Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped the Denver Nuggets’ seven-game winning streak with a 98-88 victory on Wednesday night.
Tristan Thompson had a career-high 21 rebounds and 17 points for the Cavaliers, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
The Nuggets, playing the third game of six-game road trip, lost for the first time since Nov. 18. The trip began with a 14-point win in Toronto on Sunday and a 24-point victory in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Randy Foye led Denver with 16 points, while J.J. Hickson had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Anderson Varejao scored a season-high 18 points and had 13 rebounds for Cleveland, who recorded their largest margin of victory this season.
TRAIL BLAZERS 111, THUNDER 104
In Portland, Oregon, LaMarcus Aldridge had a season-high 38 points and added 13 rebounds as Portland snapped Oklahoma City’s eight-game winning streak.
Nicolas Batum hit a three-pointer with 29.9 seconds to go that all but sealed it for Portland, who have won 14 of their past 15 games. The win also snapped Oklahoma City’s seven-game winning streak against the Blazers.
Kevin Durant finished with 33 for the Thunder, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back after defeating Sacramento 97-95 on Tuesday night.
Batum and Lillard both added 14 points for the Blazers, who were coming off a 106-102 victory over Indiana on Monday. Portland are 8-1 at home this season.
HAWKS 107, CLIPPERS 97
In Atlanta, Kyle Korver tied the NBA record for consecutive games with a three-pointer and scored a season-high 23 points in the Hawks’ victory over the Clippers.
Korver, returning from a bruised rib that sidelined him the last four games, tied Dana Barros’ NBA 18-year-old record by hitting a three-pointer in his 89th straight game. Barros set the mark during stints with Philadelphia and Boston from Dec. 23, 1994, to Jan. 10, 1996.
He made his first attempt in the game’s first minute and finished six-for-nine beyond the arc.
Paul Millsap finished with 25 points, while Al Horford added 21 to help the Hawks snap a two-game losing streak.
Blake Griffin scored 24 points and Chris Paul had 19 points and 11 assists as the Clippers lost their second straight.
PISTONS 105, BUCKS 98
In Milwaukee, Andre Drummond had 24 points and 19 rebounds and the Pistons rode a strong second-half performance to beat the Bucks.
Greg Monroe contributed 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons, who had three players with double-doubles and five score 15 or more points.
Ersan Ilyasov scored a season-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Bucks, who have lost 13 of 14. Khris Middleton added 14 points for Milwaukee.
Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings had 17 points and 11 assists in his return to Milwaukee.
PACERS 95, JAZZ 86
In Salt Lake City, Paul George scored 19 points and Indiana returned to their defensive ways to defeat the Jazz in Utah for the first time since an 84-60 victory on Nov. 29, 2005.
Lance Stephenson scored 15 points, Luis Scola had 14 and Roy Hibbert added 13 points for the Pacers.
Indiana outscored the Jazz 27-19 in the fourth quarter and parlayed 14 Utah turnovers in 20 points.
Gordon Hayward’s three-pointer cut the Indiana lead to 79-76 before the Pacers scored nine straight points, capped by West’s 20-foot jumper that just beat the shot clock, and never looked back.
Derrick Favors led Utah with 22 points and 13 rebounds and Enes Kanter had 20 points and 10 boards for the Jazz, who had won three of their past four games.
MAVERICKS 100, PELICANS 97
In New Orleans, Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and the Mavericks beat the Pelicans 100-97 on Wednesday night.
Nowitzki gave Dallas the lead with a free throw to make the score 98-97 with 32.3 seconds left. He then got a piece of Eric Gordon’s driving floater, grabbed the rebound and hit two more free throws with 8 seconds left.
The Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson missed an open three-pointer that would have tied it with 2 seconds left.
Reserve Vince Carter had 15 points for Dallas and Monta Ellis added 14 points.
Jrue Holiday had a season-high 26 points for the Pelicans, who played without injured forward Anthony Davis for the second consecutive game.
SUNS 97, ROCKETS 88
In Houston, Eric Bledsoe had 20 points and seven assists to lead Phoenix over the Rockets.
P.J. Tucker added 18 points on eight-of-13 shooting with six rebounds. Channing Frye had 14 points on six-of-12 shooting and grabbed six rebounds, and Goran Dragic chipped in 19 points on six-of-11 shooting for the Suns, who shot 45.6 percent from the field, including 45.8 percent from behind the arc.
Dwight Howard had 15 points and 18 rebounds, Aaron Brooks added 17 points and six assists, and Omri Casspi had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets, who lost their second straight game.
James Harden finished with 14 points, hitting three of 17 from the field and going 0-for-10 from behind the arc.
In other NBA action, the Spurs-Timberwolves game was postponed.
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