NBA Wrap: Cavs roll to 5th win; Knicks finally thwart Miami

WASHINGTON — LeBron James scored 34 points, Kyrie Irving took over in the fourth quarter and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the injury-ravaged Washington Wizards 121-115 on Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila) for their fifth straight victory.

Irving scored 21 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, including a run of 10 straight that put the game away.

James had 10 rebounds, and JR Smith added 25 points for Cleveland.

Garrett Temple led the Wizards with 21 points and John Wall had 20. Playing without Kris Humphries, DeJuan Blair and Drew Gooden, Washington lost its second straight game.

KNICKS 98, HEAT 90

MIAMI  — Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and New York shot 56 percent to end a streak of eight consecutive losses to Miami.

Anthony made 9 for 12. In his first two games against the Heat, Anthony shot 10 for 29 and totaled 32 points.

Robin Lopez added a season-high 19 points for the Knicks, who won their third game in a row.

Chris Bosh scored 28 points for the Heat.

THUNDER 112, GRIZZLIES 94

OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant had 26 points and a season-high 17 rebounds after missing the previous game with a sprained right big toe, and Oklahoma beat Memphis.

Durant, who began the day as the NBA's No. 3 scorer, broke loose for 17 points in the second half on 7-for-8 shooting. He played 33 minutes and appeared to have no problems with mobility.

Russell Westbrook added 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Thunder.

Mario Chalmers led the Grizzlies with 23 points.

MAVERICKS 100, PELICANS 91

NEW ORLEANS  — Raymond Felton scored 22 points in a game Dallas chose to rest four starters, and the Mavericks defeated New Orleans.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle sat out Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, Zaza Pachulia and Wesley Matthews after they each played 40-plus minutes in a double-overtime victory over Sacramento on Tuesday night (Wednesday).

Chandler Parsons, the only usual starter in uniform, scored 19 of his 21 in the first half.

Anthony Davis had 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Pelicans.

SPURS 123, JAZZ 98

SAN ANTONIO — Tim Duncan scored a season-high 18 points and San Antonio had eight other players in double figures to beat Utah and remain unbeaten at home.

The Spurs matched the best start in franchise history by winning their 21st straight home game to open the season.

Trey Burke had 21 points for the Jazz and Gordon Hayward had 18.

CLIPPERS 109, TRAIL BLAZERS 98

PORTLAND, Oregon — Chris Paul had 21 points and 19 assists to lead Los Angeles past Portland.

The Clippers won their seventh straight game despite the absence of Blake Griffin, who has missed six games because of a partially torn left quadriceps tendon. DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Damian Lillard had 20 points and nine assists for Portland. The Trail Blazers were without guard CJ McCollum because of a "clerical error." McCollum was mistakenly left off the team's active roster that is turned in before the game. Although the Blazers initially said that McCollum was active, he did not start. The team announced he was inactive shortly before halftime.

PACERS 95, MAGIC 86

ORLANDO, Florida — Paul George had 20 points and Monta Ellis scored nine of his 19 in the fourth quarter, leading Indiana over Orlando.

George, who scored at least 31 points in his previous three games, shot 5 of 13 but led a second-quarter rally that put the Pacers ahead for good.

It was the Pacers' sixth straight victory (two this season) against the Magic, who have lost four in a row overall.

RAPTORS 91, NETS 74

NEW YORK — Jonas Valanciunas had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Toronto handed Brooklyn its eighth straight home loss.

Kyle Lowry had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. He made all seven shots inside the arc but was 0 for 7 from 3-point range as the Raptors bounced back after giving up nearly 120 points per game in consecutive losses to Chicago and Cleveland.

The Nets haven't won at Barclays Center since beating Philadelphia on Dec. 10. Brook Lopez had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Brooklyn.

PISTONS 99, CELTICS 94

BOSTON – Reggie Jackson 24 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 20 and Detroit beat Boston.

Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 22 points, scoring their final 15 over the last 7:24 after missing 14 of his first 15 shots.

SUNS 111, HORNETS 102

PHOENIX — Mirza Teletovic made five of the Suns' season-high 19 3-pointers as Phoenix ended a nine-game skid by beating Charlotte.

Brandon Knight added 18 points and seven assists for the Suns.

Kemba Walker had 25 points to lead the Hornets, who lost their fifth straight.

NUGGETS 78, TIMBERWOLVES 74

MINNEAPOLIS  — Danilo Gallinari had 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists to help Denver end a six-game losing streak with a victory over Minnesota.

Jusuf Nurkic had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the Nuggets overcame 35.8 percent shooting by hitting eight of 20 3-pointers. Denver had lost nine of its previous 10 games.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Nikola Pekovic scored 12 points in his season debut for the reeling Timberwolves. Minnesota has lost four straight games and eight of nine.