Blake Griffin narrowly missed his second career triple-double, despite not playing in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles rested its starters. (Ned Dishman/Getty Images)
Clippers 107, Wizards 81
Blake Griffin had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and DeAndre Jordan had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 107-81 victory against the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.
Mo Williams added 17 for the Clippers, who won for the fifth time in six games.
Nick Young and John Wall each scored 14 for Washington, which lost its fourth game in a row and dropped to 4-20 this season.
Griffin narrowly missed his second career triple-double, despite not playing in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles rested its starters.
Griffin had a number of his usual crowd-pleasing dunks, saving his best for last. With a minute to play in the third quarter, Griffin soared high for an alley-oop dunk from Williams.
76ers 98, Hawks 87
Rookie Nikola Vucevic set a career high with 15 points to lead six Philadelphia scorers in double figures and the Sixers dodged back-to-back losses once again by beating the Atlanta Hawks 98-87 on Saturday night.
Jeff Teague had 21 points to lead Atlanta.
The Sixers led by 20 in the third period and kept the lead in double figures until the Hawks staged a final comeback attempt. Joe Johnson's basket with 1:45 remaining cut Philadelphia's lead to 94-85. Lou Williams, who had 14 points, answered with back-to-back baskets for the Sixers.
Thaddeus Young had 14 points and Andre Iguodala had nine points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as the Sixers bounced back from Friday night's 99-79 home loss to Miami.
Pistons 89, Hornets 87
Greg Monroe had 24 points and 16 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons beat the New Orleans Hornets 89-87 Saturday in a matchup of two of the NBA's worst teams.
Rodney Stuckey added 17 for Detroit (6-20), which won consecutive games for the second time this season and had five scorers in double figures.
New Orleans (4-20) lost its fifth straight. Trevor Ariza led the Hornets with 26.
Both teams spent most of the game without their starting point guards. New Orleans's Jarrett Jack missed the game with a knee injury, while Pistons rookie Brandon Knight sustained a broken nose early in the game when he was hit by Monroe's elbow.
The Hornets led 44-41 at the half, but Monroe helped the Pistons take a 65-61 lead into the fourth quarter.
Knicks 99, Nets 92
Jeremy Lin scored a career-high 25 points and the New York Knicks salvaged the finale of a back-to-back-to-back set by beating the New Jersey Nets 99-92 on Saturday night.
Lin came off the bench to control a struggling offence, adding seven assists while outplaying Nets all-star point guard Deron Williams.
Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler each added 17 points for the Knicks, who won for just the third time in 14 games. They fell just short in losses to Chicago and Boston over the last two nights before picking up a much-needed victory Saturday.
Williams had 21 points and 11 assists for the Nets, while Kris Humphries added 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Magic 85, Pacers 81
Dwight Howard had 27 points and eight rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic to an 85-81 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.
Danny Granger had 19 points and seven rebounds and Tyler Hansbrough had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who have lost two of three to the Magic in less than two weeks.
Jason Richardson scored 17 points and Ryan Anderson scored 12 for the Magic, who have won three straight.
Granger made a three-pointer to make it 83-81, but Granger was called for a foul on the Magic's next trip down the floor and Anderson went to the line with 4.2 seconds left.
Cavaliers 91, Mavericks 88
Rookie Kyrie Irving made a driving layup in traffic with 15.8 seconds left to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 91-88 win over the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.
Irving, who is showing a knack for last-second drama in his first season, finished with 20 points and Anderson Varejao added 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Cavs.
After Irving's second game-winning layup in a week, Jason Terry missed an off-balance three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left for Dallas. After a replay review gave the Mavericks a final chance, Brandan Wright missed a desperation shot at the horn. The Mavericks didn't score a field goal in the final 4:13.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points and passed Elgin Baylor for 22nd place on the NBA's scoring list.
Timberwolves 100, Rockets 91
Kevin Love scored 25 points and grabbed 18 rebounds and Luke Ridnour added 22 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves over the Houston Rockets 100-91 on Saturday night.
Minnesota (12-12) won for the fifth time in seven games.
Kyle Lowry had 24 points and 11 assists for Houston and Luis Scola also had 24 points, but Kevin Martin scored a season-low two points on 1-for-10 shooting.
It was only the second time this season Martin, who entered the game averaging 20.7 points, didn't score in double figures. It was his fewest point total since March of 2007, when he scored one point for Sacramento against Phoenix.
