Wednesday’s other NBA games

Heat 112, Hornets 99

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Goran Dragic scored 33 points, the Miami Heat made 21 3-pointers and pulled back into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. James Johnson shot 6 of 7 from 3-point range and had 26 points, while Hassan Whiteside had a strong second half and finished with 13 points and 20 rebounds as the Heat dealt a near-fatal blow to Charlotte’s playoff hopes. The loss drops the 10th place Hornets 2 1/2 games behind the Heat and Indiana Pacers with three games remaining. Miami holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Indiana for the final spot in the East. The 21 3-pointers tied the most ever allowed in by the Hornets in franchise history. Nic Batum led Charlotte with 24 points, while All-Star Kemba Walker had 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting.

Raptors 105, Pistons 102

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.

Kyle Lowry had 27 points and 10 assists in his return from a wrist injury. Back in the lineup after missing 18 games, Lowry helped the Raptors overcame a 20-point first-half deficit. Toronto moved a half-game ahead of the Washington Wizards for third place in the East. Jonas Valanciunas had 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter for Detroit, Ish Smith and Tobias Harris had 16 points each, and Cory Joseph added 15. The Pistons dropped to 11th in the conference, three games behind Miami, Chicago and Indiana with four games to play.

Thunder 103, Grizzlies 100

MEMPHIS, Tenn.

Russell Westbrook fell a rebound short of an historic triple-double, but he scored 45 points. Westbrook’s 3-pointer — his eighth in the game — with 14 seconds left and two free throws in the final second gave the Thunder their second win in a row. Oklahoma City solidified its hold on the Western Conference’s sixth seed, holding a 3 1/2-game lead over the Grizzlies. Victor Oladipo scored 15 points, and Doug McDermott and Enes Kanter added 10 apiece. Marc Gasol led Memphis with 23 points, and Zach Randolph had 20 points and nine rebounds.

Rockets 110, Nuggets 104

HOUSTON

James Harden scored 31 points and the Houston Rockets secured the third seed in the Western Conference. The Nuggets cut the lead to two points on a layup by Nikola Jokic with 1:20 remaining. A 3-pointer by Harden a few seconds later pushed the lead to 106-101 and brought the crowd, which included rapper Travis Scott, to its feet. Harden added two free throws after that for the last of 15 straight points he scored for Houston in the second half of the fourth quarter. The Nuggets got a dunk from Danilo Gallinari next to cut the lead to four, but Eric Gordon added a pair of free throws to secure the win. Gallinari had 23 points for the Nuggets, who are in ninth place and are fighting for the last playoff spot in the West.

Lakers 102, Spurs 95

SAN ANTONIO

Tyler Ennis had 19 points in place of injured starter D’Angelo Russell. The Lakers led by as many as 26 points in snapping an eight-game skid against the Spurs. Making his first start of the season, Ennis had six assists and only one turnover to help Los Angeles snap San Antonio’s three-game winning streak. Russell missed the game after experiencing soreness in his knee during shootaround. The Spurs pulled within 100-95 on back-to-back 3s by Kyle Anderson and Davis Bertans, but David Nbawa’s follow slam shut the door on the rally. Bertans and Tony Parker led the Spurs with 14 points each.

Associated Press