(The Sports Xchange) – Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points and knocked down two free throws with 14.8 seconds left as the New York Knicks held on to beat the Sacramento Kings 103-100 on Friday night.
New York kicked off a five-game Western Conference road trip by completing a season sweep of Sacramento.
Anthony became the 29th player in NBA history to reach 23,000 points. He topped 30 for the fifth time this season and finished the night with 23,024 for his career.
Cavaliers 114, Heat 84
LeBron James scored 27 points against his former team to move into ninth place on the NBA’s career scoring list in Cleveland’s victory over Miami.
James added eight rebounds and eight assists, and Kevin Love fought through back spasms to contribute 28 points and 15 rebounds. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points.
Hornets 109, Magic 88
Charlotte is clicking on all cylinders as it heads out on a rugged five-game road trip. The Hornets rolled to their third straight win as they cruised to a victory over Orlando at the Spectrum Center.
This was a dominant performance in which the Hornets led by as many as 29 points and were able to rest all their starters the entire fourth quarter.
Pistons 117, Timberwolves 90
Andre Drummond had his second straight 20-20 game with 22 points and 22 rebounds, and six players scored in double-figures as Detroit recovered from its worst offensive night of the season to beat Minnesota.
Jon Leuer scored 17 points off the bench for Detroit, which lost 87-77 at Charlotte on Wednesday. Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris each scored 15 for the Pistons. Detroit committed just seven turnovers and connected on 14 of 29 3-pointers in winning for the seventh time in 10 games.
Raptors 101, Celtics 94
Dwight Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Toronto’s dynamite backcourt, caught fire in the second half and led the Raptors from behind to a victory over Boston.
Lowry scored a season-high 34 points, 21 in the second half, and DeRozan added 24, 16 after halftime — a night after the guard combo had 52 points in a home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Lowry iced the game with five free throws in the final 30.6 seconds.
Hawks 114, Bucks 110
Denis Schroder and Paul Millsap combined for 29 second half points as Atlanta rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to defeat Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.
Schroder finished with a game-high 33 points while Millsap added 23. Tim Hardaway Jr. sank three 3-pointers to add 18 for the Hawks, who shot 47.6 percent and went 12-for-34 on 3-point attempts.
Rockets 102, Thunder 99
James Harden scored 21 points to lead Houston to a victory over Oklahoma City at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Houston won despite a seventh straight triple-double by Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook. However, this was the first one to come in a loss. Westbrook had 27 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, and his triple-double streak matches Michael Jordan’s seven-game run in the 1988-89 season.
Mavericks 111, Pacers 103
An embarrassing home loss two nights earlier ramped up the urgency for struggling Dallas to show signs of life, and it answered that call with one of its most efficient performances of the season in a victory over Indiana at American Airlines Center.
Led by Wesley Matthews’ season-high-tying 26 points, which included his sizzling shooting from long range with five more 3-pointers, and 25 points and eight rebounds from Harrison Barnes, Dallas shot a torrid 48.8 percent from the floor and hit 15-of-32 shots from beyond the arc — but were over 50 percent for the majority of the game — to get a much-needed confidence boost that ended their four-game homestand at 2-2.
Suns 119, Lakers 115
Eric Bledsoe scored 30 points and handed out nine assists, sparking Phoenix to a victory over Los Angeles at Staples Center.
Leandro Barbosa had 21 points off the bench for the Suns, who ended a three-game losing streak. The Suns also got 15 points from Devin Booker and 14 each from Alex Len and Brandon Knight.
