NEW YORK — Jarrett Jack scored a season-high 31 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers won 106-100 Sunday night to end the eight-game winning streak of the New York Knicks, who wasted a chance to pull within two games of a
NEW YORK — Jarrett Jack scored a season-high 31 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers won 106-100 Sunday night to end the eight-game winning streak of the New York Knicks, who wasted a chance to pull within two games of a playoff spot.
Hours after being handed a chance to pull closer to the final spot in the Eastern Conference when Atlanta blew a fourth-quarter lead in Toronto, the Knicks responded with an inept final period of their own after they led by 17 points in the first half.
They couldn’t stop Jack and couldn’t get a basket from Carmelo Anthony, who missed all five shots in the final period and finished with 32 points.
Jack scored 23 in the second half and finished with 10 assists for the Cavaliers, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Lakers 103, Magic 94
LOS ANGELES — Jordan Hill had a career-high 28 points along with 13 rebounds in his first start in over nine weeks and Los Angeles beat Orlando, sending the Magic to their ninth straight loss.
Nick Young scored 26 points off the bench, helping the Lakers end a four-game skid. Pau Gasol had six points in 18 minutes, and sat out the second half after feeling nauseous and dizzy.
Steve Nash, who had 11 assists in 19 minutes off the bench Friday night against Washington after missing the previous 15 games because of chronic nerve damage in his back, did not play. The 40-year-old two-time MVP has been limited to just 11 games all season because of his condition.
Orlando point guard Victor Oladipo had 21 points and 10 assists in his eighth career start.
Suns 127, Timberwolves 120
MINNEAPOLIS — Markieff Morris scored 25 points off the bench to lead Phoenix to its biggest comeback of the season, a victory against Minnesota.
Phoenix trailed by 22 in the first half, but shot a season-high 57 percent from the floor to overcome Kevin Love’s 36 points and 14 rebounds. Love fell an assist short of a triple-double and committed a crucial turnover in the final minute.
With the game tied at 118, Love lost the ball in the paint and Eric Bledsoe made a fast-break layup.
Gerald Green, Bledsoe and P.J. Tucker each hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to help the Suns pull within a half-game of eighth-place Memphis in the Western Conference.
The Suns tied a season high by allowing 41 points in the first quarter and trailed 103-93 heading in the final period, but they outscored the Wolves 34-17 in the fourth. Minnesota, meanwhile, blew its largest lead of the season.
Raptors 96, Hawks 86
TORONTO — Kyle Lowry scored 25 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and 13 rebounds and Toronto beat Atlanta.
DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points, Greivis Vasquez had 12 and Terrence Ross 10 as the Raptors avoided their first three-game home losing streak since dropping games against Brooklyn, Miami and Denver between Nov. 26 and Dec. 1. Toronto fell in double-overtime to Oklahoma City on Friday and lost to Phoenix last Sunday.
Lowry, who had 13 points as Toronto erased an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter, has scored 19 points or more in a career-high nine consecutive games.
DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap each scored 17 as the Hawks lost their second straight following a five-game winning streak. Atlanta failed to win a third straight road game after losing its previous 10 away from home.
Nuggets 105, Wizards 102
DENVER — Kenneth Faried had 20 points and Aaron Brooks hit four straight free throws in the final 12 seconds, helping injury-riddled Denver hold off Washington.
Randy Foye added 17 for a Nuggets team that was missing J.J. Hickson, who suffered a torn ligament in his right knee Friday. Wilson Chandler also didn’t play (strained left hip) and Jan Vesely didn’t return after bruising his rib cage late in the third quarter.
Bradley Beal scored 21 points as the Wizards wrapped up a four-game road swing with a 1-3 record. Trevor Ariza scored 15 of his 18 points in the first quarter and John Wall added 15, but also had eight turnovers.
Hickson was the latest player to be lost by the Nuggets. They were already without Danilo Gallinari (left ACL), JaVale McGee (broken tibia) and Nate Robinson (left ACL), who all have undergone season-ending operations.
Kings 124, Bucks 107
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — DeMarcus Cousins had 32 points and 12 rebounds and Isaiah Thomas had 30 points and eight assists in Sacramento’s victory that sent Milwaukee to its seventh straight loss.
Cousins made 14 of 19 shots, four of six free throws and added four assists and two steals.
The Kings demonstrated early they would not be overlooking the struggling Bucks. Sacramento led by 23 points after one quarter, took a 70-44 lead into halftime, and were ahead by 34 points after three quarters.
Rudy Gay had 24 points and eight rebounds and Ben McLemore scored 15 points for the Kings, who had dropped four of their past five home games against the Bucks.
O.J. Mayo scored 21 points for Milwaukee.
Nets 107, Mavericks 104, OT
DALLAS — Joe Johnson scored 22 points, including the tying layup in regulation and the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime to lead Brooklyn past the Mavericks in Jason Kidd’s return to Dallas as a coach.
The Nets swept the two-game season series with Dallas in their first year under Kidd, who spent his 41st birthday on the floor where he was essentially the coach at point guard when the Mavericks won the 2011 title.
Marcus Thornton had 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for the Nets, who won their fourth straight game and beat a Western Conference team for the fifth straight time.
Monta Ellis led Dallas with 32 points, but Dirk Nowitzki finished with 10 on one of his toughest shooting nights of the season.
