Friday's NBA Capsules
SAN ANTONIO (AP) Tony Parker had 27 points and the San Antonio Spurs held on to beat the Sacramento Kings 112-104 on Friday night -their second straight victory without Gregg Popovich.
Popovich missed his second straight game following a recent undisclosed minor medical procedure. The veteran coach's status is unknown for the team's upcoming four-game road trip, which begins Sunday in Boston, but he did visit with the team Friday morning.
Assistant coach Ettore Messina led San Antonio to its sixth straight victory. Messina said everything he is doing has Popovich's seal of approval.
Kawhi Leonard scored 19 points, Tim Duncan had 18 and Danny Green 11 for San Antonio (11-4).
Darren Collison and Ryan Hollins had 15 points each for Sacramento (9-6) and Ben McLemore had 14 points.
HAWKS 100, PELICANS 91
ATLANTA (AP) - Jeff Teague scored 26 points, DeMarre Carroll added 19 and Atlanta held off New Orleans.
Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday each had 20 points for New Orleans. The Pelicans couldn't recover after being held to a season-low 28 first-half points.
Tyreke Evans had 18 points for New Orleans. Anthony Davis had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Pelicans cut Atlanta's lead to seven points three times in the fourth period, the last at 94-87. Teague answered with a basket that barely beat the shot clock with 39 seconds remaining.
Paul Millsap had 13 points and nine rebounds and Al Horford had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta.
THUNDER 105, KNICKS 78
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Russell Westbrook scored 32 points in his first game back from a broken right hand, and Oklahoma rolled past New York.
Westbrook was injured in the second game of the season and hadn't played since. He returned in grand fashion, making 12 of 17 shots, including 3 of 4 3-pointers, and adding eight assists and seven rebounds in just 23 minutes before checking out late in the third quarter because the Thunder were in control.
Amare Stoudemire had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who shot 39 percent and scored a season-low point total in their third straight loss. Carmelo Anthony, a Top 10 scorer in the league, missed his second straight game with back spasms. He said before the game he was unsure when he would return.
CLIPPERS 102, ROCKETS 85
HOUSTON (AP) - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 10 rebounds and Jamal Crawford added 21 points to help Los Angeles coast to a win over injury-depleted Houston.
The Rockets were playing their fifth straight game without Dwight Howard (knee strain) and were also missing two other starters.
The Clippers took the lead at the end of the first quarter and didn't trail again. Houston got within 10 points early in the third, but a run by Los Angeles pushed the lead to 18.
An alley-oop dunk by DeAndre Jordan made it 94-73 with about six minutes remaining and the starters went to the bench soon after that.
James Harden had 16 points to lead Houston.
PACERS 98, MAGIC 83
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Rodney Stuckey scored a season-high 24 points and David West had 18 points in his first game of the season to lead Indiana to a win over Orlando.
Solomon Hill scored 11 points and Lavoy Allen had 10 points and 14 rebounds as the Pacers (7-9) handed the Magic (6-12) their fourth straight loss.
West wasted little time in re-establishing himself. The Pacers' power forward had missed the first 15 games of the season with an ankle injury, but he scored Indiana's first four points before two quick fouls sent him to the bench.
Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 16 points. Tobias Harris and Victor Oladipo each scored 14 and Ben Gordon had 12 points for the Magic.
BUCKS 104, PISTONS 88
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Ersan Ilyasova scored 22 points and Jared Dudley added 16 points as Milwaukee beat slumping Detroit.
Milwaukee didn't have a single starter score in double figures, but got 69 points off the bench to hand Detroit its seventh straight loss.
The teams were playing for the third time this month and the second time in four days. The Pistons posted one of just three wins this season on Nov. 7, but Milwaukee answered with a 98-86 victory on Tuesday.
Former Piston Khris Middleton added 12 points for Milwaukee, which got four reserves into double figures. Andre Drummond led Detroit with 26 points and 20 rebounds, but Greg Monroe only had five points on three shots.
WARRIORS 106, HORNETS 101
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Marreese Speights scored 16 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, and Golden State Warriors beat Charlotte for their eighth straight win.
Stephen Curry finished with 26 points despite a poor shooting night from 3-point range, and Klay Thompson added 17 points for the Warriors (13-2).
