Chris Paul had 22 points and 11 assists, Ryan Anderson added 21 points and the Houston Rockets became the latest team to thump Cleveland on US TV, beating the disconnected Cavaliers 120-88 on Saturday night.
James Harden only scored 16 — 15 below his league-leading average — but Houston rolled to its fourth straight win and improved to 11-2 since Jan. 8.
Chris Paul scores 22 PTS and dishes 11 AST to lead the @HoustonRockets to their fourth straight win!#Rockets pic.twitter.com/aWaHnAB5i4 — NBA (@NBA) February 4, 2018
Meanwhile, the Cavs’ downward spiral accelerated.
Since losing at Golden State on Christmas, LeBron James and his teammates are 0-8 in network broadcasts and have been embarrassed in several matchups against quality teams.
They lost by 28 at Minnesota, 34 in Toronto, 24 at home to Oklahoma City and 32 to the Rockets, who toyed with the defending Eastern Conference champs.
James finished with just 11 points and didn’t play in the fourth quarter as the Rockets were too far ahead. Isaiah Thomas scored 12 for Cleveland.
Jimmy Butler scored 30 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 16 rebounds for his league-leading 47th double-double as Minnesota beat New Orleans 118-107.
In front of a capacity crowd dotted with celebrities in town for Sunday’s Super Bowl, the Wolves dominated from the start en route to their 12th straight home win and a four-game season sweep of the Pelicans.
Anthony Davis led New Orleans with 38 points and managed to keep the Pelicans from getting completely blown out in the first quarter, when the Wolves opened a 22-6 lead.
Davis scored 19 first-quarter points to help the Pelicans pull within single digits at times, but Minnesota had an answer for every run and shot 50.5 percent on the night to steadily maintain its lead.
Tyus Jones had 15 points off the bench for the Wolves. Andrew Wiggins had 15 points for Minnesota and Taj Gibson added 12.
Andre Drummond had 23 points and 20 rebounds, and Blake Griffin made a key 3-pointer in the final minute to lift Detroit to a 111-107 win over Miami.
Ish Smith added 25 points for the Pistons, including a late 3-pointer of his own.
Detroit has won three in a row, the last two with Griffin in the lineup after acquiring him in a trade.
Griffin’s 3-pointer with 44 seconds to play put the Pistons ahead 108-101, but Goran Dragic responded with a four-point play, making a 3-pointer while being fouled with 32 seconds left. Detroit ran the clock down on the next possession, and Smith sank his only 3-point attempt of the game, from the right corner with 14 seconds to play.
Dragic scored 33 points for the Heat, who have lost three in a row. Miami was without center Hassan Whiteside, who was out with an illness.
Victor Oladipo and Bojan Bogdanovic each scored 19 points and Indiana beat Philadelphia 100-92.
#VictorOladipo scores 19 PTS, grabs 9 REB, and dishes 4 AST to help power the @Pacers to the win!@Sixers 92 / Pacers 100 pic.twitter.com/o6EP5SWENN — NBA (@NBA) February 4, 2018
Oladipo added nine rebounds and four assists. Domantis Sabonis scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had six assists. Lance Stephenson finished with 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Indiana.
Joel Embiid finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds while playing on both nights of the back-to-back. Ben Simmons scored 10 points and added 11 rebounds for Philadelphia.
Otto Porter scored 20 points and Tomas Satoransky had a career-high 19 to lift Washington to a 115-98 win over Orlando.
Bradley Beal had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Wizards won their fourth straight without injured All-Star point guard John Wall. Washington shot 54 percent and had 35 assists, the fourth straight game with 30 or more.
Mario Hezonja and Johnathon Simmons led Orlando with 15 points apiece. The Magic had seven players in double figures, including 14 points from Elfrid Payton, but couldn’t keep up with Washington’s unselfish play.
Newcomer Tobias Harris combined well with holdover Danilo Gallinari to lead the Clippers to a 113-103 victory over the struggling Bulls.
Tobias Harris scores 24 PTS in his @LAClippers debut to help lead them to the home win!#BullsNation 103 / #ItTakesEverything 113 pic.twitter.com/a5obyo76DD — NBA (@NBA) February 3, 2018
Harris and Gallinari each scored 24 points in their first game together, and the Clippers stayed with a simple motion offense that led to a season-high 33 fast-break points.
Zach LaVine had 21 points and nine rebounds and led six Bulls players scoring in double figures.
Make it 5⃣ straight games! Ricky Rubio scores 34 PTS and dishes 9 AST to lead the @utahjazz to the win!#TakeNote 120 / #GoSpursGo 111 pic.twitter.com/vgq3Q9t233 — NBA (@NBA) February 4, 2018
All the scores from Saturday’s NBA action:
Los Angeles Clippers 113-103 Chicago Bulls
Detroit Pistons 111-107 Miami Heat
Indiana Pacers 100-92 Philadelphia 76ers
Orlando Magic 98-115 Washington Wizards
Cleveland Cavaliers 88-120 Houston Rockets
Denver Nuggets 115-108 Golden State Warriors
Minnesota Timberwolves 118-107 New Orleans Pelicans
San Antonio Spurs 111-120 Utah Jazz
Sacramento Kings 99-106 Dallas Mavericks