NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Solomon Hill scored a career-high 30 points and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame the absence of All-Star DeMarcus Cousins in a 128-112 upset over the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
Anthony Davis had 24 points and 15 rebounds for New Orleans, which has won three of four. Jrue Holiday added 19 points despite early foul trouble.
James Harden had 41 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, but that was not enough to prevent Houston’s first loss in four games. Lou Williams added 14 points and Montrezl Harrell 13.
Cousins was sidelined by left knee and rib soreness. New Orleans is now 2-0 without Cousins and 3-7 when he’s played since trading for him Feb. 19.
Pelicans rookie guard Wayne Selden scored 11 points in his third career NBA game.
CELTICS 98, NETS 95
NEW YORK (AP) - Jae Crowder scored nine of his 24 points late in the fourth quarter, Avery Bradley had 16 overall and Boston edged Brooklyn.
Al Horford added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics, who were playing without All-Star Isaiah Thomas. Boston’s point guard sat the first game of a two-game road trip. Thomas, second in the NBA in scoring with 29.2 points per game, bruised his right knee in Wednesday night’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves after a hard fall.
Boston moved within two games of the idle Cleveland Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Brook Lopez led the Nets with 23 points and Randy Foye added 14 for Brooklyn.
HEAT 123, TIMBERWOLVES 105
MIAMI (AP) - Hassan Whiteside scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Tyler Johnson scored 23 off the bench and Miami downed Minnesota.
Goran Dragic scored 19 points and added 10 assists for Miami, which lost Dion Waiters to an ankle injury in the second quarter but moved to 23-5 in its last 28 games overall and 15-1 in its last 16 at home.
James Johnson scored 17 for the Heat, who never trailed and put the game away with a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 31 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who were 21 for 22 from the foul line.
BUCKS 107, LAKERS 103
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Khris Middleton scored 14 of his season-high 30 points in the fourth quarter, Greg Monroe added 12 points before his ejection and Milwaukee kept up its furious playoff push with its eighth victory in nine games.
Monroe and Lakers guards D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young were ejected with 36 seconds left in the third quarter after a fracas started by Malcolm Brogdon’s hard foul on Young, who shoved back. Monroe then shoved Young, and Russell shoved Monroe while every player on the court got involved.
Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points for the Lakers, who trimmed Milwaukee’s lead from 18 points to 103-100 with 7.9 seconds left.
WIZARDS 112, BULLS 107
WASHINGTON (AP) - Bradley Beal scored 24 points, John Wall dished out a career-high 20 assists to go with 14 points and Washington held on to defeat Chicago.
Playing their first game since Dwyane Wade suffered a fractured elbow that will keep him out for the rest of the regular season, the Bulls rallied from 19 points down and had a chance to tie it, but Jimmy Butler missed a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left.
Butler finished with 28 points and Robin Lopez added a season-high 25 points and 12 rebounds.
Washington’s Jason Smith, starting in place of Markieff Morris who was a late scratch due to illness, tied his season high with 17 points.
76ERS 116, MAVERICKS 74
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Justin Anderson tied his career high with 19 points and Robert Covington scored 12 of his 18 points in a dominant third quarter, helping Philadelphia rout Dallas.
Richaun Holmes added 17 points for the 76ers, who snapped an eight-game losing streak to Dallas while spoiling Nerlens Noel’s return to Philadelphia.
Noel had nine points and five rebounds in his first game against his former team since being traded on Feb. 23. Dwight Powell led the Mavericks with 14 points.
RAPTORS 87, PISTONS 75
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Serge Ibaka had 17 points and eight rebounds and Toronto used a fourth-quarter surge to beat Detroit.
Toronto outscored Detroit 27-9 in the final period to take control of a game that appeared to be slipping away. The Pistons missed their final 10 shots of the game.
DeMar DeRozan added 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Toronto, which won for the second time in five games.
Reggie Jackson had 20 points for Detroit, which lost its third in a row. Andre Drummond had 22 points, but only had eight before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, posting matching 34.1 shooting percentages. Corey Joseph hit a pair of free throws with 1.1 seconds left in the half to give Toronto a 40-38 lead.
MAGIC 109, SUNS 103
PHOENIX (AP) - Evan Fournier scored 25 points and Orlando ended a four-game losing streak with a win over Phoenix.
Nikola Vucevic, playing on a gimpy ankle that he rolled Thursday night at Golden State, scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in 32 minutes. Aaron Gordon added 17 points, and Terrence Ross made a 3-pointer with 2:07 to play that gave Orlando a 107-98 lead that the Suns couldn’t overcome.
T.J. Warren’s 26 points led the Suns, who have lost five of six. Rookie point guard Tyler Ulis, making his second career NBA start, scored 19 points and added eight assists.
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