CLEVELAND (AP) — Ray Allen scored 22 points, Kevin Garnett added 18 and the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 86-83 on Tuesday night to snap a five-game losing streak.
Boston, which couldn’t hold a 16-point lead in the first quarter, avoided its first six-game skid since dropping seven in a row from April 4-15, 2007.
Kyrie Irving returned from a bruised elbow that sidelined him late in the second quarter and led Cleveland with 24 points, 19 in the second half.
Irving hit two free throws with 1:21 remaining to give Cleveland an 81-80 lead. After Allen missed a 3-pointer, Garnett tipped Irving’s pass, leading to Allen’s dunk with 48.6 seconds left.
NETS 93, MAVERICKS 92
DALLAS (AP) — Brook Lopez scored 38 points in only his third game back from a broken right foot, and made the go-ahead free throws with 42 seconds left for New Jersey.
The two free throws by Lopez came right after the Mavericks had taken the lead with a 13-2 run after missing 14 consecutive field goals.
Jason Kidd’s 3-pointer from the right wing only 6 seconds earlier had put Dallas ahead 92-91.
Jason Terry forced a turnover with 18 seconds left, and Dallas called timeout. Kidd then had the ball in the left corner, but it was knocked loose by DeShawn Stevenson. Kidd got it back but his desperate heave at the buzzer was short.
BULLS 99, HORNETS 95
CHICAGO (AP) — Derrick Rose scored 32 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 19.4 seconds left, and Chicago closed with an 8-0 run.
Joakim Noah had 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Bulls and Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng added 14 points apiece. Rose scored six points in Chicago’s final run.
Chris Kaman had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets and Trevor Ariza scored 16 points.
The Hornets stunned the Bulls by scoring 13 consecutive points to turn a nine-point deficit into a four-point lead with 1:26 left before Rose rescued Chicago.
INDIANA 102, GOLDEN STATE 78
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Danny Granger scored 25 points to help Indiana win its fifth straight.
Tyler Hansbrough scored 15 points and Roy Hibbert added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who remained in third place in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers topped 100 points for the fourth straight game after doing so just six times before the current stretch.
Monta Ellis and Brandon Rush each scored 14 points for the Warriors, who finished with season lows in points and field-goal percentage (.341).
Golden State guard Stephen Curry sat out with a strained tendon in his right foot. The Warriors missed the 45-percent 3-point shooter — they made just 1 of 17 3s in the first three quarters.
76ERS 97, PISTONS 68
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Thaddeus Young scored 12 of his 20 points in a pivotal second quarter and All-Star Andre Iguodala had 12 points, six assists and four steals to help Philadelphia snap a five-game losing streak.
Sixers coach Doug Collins left the bench between the third and fourth quarters, walking to the team’s locker room, and didn’t return to the court because of flulike symptoms.
Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia beat the Pistons twice at home by an average of 22 points and routed them on the road now in the first game after the All-Star break.
Philadelphia’s Elton Brand scored 10 points, returning from a two-game absence because of a sprained right thumb.
Greg Monroe scored 20 points and Rodney Stuckey had 17 for the Pistons.
ROCKETS 88, RAPTORS 85
HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle Lowry scored 26 points, Luis Scola had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Houston beat Toronto.
Kevin Martin scored 14 points, though he missed a key free throw with 11.7 seconds left that gave the Raptors a chance to tie it. But Linas Kleiza missed a long 3-point try, Martin corralled the rebound and the Rockets won for the 18th time in the last 25 games.
DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points, James Johnson had 16 and Ed Davis tied a career-high with 15 rebounds for the Raptors. Toronto outrebounded Houston 47-37, but went 2 for 17 from 3-point range and committed 17 turnovers.
The Rockets have won 25 consecutive games when holding their opponent below 90 points.
BUCKS 119, WIZARDS 118
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ersan Ilyasova scored on a tip-in with 2.2 seconds left and Milwaukee handed Washington its fifth consecutive defeat.
Mike Dunleavy scored a season-high 28 points for the Bucks, who snapped a six-game losing streak at home.
Brandon Jennings took an inbounds pass with 6.8 seconds left and drove left of the lane, attempting a short jumper. It bounced off the rim, but Ilyasova had position and tipped in the miss for the winning points.
John Wall then got an inbounds pass on the baseline for Washington but was called for traveling with 1 second to go without getting off a shot.
Wall gave the Wizards a 118-117 lead when he drove around Jennings and scored on a running, 8-foot jumper with 6.8 seconds remaining.