Ricky Rubio had nine points, eight assists and eight rebounds for Minnesota. Love has scored 97 points over the last three games, with a Jan. 25 deadline to extend his contract getting closer and closer. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ADVERTISING LOS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Derek Fisher hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds to play, and the Los Angeles Lakers survived a dismal offensive game by both teams for a 73-70 victory over the Mavericks on Monday night, snapping Dallas’ five-game winning streak.
Vince Carter missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the defending champion Mavericks, who swept Los Angeles out of the second round of the postseason last spring, ending the Lakers’ bid for a three-peat.
Neither team looked much like a championship contender in their first meeting since, with 31/2 miserable offensive quarters before the exciting finish.
Fisher scored 13 points and led a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks rallied to tie it on Jason Terry’s running jumper at the top of the key with 9.9 seconds left.
Kobe Bryant, whose streak of four straight 40-point games ended with just 14 against the Mavs, drew the Dallas defense before passing to Fisher. The veteran point guard calmly drilled a long 3-pointer from the wing.
Carter’s desperation try was far off, and the Lakers celebrated their ninth consecutive home victory since Christmas.
Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won six of seven overall despite barely scoring 70 points — the franchise low in the shot-clock era, set in November 2002.
76ERS 94, BUCKS 82
PHILADELPHIA — Jrue Holiday scored 24 points, and Andre Iguodala had 21 to help the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Milwaukee and remain unbeaten at home.
The Sixers have won three straight, nine of 10 overall and already hold a four-game lead over the second-place New York Knicks in the Atlantic Division. Philadelphia is also 6-0 at home.
Iguodala went 9 of 14 from the floor hours after he was chosen as part of the 20-player men’s Olympic basketball pool. Known as a lockdown defender, he surprised Tobias Harris with a block from behind late in the third.
Spencer Hawes, their 7-foot-1 center, buried his first two 3-pointers of the season in the third.
Andrew Bogut returned from concussion-like symptoms to lead the Bucks with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
THUNDER 97, CELTICS 88
BOSTON — Russell Westbrook scored 26 points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the final 91 seconds to help Oklahoma City pull away from slumping Boston.
Kevin Durant scored 28 with seven rebounds for the Thunder, who won their seventh consecutive game. Thabo Sefolosha scored 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, and Kendrick Perkins had seven points and five rebounds in his first game back in Boston since the trade that sent him to Oklahoma City and broke up the starting lineup from the Celtics’ 2008 NBA championship team.
Paul Pierce scored 24 points, and Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics. Rajon Rondo added 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for Boston, which lost its fifth straight game for the first time in the New Big 3 era.
MAGIC 102, KNICKS 93
NEW YORK — Ryan Anderson scored a career-high 30 points, extending his NBA lead with seven 3-pointers, and Orlando completed a perfect four-game road trip.
Taking advantage of extra space as the Knicks focused on Dwight Howard, Anderson went 7 of 13 behind the arc and is now 40 of 93 for the season.
JJ Redick added 21 points for the Magic, who won three games on the West Coast before finishing in New York and will play at home the next two nights to wrap up a stretch of three games in three nights.
Howard was in foul trouble and finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Carmelo Anthony had 33 points and eight rebounds for the Knicks in his return from a one-game absence with a sprained right ankle, but shot just 9 of 27.
CLIPPERS 101, NETS 91
LOS ANGELES — Blake Griffin had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and the Clippers beat New Jersey without injured point guard Chris Paul after blowing an 18-point lead.
Trailing by 13 after a three-point play by Reggie Evans with 10 minutes remaining, the Nets tied it at 81 with 6:46 to play. But the Clippers outscored them 20-10 the rest of the way, as Chauncey Billups scored nine of his 20 points in the final 4:23 — including a clinching 3-pointer with 1:09 left.
It was the third straight victory for the Clippers, who never trailed en route to their sixth win in seven games following a pair of ego-inflating wins against the Miami Heat and the Lakers.
MarShon Brooks led New Jersey with 19 points and eight rebounds. Deron Williams finished with 14 points and six assists.
