PHILADELPHIA (AP) - LeBron James had 21 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and the Miami Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers 101-86 on Friday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
Chris Bosh scored 25 points, Norris Cole and Shane Battier had 13 points apiece, and the Heat avoided their first four-game losing streak since March 2011. The Heat dropped games at New York, Brooklyn and Washington, but had no trouble against the Sixers in this one.
The two-time defending NBA champion Heat led by 25 and atoned for a 114-110 loss to Philadelphia in October.
Tony Wroten led the Sixers with 13 points. Spencer Hawes had 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Sixers missed 18 of 20 3-point attempts.
Miami star Dwyane Wade, who missed the first game against the Sixers, scored eight points on his 32nd birthday.
LAKERS 107, CELTICS 104
BOSTON (AP) - Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo returned from a knee injury and missed a 3-pointer that could have sent the game into overtime, sending the Lakers to the win.
Pau Gasol had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Los Angeles, and Kendall Marshall finished with 19 points and 14 assists. Ryan Kelly scored 20 points and Wesley Johnson added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Kelly added a pair of clinching free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining as the Lakers snapped a six-game losing streak.
Kelly Olynyk scored a career-high 25 points for Boston. Rondo, who was limited to 20 minutes in his first game since tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament on Jan. 25, 2013, had eight points, four assists and two rebounds.
CLIPPERS 109, KNICKS 95
NEW YORK (AP) - Blake Griffin scored 32 points, Jamal Crawford added 29 and the Clippers opened a seven-game road trip with their fifth straight victory.
DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who dominated the second half to hand the Knicks their third consecutive loss.
Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and 20 rebounds for the Knicks in a disappointing start to an eight-game homestand that matches the longest in franchise history. That doesn’t guarantee any success this season, with the Knicks now 7-13 at Madison Square Garden.
Anthony shot only 4 of 23 from the field but made all 16 free throws in the first 20-20 game by a Knicks player since David Lee on April 2, 2010. J.R. Smith added 24 points off the bench.
JAZZ 110, PISTONS 89
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Trey Burke had 20 points and a career-high 12 assists in his return to Michigan, leading Utah to the victory.
Burke, who was the national player of the year at Michigan last season and led the Wolverines to the Final Four, had plenty of supporters in the crowd at the Palace. He shook off a slow start and outplayed Detroit counterpart Brandon Jennings as the Jazz built a big lead.
Enes Kanter added 18 points for Utah and Marvin Williams scored 17. Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 21, but Detroit looked flat for much of the game after a five-day layoff.
The Pistons had a chance to draft Burke with the No. 8 pick last year, but took Kentavious Caldwell-Pope instead.
RAPTORS 94, TIMBERWOLVES 89
TORONTO (AP) - Kyle Lowry scored 24 points, Amir Johnson had 19 and the Raptors beat Minnesota for their 10th straight home victory over the Timberwolves.
DeMar DeRozan shook off a poor shooting performance to score 15 points and Terrence Ross had 16 as the Raptors won their sixth straight home game. It’s their longest home streak since an eight-game run from Jan. 17 to Feb. 10, 2010.
Lowry made a season-high six 3-pointers as the Raptors won for the ninth time in 11 games and posted their 18th victory in 19 meetings with Minnesota.
Kevin Love had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Kevin Martin added 18 points for the Timberwolves, who lost their third straight. Jose Barea scored 14 and Nikola Pekovic had 13.
WIZARDS 96, BULLS 93
WASHINGTON (AP) - John Wall had 23 points and 11 assists, helping the Wizards reach .500 for the third time this season.
The Wizards had six players score in double figures in their third straight victory, two of them coming against Chicago. Bradley Beal and Martell Webster had 14 points apiece.
There were 12 lead changes and 11 ties. Washington took a 92-91 lead on Marcin Gortat’s layup with 4:28 to play.
The Bulls were held to just one field goal in the final 5:16. They missed eight of their last nine shots.
Kirk Hinrich led Chicago with 18 points, and D.J. Augustin scored 16. The Bulls had won six of seven, and were trying to reach .500 for the first time since Nov. 27.
BOBCATS 111, MAGIC 101
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Al Jefferson had 30 points and 16 rebounds for Charlotte, and Kemba Walker added 19 points and 10 assists.
The Magic dug out of an 18-point first-half hole and pulled to 78-76 early in the fourth quarter. But the Bobcats shot 16 for 20 on free throws in the final period to help secure the win.
Josh McRoberts and Gerald Henderson added 17 points apiece for Charlotte.
Orlando committed 16 turnovers as its season-high losing streak reached 10 games.
Arron Afflalo scored 24 points in his return to the Magic lineup, and Tobias Harris and Jameer Nelson each had 18.
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