Ricky Rubio had 13 points and 11 assists for Minnesota.
Bulls 113, Bucks 90
Derrick Rose scored 21 points and had 13 assists and Luol Deng added 21 points in his return after missing seven games due to injury, as the Chicago Bulls easily beat the Milwaukee Bucks 113-90 Saturday night.
Playing before a sellout Bradley Center crowd that seemed to be filled with more fans rooting for the Bulls, Deng scored on a layup from Rose just 76 seconds into the game.
The Bucks trailed by 24 at halftime and never threatened in the second half, resting all five starters in the fourth quarter.
Deng was averaging 15.9 points and 7.5 rebounds before tearing a ligament in his left wrist Jan. 21 against Charlotte. He consulted with doctors before deciding against surgery, and his initial return against the Bucks appeared promising.
Spurs 107, Thunder 96
Tony Parker scored 42 points and broke the Spurs's franchise record for career assists, leading San Antonio to a 107-96 win over the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.
The Thunder (18-5) narrowly averted their worst loss this season, while the convincing win was just the springboard San Antonio needed before spending next three weeks on the road — where the Spurs have hardly been as dominant.
All-Star Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Parker scored a season high and had nine assists. The record-breaker was a dish to Tim Duncan — appropriately enough — in the third quarter that put him past Avery Johnson for the all-time franchise mark.
Parker, who's spent his entire 11-year career with the Spurs, has 4,477 assists.
Suns 95, Bobcats 89
Rarely used Robin Lopez scored nine consecutive points to spark a 12-2 run starting the fourth quarter and the Phoenix Suns rallied to beat Charlotte 95-89 Saturday night, the Bobcats's 11th consecutive loss.
Michael Redd scored 17 points in his first start in nearly two years, Lopez finished with 13 and Marcin Gortat added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns, who have won two of three.
Kemba Walker had 22 points and Reggie Williams added 11 for the Bobcats.
Charlotte has lost 11 straight on the road and has not won overall since Jan. 14 against Golden State.
Phoenix was without starting guard Jared Dudley, who was out with a thigh bruise.
Jazz 96, Lakers 87
Al Jefferson scored 18 points, Paul Millsap had 16, and Earl Watson keyed a game-clinching 14-0 fourth quarter run to help the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers 96-87 Saturday night.
Watson scored eight points and had six assists in the fourth quarter as the Jazz beat the Lakers for the first time in three tries this season.
After he stole the ball from Pau Gasol at the top of the key and fed Derrick Favors for a dunk, Lakers coach Mike Brown went ballistic and charged after official Zach Zarba.
Brown received two quick technicals and was ejected with 8:34 to play.
Watson threw an alley-oop to C.J. Miles that brought the crowd to its feet and then capped the 14-0 run with a three-pointer with 6:18 to play that gave Utah its biggest lead of the game, 83-68.
Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and Gasol had 24 points and 16 rebounds but the Lakers dropped to 3-8 on the road.
Trail Blazers 117, Nuggets 97
Nicolas Batum set a Trail Blazers record with nine 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 29 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-97 Saturday night.
Gerald Wallace had 17 points and Marcus Camby had 20 rebounds for Portland. Batum made a career-high nine 3-pointers, the most in an NBA game this season and a franchise record for the Blazers.
Danilo Gallinari had 20 points and Ty Lawson and Kosta Koufos each added 16 to lead the Nuggets, who have lost four of their last five, including 93-89 Friday night to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Portland was coming off a deflating 95-92 loss at Sacramento on Thursday. The Blazers have been a completely different team on the road this season, where they are 3-9. At the Rose Garden, Portland is 11-1, the second-best home record in the Western Conference to San Antonio, which is 13-1.
Kings 114, Warriors 106
Marcus Thornton scored 28 points and Tyreke Evans had 26 points and nine assists to help the Sacramento Kings beat the Golden State Warriors 114-106 in overtime Saturday night.
The Kings scored the first nine points in overtime to win consecutive games for the second time this season.
Dorrell Wright scored 24 points for Golden State, which made a season-high 16 3-pointers. Nate Robinson had 20 points, Monta Ellis scored 18, Klay Thompson had 16, and Stephen Curry finished with 11.
Salmons made a three-pointer and Thompson scored inside on the next possession to give the Kings a 107-102 lead in overtime. A drive by Evans put the Kings up 111-102.
