. Or a night when they held a rare fourth-quarter lead.

Once again they lost, this time to Brooklyn, to fall to 0-15 and match the worst start in franchise history.

Two Nets reserves, guard Alan Anderson and forward Mirza Teletovic, combined for 16 fourth-quarter points, and veteran forward Kevin Garnett added a critical free throw and basket in the final 1:13.

Cavaliers 113, Wizards 87

CLEVELAND — LeBron James had 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Cleveland beat Washington.

James made a season-high 14 free throws on a night the Cavs were never really threatened. Forward Kevin Love added 21 points and five rebounds, guard Kyrie Irving tallied 18 points and five assists and forward Anderson Varejao recorded 10 points and seven rebounds as the Cavs (7-7) won their second straight after a four-game losing streak.

Forward Paul Pierce scored 15 points for the Wizards (9-5), who lost for the second time in as many nights.

Warriors 111, Magic 96

ORLANDO, Fla. — Hot-shooting guard Stephen Curry scored 28 points and Golden State won its seventh consecutive game by blistering Orlando at the Amway Center.

The Warriors, who won by 17 points in Miami on Tuesday, dominated from the start to hand the Magic (6-11) their third consecutive loss.

Curry, who played just 24 minutes, hit nine of 13 shots and six of eight from 3-point range. He made eight of 11 3-pointers and scored 40 points Tuesday in Miami.

The Warriors (12-2) led by as many as 27 points in the third quarter then coasted through the fourth period with the reserves preserving the victory.

Clippers 104, Pistons 98

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Jamal Crawford piled up 25 points off the bench and Chris Paul had 23 points and seven assists, leading Los Angeles to a victory over floundering Detroit at The Palace.

Power forward Blake Griffin added 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Clippers (9-5), who are 4-1 on their seven-game road trip.

Point guard D.J. Augustin had 19 points and five assists for the Pistons (3-12), who have lost six straight. That equals their longest losing streak of last season, when they finished 29-53.

Raptors 126, Hawks 115

ATLANTA — Guards DeMar DeRozan and Lou Williams combined for 49 points to lead Toronto to its sixth straight victory, a win over Atlanta.

DeRozan hit his first five field-goal attempts and scored 14 points in the first quarter en route to a season-high matching 27 points. Williams, who played the previous two seasons in Atlanta, scored eight of his 22 points in the fourth

quarter.

Toronto improved to 13-2 with the win and has started the season 4-1 on the road for the first time in franchise history. The Raptors are 2-0 against the Hawks, having also beaten Atlanta in Toronto in the season opener. Toronto has won 11 of its last 12 games, which matches its best stretch of wins in team history.

Thunder 97, Jazz 82

OKLAHOMA CITY — Guard Reggie Jackson scored 22 points to lead Oklahoma City to a victory over Utah at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Jackson shot 10-of-18 from the field as the Thunder (4-12) ended a six-game losing streak.

With 6:42 left in the game, Utah forward Derrick Favors cut the Thunder lead down to nine with a driving layup. Oklahoma City guard Jeremy lamb answered with a 3-point to push the score to 86-74.

Rockets 102, Kings 89

HOUSTON — With James Harden suffering through a miserable shooting night, Isaiah Canaan and Donatas Motiejunas delivered career-best scoring performances to help lift Houston to a win over Sacramento at Toyota Center.

While Harden, Houston’s star shooting guard, made just 10 of 31 shots en route to 26 points, Canaan poured in 24 points on 6-for-10 3-point shooting and Motiejunas added 21 points and six rebounds to lead the Rockets (12-3) to a wire-to-wire victory.

Despite trailing by as many as 22 points, the Kings (9-6) closed to within two points early in the fourth quarter. Houston responded with an 11-4 push capped by Harden’s 3-pointer with 5:09 remaining.

Bucks 103, Timberwolves 86

MINNEAPOLIS — Larry Sanders and Brandon Knight each scored 15 points for Milwaukee as the Bucks took down Minnesota at Target Center.

Six Bucks players scored in double figures in Wednesday’s win, including 13 from forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Veteran forward Corey Brewer led the young Minnesota squad in scoring with 19 points and added five rebounds in the loss.

In the second battle of the season between the top two picks in this year’s draft — Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins and Milwaukee’s Jabari Parker — Parker and the Bucks had the upper hand in this meeting. Though Wiggins outscored Parker, 14-11, it was Parker whose Milwaukee team won the rematch after beating Minnesota 105-98 back on Oct. 17.

Mavericks 109, Knicks 102

DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki scored half of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, and center Tyson Chandler was relentless against his former team with 25 rebounds and 17 points to slip Dallas past the shorthanded, but hustling New York Knicks at American Airlines Center.

Nowitzki’s free-throw line jumper with 43.5 seconds to go in overtime sealed a sloppy victory and kept Dallas from its first three-game slide of the season. It wasn’t easy. The Mavs won despite shooting 42.4 percent from floor — and below 40 percent for much of the game — and they went an almost unfathomable 4-of-31 from beyond the arc on a night when the scrambling Knicks played without injured star and leading scorer Carmelo Anthony.

The reeling Knicks, now 4-11, got careless late, throwing it away on three consecutive possessions after Chandler threw down an alley-oop dunk off a fortuitous loose-ball situation for a 101-99 lead with 1:37 left in OT.

Spurs 106, Pacers 100

SAN ANTONIO — One of the staples of San Antonio’s offense over the years is the corner 3-pointer. The Spurs got one from point guard Tony Parker and another on the next possession from small forward Kawhi Leonard during a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter, propelling the Spurs to their fifth straight win, 106-100