Brandon Miller made his first 10 shots from the field and finished with 30 points as Charlotte snapped Orlando's three-game win streak with a 124-115 victory on Friday night.
Miles Bridges added 23 points and Grant Williams added 18 points as the Hornets won for only the second time in their last 11 games.
Paolo Banchero had 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Magic, while Franz Wagner added 22 points.
Orlando (45-32) came in tied with the New York Knicks for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and hoping to take a step toward securing a home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
TRAIL BLAZERS 108, WIZARDS 102
WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Deandre Ayton scored a season-high 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Portland sent Washington to a franchise record-tying 63rd loss.
Dalano Banton added 21 points and Scoot Henderson scored 19 for Portland, which won its second straight. Jabari Walker finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds to help the Trail Blazers to their first consecutive wins since the beginning of March.
Deni Avdija had 22 points and 13 rebounds for Washington, which had won four of its previous five. Jordan Poole added 20 points and Tristan Vukcevic had 17 for the Wizards, who have four games remaining.
PACERS 126, THUNDER 112
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Pascal Siakam scored 21 points, Aaron Nesmith had 17 and Indiana Pacers beat Oklahoma City for their ninth victory in 14 games.
Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton was held to eight points, but had 11 assists. With his 11th assist, a fourth-quarter pass setting up Nesmith鈥檚 3-pointer, Haliburton broke the Pacers鈥� single-season record of 713 set by Mark Jackson in the 1997-98.
T.J. McConnell and Myles Turner added 16 points apiece for Indiana.
Lu Dort led Oklahoma City with 22 points. Fighting for the top spot in the Western Conference, the Thunder were without injured All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and second-leading scorer Jalen Williams.
CELTICS 101, KINGS 100
BOSTON (AP) 鈥� Payton Pritchard had 21 points, including five 3-pointers and Boston held off a late charge to beat Sacramento.
Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points and 11 rebounds 鈥� his second straight double-double 鈥� to help the NBA鈥檚 top team claim its 12th consecutive win at home one game after clinching home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They鈥檝e won 13 of their last 15.
De鈥橝aron Fox had 40 points for the Kings and banked in a go-ahead 26-footer with 27 seconds to play. But after Celtics reserve Xavier Tillman put Boston back in front, Fox misfired on a jumper 鈥� one of three potential game-winning shots tfor he Kings in the final seven seconds as the Celtics survived.
HEAT 116, ROCKETS 104
HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� Jimmy Butler scored 22 points, and Bam Adebayo had 18 points and 12 rebounds to help Miami to a victory over Houston.
The Rockets opened the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run, capped by two 3-pointers by Jalen Green, to cut the lead to 94-91 with about 10 minutes to go.
The Heat got 3-pointers from Caleb Martin, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. in a 20-5 run after that to make it 114-96 with just more than four minutes remaining.
Green and Houston coach Ime Udoka received technical fouls during that stretch for yelling at the officials. Jeff Green made a 3-pointer for Houston with about eight minutes left, but the Rockets didn鈥檛 score again until a layup by Jock Landale four minutes later.
Herro had 17 points, six assists and five rebounds in his return after missing 20 games with knee and foot injuries. He didn鈥檛 start but played 25 minutes minutes after coach Erik Spoelstra said he鈥檇 be on a minutes restriction.
Jalen Green had 21 points and Dillon Brooks added 18 for the Rockets, who lost their fourth straight game after winning the previous 11.
SPURS 111, PELICANS 109
NEW ORLEANS (AP) 鈥� Victor Wembanyama scored 15 of his 16 points in the second half and had a crucial block on Herb Jones鈥� shot in the final seconds to lift San Antonio Spurs to victory over New Orleans.
Wembanyama and the Spurs overcame a 10-point halftime deficit in sending the short-handed Pelicans to their fourth consecutive home loss. The Spurs had lost seven straight in the series with New Orleans.
Trailing 107-106, the Pelicans had a chance to regain the lead, but Jones dribbled into the paint and his shot was swiped clean by Wembanyama with 10 second left.
CJ McCollum led New Orleans with 31 points, and Jonas Valanciunas had 26 points and seven assists. The Pelicans were without their two leading scorers. Zion Williamson (22.8) was sidelined with a bruised finger on his left shooting hand, an injury he suffered in a 117-108 loss to Orlando on Wednesday night, and Brandon Ingram (20.9) missed his eighth straight game because of a bone bruise on his left knee.
