(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of Friday’s National Basketball Association games:
Pacers 107, Raptors 104
Victor Oladipo scored 21 points, Bojan Bogdanovic added 19 and Lance Stephenson had 18 as the Indiana Pacers held off a late Toronto rally and won their fifth consecutive game 107-104 on Friday night in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The Pacers (11-8) outscored the Raptors (11-7) 57-44 during the final two quarters.
Kyle Lowry led Toronto with 24 points, and Norman Powell and Fred VanVleet each scored 16 as the Raptors lost their second in a row after a four-game winning streak.
Darren Collison added 17 points and eight assists for Indiana, which was 20 of 27 from the line while Toronto was 15 of 20.
Warriors 143, Bulls 94
Stephen Curry poured in 26 of his game-high 33 points in a second-quarter flurry, propelling Golden State to a thrashing of Chicago.
The Warriors eased to the win, their fifth without a defeat when following a loss this season, despite sitting out Kevin Durant with a sprained ankle and Draymond Green on a scheduled night off.
Green is expected to play, but Durant remains questionable, when the Warriors conclude a rare consecutive-night home sequence Saturday against New Orleans.
Blazers 127, Nets 125
Jusuf Nurkic totaled 29 points and 15 rebounds, including the tiebreaking 3-point play with 27.6 seconds remaining as Portland made the plays down the stretch and held on for a victory over Brooklyn.
Nurkic recorded his fifth double-double of the season by shooting 12 of 19 from the floor but made the biggest basket of the game for Portland, which shot 50 percent.
The game was tied at 123 with 38 seconds on a basket by Spencer Dinwiddie, but Nurkic’s hustle under the rim restored the lead for Portland. He scored off a wild scramble under the basket and converted the subsequent free throw for a 126-123 lead.
Hawks 116, Knicks 104
Atlanta notched their fourth victory of the season with a comeback win over New York.
Trailing nearly the entire first half, Atlanta (4-15) fought back in the third period and took control in the fourth when Marco Belinelli and Taurean Prince each hit a pair of 3-pointers late in the game.
Kristaps Porzingis led all scorers with 28 points while Courtney Lee added a season-high 26 for the Knicks (10-8). Dennis Schroder led Atlanta with 26 points.
Celtics 118, Magic 103
Boston erupted for 40 points in the first quarter and 73 in the first half — both season highs — on their way to a rout that sent Orlando to its seventh straight loss.
The 118 points also marked a season high for Boston and the Celtics also matched their season best with 17 3-pointers.
The win was also the 14th straight for the Celtics, winners of 17 of their last 18, over the Magic, who haven’t won at TD Garden since 2010.
Cavaliers 100, Hornets 99
LeBron James notched another triple-double, Jeremy Lamb’s final 3-point attempt missed and Cleveland hung on to beat Charlotte.
James finished with 27 points, 16 rebounds and 13 assists for his 57th regular-season triple-double and second this season. He was already in double-digit points, rebounds, and assists before the fourth quarter started.
The Cavs have won seven straight and eight in a row over Charlotte.
The Cavs beat the Hornets 115-107 on Nov. 15. Dwight Howard scored eight points with five rebounds and took five shots in that game; Friday he led Charlotte with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Heat 109, Timberwolves 97
Long-range shooting and a sound defensive game helped lift Miami to a road win over Minnesota.
Miami set a season high with 19 threes, shooting 49 percent (19-for-39) from 3-point range, led by former Timberwolf Wayne Ellington (6-9) and Goran Dragic (5-8). Ellington’s 21 points off the bench led the Heat followed by Dragic’s 20.
Dion Waiters added 17 while Hassan Whiteside, who sat out Miami’s 125-122 overtime loss to Minnesota on Oct. 30, posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins each scored 18 points to lead the Timberwolves with Jamal Crawford and Shabazz Muhammad adding 10 each off the bench.
Pistons 99, Thunder 98
Detroit turned around its momentum and Oklahoma City once again found itself slipping after seemingly gaining some traction.
The Pistons trailed for much of the game but Avery Bradley’s 3-pointer with 2:01 remaining helped Detroit pull off a win at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Andre Drummond led the Pistons with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Ish Smith added 15 points off the bench. Russell Westbrook had 27 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who were coming off a win over Golden State on Wednesday.
Nuggets 104, Grizzlies 92
Nikola Jokic had 14 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter as Denver survived a Memphis rally to beat the Grizzlies.
Jokic added 13 rebounds and eight assists to just miss his first triple-double of the season. Gary Harris and Jamal Murray scored 15 apiece and Kenneth Faried had 14 points and nine rebounds to help Denver improve to 8-2 at home this season.
The Nuggets were playing their first home game since Paul Millsap went down with a left wrist in Sunday’s loss at the Los Angeles Lakers. Denver is planning to be without its second-leading scorer for a few months, with surgery likely to repair ligament damage in the joint.
Pelicans 115, Suns 91
Anthony Davis had 23 points and nine rebounds and DeMarcus Cousin added 19 points and 10 rebounds as New Orleans used a 72-point first half to run away from Phoenix.
Davis and Cousins were a combined 15-for-24 from the floor with 19 rebounds and eight assists.
Jrue Holiday added 18 points for New Orleans, who has won three in a row to match their longest winning streak of the season. The Pelicans are 11-8 this season, their best 19-game start since going 13-6 to open the 2010-11 season.
New Orleans has beaten Phoenix four straight times.
