DALLAS (AP) – Chicago completed a Texas two-step by winning a hard-fought game 102-98 at Dallas on Friday, a day after handing San Antonio a heavy defeat.
The Bulls maintained their 4-1/2 game lead in the NBA Central Division but could make up no ground on runaway Eastern Conference leader Atlanta, which notched their 15th straight win by defeating Oklahoma City.
Among the Western Conference contenders, Houston edged Phoenix to close within a game of the Southwest Division lead, while overall league leaders Golden State smashed Sacramento, with Klay Thompson scoring a record 37 points in the third quarter.
Chicago’s Derrick Rose scored 20 points and Jimmy Butler had 14 of his 20 in the second half to guide the Bulls to another impressive road victory which suggested the team was over a sticky patch that saw them lose six in eight.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points to lead the Mavericks, which missed a chance to go into a virtual tie for the Southwest lead.
Atlanta put in another even team scoring performance to beat Oklahoma City 103-93 and stretch their remarkable winning streak.
Paul Millsap scored 22 points and Jeff Teague added 17 for the Hawks, whose streak is the longest in franchise history.
Houston’s James Harden scored 33 points, including a 20-foot jumper as time ran out which sealed a 113-111 win against Phoenix. Harden’s 33 points came in the absence of injured star centre Dwight Howard for three quarters.
Golden State’s Thompson set an NBA record for most individual points in a quarter as he tallied 37 to help the Warriors cruise past Sacramento 126-101.
Thompson, who finished with a career-high 52 points, made all 13 shots in the third quarter, including a league-record nine from three-point range, and hit both of his free throws during a 12-minute span.
Cleveland put in a dominating performance to beat Charlotte 129-90 and notch a fifth straight win.
LeBron James scored 25 points and J.R. Smith scored all his 21 points in three-pointers for the Cavaliers, whose 35-point half-time lead was the biggest in franchise history. They built that to 49 points in the fourth quarter before easing up.
Al Jefferson’s 22 points led the Hornets, who had won eight of nine, but were no match for the Cavaliers, who have again looked like title contenders since James returned from an eight-game injury absence.
San Antonio led from start to finish in beating the Los Angeles Lakers 99-85.
Toronto came from nine points down with 5-1/2 minutes to play and won 91-86 at Philadelphia, helped by Kyle Lowry scoring 17 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Miami survived another second-half struggle at home, hanging on to top Indiana 89-87.
Boston’s Avery Bradley hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:24 left as the Celtics edged Denver 100-99, handing the Nuggets a fifth successive defeat.
New Orleans narrowly avoided another ugly road loss, beating lowly Minnesota 92-84.
New York won their third straight game – having gone 5-36 beforehand – by beating Orlando 113-106.