GRIZZLIES 102, BULLS 86
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Rudy Gay scored 24 points, and Mike Conley added 20 points and eight assists to help Memphis end short-handed Chicago’s five-game winning streak.
The Bulls played without leading scorer Derrick Rose, who missed his second game in the last four with a left toe sprain.
Marc Gasol had 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Marreese Speights finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds as Memphis extended its winning streak to three games. Gay was 11 of 18 from the field while Gasol and Conley both hit nine of their 13 shots.
Luol Deng led the Bulls with 20 points, and C.J. Watson finished with 17 points. Taj Gibson had 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting. Carlos Boozer added 13 points and seven rebounds, but was 5 of 12 from the field. The Bulls shot 42 percent to 54 percent for Memphis.
ROCKETS 114, WIZARDS 106
WASHINGTON — Kevin Martin scored 25 points, Samuel Dalembert added 20 and Houston broke away in the third quarter to beat Washington.
John Wall scored a career-high 38 points on 13 of 22 shooting for the Wizards. He began the game making under 35 percent this season.
Luis Scola had 18 and Kyle Lowry had 16 for the Rockets in their highest-scoring game of the season. Houston outscored the Wizards 25-6 during an eight-minute stretch in the third quarter.
Washington fell to 1-12 despite its highest point total of the season.
CAVALIERS 102, BOBCATS 94
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kyrie Irving had 25 points and seven assists to lead Cleveland.
The Bobcats led 94-93 with less than two minutes to play, but the Cavaliers closed out the game by scoring the final nine points, getting a pair of key inside baskets from Anderson Varejao, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Antawn Jamison added 20 points and seven rebounds for the Cavs, who returned to .500 on the season.
Omri Casspi played a big role in Cleveland’s second half comeback with 14 points and seven rebounds with most of his damage coming in the third quarter.
D.J. Augustin led the Bobcats with 24 points and eight assists, and Gerald Henderson added 17 points.
TRAIL BLAZERS 84, HORNETS 77
NEW ORLEANS — LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points, and Portland snapped a three-game skid.
Nicolas Batum added 19 points and Gerald Wallace 14 for the Trail Blazers, who blew open a tie game early in the third quarter with a 17-2 run during which Aldridge made all five of his shots for 10 points.
Jarrett Jack scored 21, while Emeka Okafor added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who’ve lost four straight and 10 of 11.
New Orleans was plagued by poor perimeter shooting, going 0 of 9 from 3-point range, and turning the ball over 19 times.
After making only one of his first seven shots, Aldridge finished 10 of 17. Wesley Matthews added 10 points for Portland.
HAWKS 93, RAPTORS 84
ATLANTA — Josh Smith scored 28 points and pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds, and Joe Johnson added 27 points to help Atlanta win its third straight game.
Leandro Barbosa finished with 22 points in a reserve role for Toronto, which has lost five straight. The Raptors were without center Andrea Bargnani, the NBA’s ninth-leading scorer, for the third straight game because of a strained left calf. Reserve guard James Johnson didn’t play because of a sprained right ankle.
The Raptors twice cut the lead to one late in the third quarter when Barbosa hit a pair of free throws and a runner, but Atlanta went on an 18-9 run that Jeff Teague ended with a free throw to make it 81-71 with 7:55 remaining.
TIMBERWOLVES 99, KINGS 86
MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Love had 33 points and 11 rebounds, and Luke Ridnour added 25 points and nine assists to lead Minnesota over Sacramento.
Wayne Ellington scored 15 off the bench for the Timberwolves, a significant contribution for a backcourt that was missing J.J. Barea for the third straight game because of a sprained left ankle.
Tyreke Evans had nine points, 10 assists and eight rebounds but shot just 3 of 11 from the field as the Kings lost for the fifth time in six games. Jason Thompson and Marcus Thornton led Sacramento with 12 points each.
Ricky Rubio had nine points, eight assists and eight rebounds for Minnesota. Love has scored 97 points over the last three games, with a Jan. 25 deadline to extend his contract getting closer and closer.
