NBA game roundup: Grizzlies win battle of one-loss teams

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies, the only one-loss teams left in the NBA, could have been expected to play one of the most competitive games of the young season Monday night.

Instead, the Grizzlies emphatically defended their home court at FedExForum with a 119-93 victory. Memphis led by as many as 36 points in the fourth quarter and finished with its largest margin of victory this season.

Houston, playing for the second night in a row, never pulled closer than 20 points after halftime.

Point guard Mike Conley led the Grizzlies (10-1) with 19 points and six assists. Guard Courtney Lee scored 15 points, swingman Quincy Pondexter and forward Jon Leuer each had 13 points off the bench, and reserve point guard Beno Udrih finished with 13 points and six assists.

Forward Trevor Ariza paced Houston (9-2) with 16 points. Center Dwight Howard had 15 points and nine rebounds.

Memphis shot 53.5 percent (46-for-86) and scored 31 points off 21 Houston turnovers. The Grizzlies gave the ball away just 11 times, leading to 11 points.

The Rockets shot 43.6 percent (34-for-78). Memphis outscored Houston 64-50 in the paint.

The Grizzlies won their 20th consecutive regular-season home game. Houston lost on the road for the first time this season (6-1).

Spurs 100, 76ers 75

SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich has been known to give Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker a night off even against top opponents in an effort to keep them fresh for the long season.

With the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA’s most ineffectual team in town Monday night, the Spurs coach didn’t hold any of the team’s Big Three out of the game; he just deployed them for fewer minutes than they normally play.

That hardly mattered. With neither Duncan, Ginobili nor Parker logging more than 18 minutes, the Spurs defeated Philadelphia for their fourth victory in the last five games.

Heat 95, Nets 83

NEW YORK — Guard Mario Chalmers scored 22 points, and short-handed Miami dominated the second half en route to a victory over Brooklyn at Barclays Center.

Center Chris Bosh contributed 15 points and nine rebounds for Miami, which outscored Brooklyn 57-40 in the second half. Guard Norris Cole added 12 points, while rookie guard Shabazz Napier added a career-high 11 points and first-year forward James Ennis contributed a career-best 10 points.

The Heat snapped a three-game losing streak on a night when they were without guard Dwyane Wade (strained left hamstring) and forwards Luol Deng (wrist) and Josh McRoberts (left foot).

Rookie forward Bojan Bogdanovic tied a career high with 22 points, and reserve guard Jarrett Jack added 15 for the Nets, who dropped their fourth straight. Brooklyn shot 11-for-30 from the field in the second half and 16-for-26 from the foul line overall.

Suns 118, Celtics 114

BOSTON — Phoenix blew double-digit leads in both halves but still pulled out a victory over Boston.

The Suns (6-5 after ending a two-game losing streak) led by 13 points in the first half, lost the lead and then led by 14 in the second half — and lost that lead, too.

But guard Eric Bledsoe stole an Avery Bradley pass and scored, breaking a 114-114 tie with 29.5 seconds left.

The Celtics suffered their third straight tough home loss to fall to 3-6.

Magic 107, Pistons 93

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Nikola Vucevic powered for 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Orlando defeated Detroit and former coach Stan Van Gundy at The Palace.

Magic forward Tobias Harris scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half to spoil Van Gundy’s first game against the team he coached for five seasons. Shooting guard Evan Fournier supplied 14 points and eight assists, power forward Channing Frye contributed 12 points, and guard Victor Oladipo added 11 points for Orlando (5-7).

Orlando forward Aaron Gordon, the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft, missed his first game after fracturing his left foot Saturday in the Magic’s 98-93 loss to the Washington Wizards.

Nuggets 106, Cavaliers 97

CLEVELAND — Arron Afflalo had a season-high 23 points, guard Ty Lawson had 24 points and 12 assists and Denver ended Cleveland’s four-game winning streak with a victory on the road.

The Nuggets (3-7) led throughout the second half, building a 96-84 lead on a 3-pointer from forward Darrell Arthur, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

The Nuggets rebounded from a 16-point loss at New York on Sunday to take two of three on this brief East Coast trip, including a surprising win over what many expect will be the best team in the East this season.

Forward LeBron James, named Eastern Conference Player of the Week earlier in the day, battled a head cold that forced him to miss the team’s morning shoot-around. He missed his first five shots before recovering to finish with 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists. But the Cavs (5-4) turned the ball over six times in the third quarter and allowed the Nuggets to shoot 48 percent on the night.

Mavericks 107, Hornets 80

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Guard Monta Ellis scored 18 points and forward Chandler Parsons added 17 points and nine rebounds as Dallas routed Charlotte for its fourth consecutive win..

The Mavericks rolled to a 24-point halftime lead by shooting 61.9 percent from the field, then led by as many as 33 in the second half before resting their starters the entire fourth quarter.

The Mavericks also got points from 14 points and nine rebounds from center Tyson Chandler and 13 points from forward Dirk Nowitzki, who surpassed the 27,000-point plateau for his career. Nowitzki is one of four players in NBA history to score more than 27,000 points with one franchise, joining Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Trail Blazers 102, Pelicans 93

PORTLAND — Portland outscored New Orleans 34-13 in the fourth quarter to erase a 15-point deficit and escape with a victory at the Moda Center.

Guard Damian Lillard scored 24 points and dished out seven assists as the Trail Blazers (8-3) won their fifth straight game. Forward LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points with nine rebounds for the Blazers.

Forward Anthony Davis collected 31 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots for the Pelicans (5-4).