With their season-long, six-game road trip coming to an end, Cleveland Cavaliers recognized the need for one determined push across the finish line and rebounded from their first loss this month to beat the Houston Rockets 91-77. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James carried a sporadic offense but the Cavaliers relied on their defensive might to beat the Rockets at Toyota Center. Cleveland (28-10) limited the Rockets to a season-low points total while Houston (21-20) shot just 35.1 percent (26 for 74) from the floor, including 6-for-25 shooting from behind the three-point arc. James (19 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) and Irving (23 points) were efficient while Kevin Love chipped in 11 points and 13 rebounds, but Cleveland closed the trip 5-1 by digging in defensively, especially against Rockets guard James Harden. "We came in with the mindset that we had to defend, we had to cut the head off the snake, and that's Harden, and then just try to defend everyone else at the same time," James said. "And we did that." Harden scored just 11 points on two-of-10 shooting. He missed all five of his three-point attempts and committed eight of the Rockets' 19 turnovers. He seemed resigned to his fate, taking just three shots in 18 second-half minutes as Cleveland sent multiple bodies his direction defensively. Harden was not alone in his struggles. Excluding Patrick Beverley, who shot five of eight, every member of the Rockets' starting lineup missed more shots than they took. Wizards 118, Pacers 104: John Wall had 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists as the Washington Wizards defeated the Indiana Pacers 118-104 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Bradley Beal added 22 points for the Wizards (19-19), who matched their season scoring high on the way to a fourth consecutive victory. Thunder 113, Timberwolves 93: Kevin Durant scored 21 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 113-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Durant shot seven of 14 from the field to go along with seven assists and six rebounds. Dion Waiters came off the bench to post 17 points. Trail Blazers 116, Nets 104: Led by Damian Lillard and Ed Davis, the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 116-104 at Barclays Center. Lillard had 33 points and 10 assists and Davis had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Allan Crabbe came off the bench to score 19 points, C.J. McCollum had 13 points, seven assists and four rebounds and Al-Farouq Aminu added 10 points for the Blazers, who stretched their winning streak to three games. Celtics 117, Suns 103: The Boston Celtics beat the Phoenix Suns 117-103. Kelly Olynyk scored 13 straight points in a 22-4 run that ended the first half as Boston sent the Suns (13-28) to their 13th loss in their last 14 games. Pelicans 109, Hornets 107: Ryan Anderson scored 21 of his season-high 32 points in the first half and Anthony Davis iced the game with an alley-oop dunk off a feed from guard Jrue Holiday with two seconds left to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 109-107 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night at the Smoothie King Center. Davis' game-winning bucket came after Holiday penetrated against Kemba Walker. Holiday saw Davis roll to the basket and threw a soft lob that Davis finished with a two-hand finish to break a 107-107 tie. Mavericks 83, Bulls 77: Dirk Nowitzki scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to an 83-77 win over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. Trailing 61-59 entering the fourth quarter, the Mavericks (23-18) outscored the Bulls 24-16 the rest of the way. The lead was exchanged for the 13th and final time when Deron Williams connected on a three-pointer to put the Mavs ahead 71-69. The basket began a 11-3 run for Dallas. Other results: Bucks 108, Hawks 101; Heat 98, Nuggets 95. — Agencies
