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NEW ORLEANS — Dennis Schroder scored 23 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the New Orleans Pelicans 99-94 on Thursday night to win their fifth straight, even as shooting guard Kyle Korver spent the entire game on the bench amid reports he could be traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Paul Millsap had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who trailed by three after Anthony Davis’ dunk with 3:51 left before outscoring New Orleans 14-6 the rest of the way. Dwight Howard added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 14.
Davis had 20 points and 19 rebounds for New Orleans, which has lost its last two.
Rockets 118,
Thunder 116
HOUSTON — James Harden scored 26 points and Nene made two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining to lift the Houston Rockets to their sixth straight win, 118-116 over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.
Houston overcame Russell Westbrook’s 49 points, though the star guard struggled down the stretch.
Nene was fouled by Jerami Grant as he attempted a shot right under the basket, setting up the winning free throws.
A pair of foul shots by Harden tied it with just under two minutes remaining. The teams combined to miss seven shots after that, with Westbrook missing three in that span, before Nene’s free throws.
The Thunder attempted an alley-oop on the inbounds pass after that, but Enes Kanter couldn’t finish the play and Houston held on.
Pacers 121,
Nets 109
INDIANAPOLIS — Jeff Teague had 21 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds, and Myles Turner finished with 25 points and 15 boards as the Indiana Pacers beat the Brooklyn Nets 121-109 on Thursday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
Paul George scored 26 points and Thaddeus Young added 10 points and six rebounds for Indiana.
Leading 66-59, the Pacers (19-18) went on an 18-4 run that gave them a 21-point lead. The Nets clawed their way back, pulling within eight with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but Indiana then stretched its advantage back to double digits.
Trevor Booker and Justin Hamilton had 16 points apiece for the Nets (8-26), who fell to 1-17 on the road.
Raptors 101,
Jazz 93
TORONTO — Kyle Lowry scored 16 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Toronto Raptors to a come-from-behind 101-93 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.
Lowry, who had 19 points in the final quarter of a comeback win at Utah two weeks ago, added six rebounds and five assists for the Raptors (24-11).
DeMar DeRozan had 23 points and seven rebounds, while Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 13 rebounds as Toronto rallied from a deficit of 11 points in the second period.
The Jazz (22-15), who led for the first 44-plus minutes, were paced by Rudy Gobert’s 15 points and 16 rebounds. Shelvin Mack added 17 points and four rebounds.
DeRozan’s 18-foot jumper with 3:44 left gave the Raptors their first lead, 89-88.
It was an advantage they never relinquished.
Pistons 115,
Hornets 114
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Marco Belinelli nearly pulled off one of the craftiest buzzer beaters in memory, but his bank shot was disallowed because it came too late, and the Detroit Pistons held on for a 115-114 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night.
Belinelli was inbounding from the sideline with 0.5 seconds remaining and the Hornets down by one. Detroit’s Marcus Morris was guarding the inbounder but had his back turned, and Belinelli bounced the ball off him and caught the carom. He then took a shot that banked in, but it was waved off — and a video review confirmed the basket came just after time expired.
Kemba Walker scored 20 of his 32 points in the final period, helping Charlotte rally from a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit.