Spurs earn sixth straight win over Jazz
Point guard Tony Parker scored 25 points and nine assists as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Utah Jazz 109-105.
All Spurs starters scored in double figures as San Antonio (31-8) got its sixth straight win in a 109-105 victory.
Utah (13-27) was without leading scorer Gordon Hayward, who missed his third straight game with a left hip flexor.
The Jazz were led by centre Enes Kanter, who had 25 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
Elsewhere the Washington Wizards crushed the Miami Heat 114-97.
John Wall paced seven double figure scorers with 25 points as the Washington Wizards opened up a 34-point first half lead.
LeBron James scored 25 for the Heat (27-11), who have lost three straight games in regular season play for the first time since 13th January 2012.
Houston guard James Harden exploded for 18 of his team-high 26 points in the second half, including eight of his team’s final 11 points, to lift the Rockets to a 103-100 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Rockets (26-14) outscored the Pelicans 11-1 in the final 2:50, erasing a 10-point New Orleans lead, sending the Pelicans (15-23) to their seventh consecutive loss.
Rudy Gay scored a season-high 33 points, including a three-pointer with 19.5 seconds left, to send the Sacramento Kings past the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-108.
Isiah Thomas scored 26 points and centre DeMarcus Cousins added 20.
Sacramento (14-23), in control most of the night, held off a late rush by the Timberwolves (18-20), who got 27 points and 11 points from forward Kevin Love.
Thaddeus Young hit a three-pointer with 3.2 seconds left as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 95-92 to snap a four-game losing streak.
Evan Turner had 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the 76ers (13-25), while Michael Carter-Williams added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Kemba Walker had 26 points for Charlotte (16-24), which lost for the fourth time in five games.
Joakim Noah had 26 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 128-125 triple-overtime victory over the Orlando Magic, who lost their ninth consecutive game.
Triple overtime
The Bulls (18-19) erased a 15-point second-half deficit to win for the sixth time in the last seven games.
Rookie guard Victor Oladipo scored a career-high 35 points and veteran guard Jameer Nelson scored a season-high 31 for the Magic (10-30).
Mike Conley and forward James Johnson each scored 15 points as the Memphis Grizzlies won their fourth in a row with a 82-77 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
A 12-0 run to open the fourth quarter gave the Grizzlies (19-19) just enough of a cushion to hold off the Bucks (7-31), who lost their seventh straight and are still looking for their first win of 2014.
Jared Sullinger scored 25 points and pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds as the Boston Celtics snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 88-83 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
The first-placed Raptors trailed 75-58 early in the fourth quarter but used an 11-0 run to start a rally that came up just short as both teams struggled through the final minutes.
DeMar DeRozan scored 23 for Toronto (19-18), which had won three straight. Boston improved to 14-26.
The Los Angeles Clippers wiped out a 17-point deficit in the final five minutes and earned a 129-127 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Two free throws by guard Jamal Crawford with 11.2 seconds left were the difference as the Clippers (27-13) won their fourth in a row and snapped the Mavericks’ three-game winning streak.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored nine straight points as the Portland Trail Blazers in a 108-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Aldridge scored 32 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for the Trail Blazers (29-9), who also got 28 points, six rebounds and five assists from guard Damian Lillard.
Luol Deng scored 25 points and guard Kyrie Irving added 21 for the Cavaliers (14-25).
Gerald Green scored 16 of his 28 points in the third quarter, and the Phoenix Suns used a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 121-114.
The injury-riddled Lakers (14-25) dressed only eight players and lost one in the second period when forward Nick Young was ejected for throwing a retaliatory punch after a hard foul to his head by Phoenix (22-16) centre Alex Len.
Len was assessed a flagrant-2 foul on the play and was also ejected for starting the fracas.