NBA roundup: recap, scores, notes for every game played on January 6

By The Sports Xchange  

The Houston Rockets (29-9) won their seventh consecutive game with a 100-93 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night at Amway Arena. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI

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Houston Rockets 100, Orlando Magic 93

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Ryan Anderson scored 19 points and Patrick Beverley and Eric Gordon each added 17 points, leading the Houston Rockets to a 100-93 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night at Amway Arena.

The Rockets (29-9) won their seventh consecutive game and their 18th of the last 20. The Magic (16-22) have lost four of their last five and are leaving Saturday on a five-game West Coast road trip.

The Rockets hit 15 of 49 3-point shots, while the Magic made eight of 23.

Houston All-Star James Harden had 14 points and 10 assists, but he missed all eight of his 3-point attempts. Trevor Ariza had 13 points and six rebounds.

Reserve D.J. Augustin led the Magic with 19 points, but 16 came in the second period. Aaron Gordon had 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Serge Ibaka scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Elfrid Payton had 12 points. Nikola Vucevic had nine points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

New York Knicks 116, Milwaukee Bucks 111

MILWAUKEE -- Carmelo Anthony hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with under a minute to play and finished with 26 points as New York snapped a six-game losing streak by rallying to beat Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.

Anthony scored 12 points in the final quarter as the Knicks rallied from a 13-point deficit. Kristaps Porzingis scored 24 points, Derrick Rose added 12 and Courtney Lee had 11 for New York.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker led Milwaukee with 25 points apiece. Greg Monroe had 19 off the bench for the Bucks, who shot 50 percent from the floor and hit 12 of 22 from 3-point range.

Washington Wizards 112, Minnesota Timberwolves 105

WASHINGTON -- John Wall had 18 points and a season-high 18 assists as Washington survived 41 points from Andrew Wiggins to defeat Minnesota.

Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 22 points as Washington won its ninth straight home game.

Marcin Gortat went 9 of 9 from the field for 19 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. The Wizards shot 58.2 percent from the field for a needed win after losing two games during a brief Texas road trip.

Cleveland Cavaliers 116, Brooklyn Nets 108

NEW YORK -- Kyrie Irving hit two clutch 3-pointers in the opening four-plus minutes of the fourth quarter as Cleveland blew most of a 24-point lead before getting a victory over Brooklyn.

LeBron James scored 29 of his 36 points in the first three quarters and was resting when Irving came through to stave off a Brooklyn comeback after Cleveland allowed the first 11 points of the fourth.

Irving returned from missing the previous three games due a tight right hamstring and scored 32 points, including the first 12 of the fourth quarter for Cleveland when the lead shrank to 86-80 in the opening minutes. He scored Cleveland's first points of the fourth at the foul line and then a long jumper, two 3-pointers and a layup to push the lead to 98-82 with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining.

Boston Celtics 110, Philadelphia 76ers 106

BOSTON -- Al Horford got hot at just the right time.

Boston's first major free-agent signee scored five points in the first three quarters but then scored 14 in the fourth, including his fourth 3-pointer of the quarter with 17.2 seconds left that gave the Celtics a victory over Philadelphia.

Horford, who finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks, was 2-for-9 from the floor through three quarters but then hit three 3-pointers and a two for 11 straight points for his team in a 3:01 span. He then hit the winner as the Celtics rallied from behind to their third straight win, their ninth in the last 11 games.

Los Angeles Clippers 106, Sacramento Kings 98

SACRAMENTO -- Austin Rivers has his second straight big shooting night and Chris Paul returned to the lineup for an immediate impact as Los Angeles outlasted Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center.

Rivers followed up his season-high 28 points from the Clippers' Jan. 4 win over Memphis with a 24-point night, and Paul logged 12 assists -- including six in the fourth quarter -- while also moving to 10th on the all-time NBA assists list. Paul's feed to a cutting Luc Mbah a Moute for a dunk with 6:15 left in third quarter marked his 7,988th career assist and moved him past Rod Strickland.

The Clippers used a huge second period to slingshot them into a lead they'd never give up. There would be just one tie in the second half, 73-73 with 1:34 left in the third period, and the Kings would get as close as one point just once in the fourth.

Los Angeles Lakers 127, Miami Heat 100

LOS ANGELES -- Lou Williams scored 24 points and Los Angeles rolled past Miami in a testy affair at Staples Center.

Luol Deng and D'Angelo Russell contributed 19 points apiece for the Lakers, who beat the Heat for only the second time in their last 10 meetings.

Rookie Brandon Ingram finished with 17 points and six rebounds, and Julius Randle added 15 points and six rebounds for Los Angeles. Tarik Black chipped in 10 points and 11 boards.

Memphis Grizzlies 128, Golden State Warriors 119 (OT)

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph combined for four baskets on Memphis' first four possessions of overtime, capping a remarkable comeback by the Grizzlies that produced a stunning victory over Golden State.

Wrapping up a four-game trip with a second win, the Grizzlies trailed by 24 points in the third quarter and 18 with 7:47 remaining in the fourth before rallying to tie on a short jumper by Mike Conley with 7.4 seconds left in regulation.

The Grizzlies, who outscored the Warriors 32-13 in the fourth quarter, also dominated the overtime, using the four hoops by Gasol and Randolph to build a lead they never relinquished.