Brian Roberts scored 20 points and Al Jefferson had 18 points for the struggling Hornets, who have lost eight straight games and 10 of their last 11. Cody Zeller had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Kemba Walker had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte (4-13).
Curry, making his return to Charlotte where he played high school basketball and starred at nearby Davidson College, was just 1 of 10 from 3-point range. But he finished 9 of 20 from the field and made all seven free throw attempts.
The Warriors out-rebounded the Hornets 16-8 on the offensive glass.
NUGGETS 122, SUNS 97
DENVER (AP) - Arron Afflalo led seven Nuggets in double figures with 22 points, and Denver won its fourth straight at home by beating Phoenix.
Timofey Mozgov added 13 points as the Nuggets snapped a five-game losing streak to the Suns, who took the first of their home-and-home series on Wednesday after sweeping four meetings between the teams last season.
Eric Bledsoe had 16 points to lead Phoenix, which had an off night shooting, connecting on 38.8 percent of its shots from the field. Gerald Green added 12 points.
Helped by their deep rotation and dominance on the boards (Denver outrebounded Phoenix 58-34), the Nuggets opened a 66-47 halftime lead, piling up the most points in a half by a Suns' opponent this season.
GRIZZLIES 112, TRAIL BLAZERS 99
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Marc Gasol had 26 points and nine assists as Memphis held off Portland to snap a nine-game Portland winning streak.
Mike Conley added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who have lost just two of 16 games this season for the NBA's best record. Memphis is undefeated against conference foes this season.
Wesley Matthews scored 26 or the Blazers, who lost just their second game at home. LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Grizzlies led by as many as 15 points. But Matthews nailed a 3-pointer to narrow it before Chris Kaman's layup cut the Grizzlies' lead to 89-85 with 7:26 to go.
Tony Allen's layup put Memphis up 94-85. He added a 3-pointer that extended the lead to 108-93 with 1:37 left to seal it.
Zach Randolph had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Memphis, which has won eight of its last nine games. Conley had nine assists to just miss out on a triple double.
MAVERICKS 106, RAPTORS 102
TORONTO (AP) - Monta Ellis scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, Tyson Chandler had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Dallas won for the eighth time in 10 games, beating Toronto.
Chandler Parsons scored 16 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 15 Al-Farouq Aminu 14 as the Mavericks snapped Toronto's winning streak at six games.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle won his 300th game with Dallas. He's the third coach in team history to reach the mark, joining Don Nelson (339) and Dick Motta (329).
Kyle Lowry scored 25 points, Amir Johnson had 20 and Lou Williams 16 for the Raptors, who saw All-Star DeMar DeRozan leave in the third with a strained left groin.
BULLS 102, CELTICS 102
BOSTON (AP) - Jimmy Butler hit four free throws late in the game and finished with 22 points, Derrick Rose scored 21 points and Chicago pulled out a win over Boston Celtics.
Pau Gasol had 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Joakim Noah added 15 points with 14 boards for the Bulls, who had lost four of their previous six games. Boston has lost six of seven.
Jared Sullinger led Boston with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Avery Bradley had 18 points and Brandon Bass 16 with nine boards. Rajon Rondo had eight points, seven rebounds and nine assists for the Celtics.
Butler's two free throws tied it with 80 seconds to play. Rondo missed two free throws and Sullinger front-rimmed an attempted 3 before Butler's two free throws put the Bulls ahead for good, 104-102, with 51 seconds left. Noah nailed a short jumper on Chicago's next possession.
TIMBERWOLVES 120, LAKERS 119
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Rookie guard Zach LaVine scored 18 of his team-high 28 points off the bench in the second quarter, and Mo Williams had 25 points and 11 assists to lead Minnesota over Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant missed a 3-pointer as time expired that helped seal the win for Minnesota.
LaVine, the 13th overall pick in the draft out of UCLA, played 25 minutes in his Staples Center debut and made 11 of 14 shots. He was the fifth and last player off the Timberwolves bench as they snapped a three-game losing streak.
Bryant finished with 26 points on 10 for 18 shooting and Nick Young scored 13 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. Wesley Johnson had 19 points against his former club and Jeremy Lin had 18 points and 11 assists in the Lakers' fourth straight loss. Seven of their 13 defeats this season have been by seven or fewer points.