Memphis, Tennessee: Kyrie Irving scored 24 points and Kevin Love added 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to a 111-89 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
LeBron James finished with 20 points, Timofey Mozgov added 14 and J.R. Smith 13 to help Cleveland win their fourth straight and eighth in nine. Cleveland shot 51 per cent and were 14 of 34 from 3-point range.
Marc Gasol led Memphis with 18 points, while Beno Udrih had 15.
Houston’s James Harden had 25 points and 10 assists and Dwight Howard had seven rebounds and a block on Anthony Davis in his return from a two-month absence as the Rockets handed the New Orleans Pelicans their fourth straight loss 95-93.
Davis had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Pelicans, but uncharacteristically missed eight free throws, including one that could have pulled New Orleans to 94-93 with seven seconds left.
In San Antonio, Tony Parker had 21 points and six assists as the Spurs downed the Thunder 130-91 to stop Oklahoma City’s four-game winning streak.
Boris Diaw scored 19 points, and Tim Duncan had 16, and Kawhi Leonard 14 points in the Spurs’ highest scoring game of the season. They have won 11 of 13.
The Atlanta Hawks ended a three-game losing streak as Paul Millsap had 25 points and 11 rebounds in a 95-83 win over the Orlando Magic.
Jeff Teague added 16 points, despite spraining his left ankle in the first quarter.
The Hawks trailed by 13 in the first half, but outscored the Magic 27-12 in the fourth quarter.
Elfrid Payton led the Magic with 19 points and nine rebounds.
The Chicago Bulls downed the Toronto Raptors 116-103 after Jimmy Butler scored 23 points and Pau Gasol had 18.
Tony Snell scored 17 points to help the Bulls move 1 1/2 games ahead of the Raptors for third place in the Eastern Conference. Aaron Brooks had 16 points, and Nikola Mirotic finished with 15.
In other games, DeAndre Jordan raised the NBA’s best shooting percentage above 71 per cent by making all seven shots and scoring 14 points, as the Los Angeles Clippers pounded the New York Knicks 111-80, the Sacramento Kings defeated the Phoenix Suns 108-99, the Indiana Pacers beat the Washington Wizards 103-101 and the Miami Heat had a 93-86 victory over the Boston Celtics.
The Brooklyn handed the Charlotte Hornets their fifth loss in six games 91-88, the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Utah Jazz 101-99 in overtime, the Los Angeles Lakers claimed a 101-99 overtime victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Philadelphia 76ers were 99-85 winners over the Denver Nuggets 99-85.
