NBA-Highlights of Saturday's NBA games

Feb 6 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Saturday's National Basketball Association games. - - Trail Blazers 96, Rockets 79 Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum paced a balanced offensive attack as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets 96-79 at Toyota Center. Portland (25-27) won for the sixth time in seven games and improved to 10-3 since Jan. 10. Lillard had 21 points and 10 assists and McCollum added 16 points and seven rebounds. - - Pacers 112, Pistons 104 Paul George scored 17 of his 30 points during the first half and the Indiana Pacers shot 68.4 percent in the opening 24 minutes en route to a 112-104 victory over the Detroit Pistons at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Playing the second of a back-to-back after losing in Atlanta, the Pacers (27-24) made 12 of their first 14 field goal attempts, building an early 26-10 lead. Indiana was 15 of 20 during the first 12 minutes, after which they led 34-22. - - Cavaliers 99, Pelicans 84 Kyrie Irving scored 29 points and LeBron James had 27 and eight assists in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 99-84 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. J.R. Smith made six three-pointers for 20 points and Tristan Thompson grabbed 15 rebounds while starting at power forward in place of an injured Kevin Love. - - Hornets 108, Wizards 104 Nicolas Batum and Kemba Walker combined for 49 points to help the Charlotte Hornets overcome a 19-point deficit to topple the Washington Wizards 108-104. Batum scored 26 points on 9-for-20 shooting, while Walker added 23 points on 8-for-20 shooting to help the Hornets (25-26) win for the third time in their last four games. - - 76ers 103, Nets 98 Rookie center Jahlil Okafor had 22 points and a season-high 17 rebounds and Robert Covington drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:16 left as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Brooklyn Nets 103-98 to snap a four-game losing streak. Nerlens Noel had 18 points and rookie point guard T.J. McConnell, starting for the injured Ish Smith, matched his season high of 17 points. - - Timberwolves 112, Bulls 105 Andrew Wiggins made three big shots in the final minutes to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 112-105 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Wiggins' biggest shot of the night was a jumper with 19.5 seconds remaining that gave Minnesota a 110-105 lead, just moments after Chicago forward Pau Gasol missed a 3-point try that would have tied the score. - - Warriors 116, Thunder 108 Klay Thompson hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Golden State Warriors withstood a late charge by the Oklahoma City Thunder and remained unbeaten at home with a 116-108 victory. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 26 points and 10 assists despite missing seven of eight 3-pointers. - - Spurs 106, Lakers 102 Tony Parker hit two clutch baskets down the stretch as the Spurs held off the Lakers and remained unbeaten at home. Parker finished with 14 points but snapped a 99-99 deadlock by hitting a 17-footer with 1:59 remaining before adding a layup with 1:02 remaining. Kobe Bryant made his final appearance in San Antonio and scored 16 of his 25 points in the third quarter after missing eight of his first 10 shots before halftime. - - Mavericks 114, Grizzlies 110 (OT) Chandler Parsons scored 26 points and the Mavericks blew an eight-point lead in the final 3:30 of regulation before knocking off the Grizzlies in overtime. Parsons shot 10 of 15 from the floor and 5 of 8 from 3-point range after scoring a combined 18 points in his previous two games. Deron Williams added 22 points as Dallas snapped a three-game losing streak. - - Jazz 98, Suns 89 Rodney Hood scored 25 points and the Jazz continued their surge by defeating the Suns. Gordon Hayward added 14 of his 22 points in the opening quarter as the Jazz won their sixth straight game. Raul Neto and Rudy Gobert contributed 13 points apiece for Utah (24-24), which reached the .500 mark for the first time in nearly two months. (Editing by Peter Rutherford/Sudipto Ganguly)