GRIZZLIES 108, PISTONS 90
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) 鈥� Trey Jemison had 17 points and 13 rebounds, Maozinha Pereira also scored 17 points, as Memphis built a first-half lead and coasted to a victory over Detroit.
Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 16, while GG Jackson and Lamar Stevens each added 15 points. Seven of the eight Grizzlies who played reached double figures as Memphis got its first three-game winning streak since late January.
Jaden Ivey led the Pistons with 31 points, and Jalen Duren finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his 42nd double-double of the season. Jaylen Nowell added 12 points as Detroit lost its third straight and 11th of its last 12.
RAPTORS 114, BUCKS 111
MILWAUKEE (AP) 鈥� Gary Trent Jr. scored 31 points and Toronto snapped a 15-game losing streak with a victory over slumping Milwaukee.
Milwaukee, playing without the injured Giannis Antetokounmpo, lost for the fifth time in its last six games, with the last three coming against Washington, Memphis and Toronto, who are all well below .500. Antetokounmpo sat out with a left hamstring injury.
Trent was 7 of 15 from 3-point range and helped the Raptors build a 14-point lead in the third quarter before the Bucks mounted a rally. But point guard Damian Lillard fouled out with 1:48 left and Toronto held on to take the season series from Milwaukee, 2-1.
RJ Barrett added 26 points and Immanuel Quickley had 25 for Toronto.
BULLS 108, KNICKS 100
CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� Javonte Green set career highs with 25 points and 13 rebounds, Ayo Dosunmu scored 24 and Chicago beat New York.
Green, who spent much of the season in the G League, had the crowd roaring with his explosiveness and dunks.
DeMar DeRozan scored 20 and had 10 assists while Nikola Vucevic added 16 points and 13 rebounds. Andre Drummond grabbed 16 boards, and the Bulls overcame a big effort by Jalen Brunson to win the first of three meetings between the two teams over the final 10 days of the regular season.
Ninth-place Chicago leads Atlanta by a game in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker, would host a play-in game if they finish with identical records.
Brunson had 35 points and 11 assists, but New York 鈥� tied with Orlando for the fourth-best record in the East 鈥� lost for the fourth time in five games.
MAVERICKS 108, WARRIORS 106
DALLAS (AP) 鈥� P.J. Washington capped his best game with a tiebreaking layup with 4.5 seconds remaining as Luka Doncic watched because of a sore knee, Dallas beat Golden State to end the Warriors鈥� six-game winning streak.
Washington finished with 32 points, his most since being acquired by the Mavericks from Charlotte before the trade deadline, and Kyrie Irving had 26.
Dallas solidified its hold on fifth place in the Western Conference and is two games clear of seventh in pursuit of one of the six guaranteed playoff spots.
Stephen Curry scored 28 points, including a tying jumper with 13 seconds to go, as Golden State missed a chance to clinch a postseason spot.
SUNS 97, TIMBERWOLVES 87
PHOENIX (AP) 鈥� Grayson Allen scored 23 points, Kevin Durant had 22 and Phoenix raced to a victory over Minnesota.
Bradley Beal had 14 points for the Suns, who have won four straight home games. Devin Booker, coming off games with 52 and 40 points, finished with 13 points and 13 assists. His only 3-pointer of the night gave the Suns a 94-72 lead with 4:02 remaining.
Jusuf Nurkic, who was a game-time decision with a left calf injury, played 26 minutes and had 11 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.
Anthony Edwards struggled from the field, making just 6 of 19 shots and finishing with 17 points. Nickell Alexander-Walker was the only other Timberwolves player in double figures with 13 points. Naz Reid had a team-high 11 rebounds.
CLIPPERS 131, JAZZ 102
LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Terance Mann scored 19 points to lead eight players in double figures and the Los Angeles Clippers routed Utah, sending the Jazz to their 11th consecutive loss.
Kawhi Leonard sat out his third straight game with a sore right knee for the Clippers, but they never needed their superstar.
James Harden had his third triple-double of the season with 13 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds. Ivica Zubac had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Paul George added 14 points as the Clippers swept a back-to-back, on Thursday.
It was the Clippers鈥� first time with eight players in double figures since May 16, 2021, at Oklahoma City.
Talen Horton-Tucker led Utah with 17 points off the bench. Omer Yurtseven, who started for the injured Walker Kessler, had 12 points and seven rebounds. Utah鈥檚 bench outscored the starters, 63-39.
The Associated Press
