NBA-Highlights of Sunday's NBA games

Dec 8 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Sunday's National Basketball Association games. - - - Raptors 106, Lakers 94 Amir Johnson scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Toronto Raptors beat Los Angeles despite the return of Kobe Bryant. Toronto guard DeMar DeRozen scored 26 points and had three steals and the Raptors (7-12) ended a five-game losing streak and a 10-game skid to the Lakers (10-10) in L.A. Bryant played for the first time since going down almost eight months ago with a torn Achilles, and finished with nine points and eight rebounds. Bryant also had eight turnovers. Toronto played without forward Rudy Gay, reserve center Aaron Gray and forward Quincy Acy. The three were dealt to the Sacramento Kings in a pending seven-player trade that is expected to be approved by the NBA on Monday. - - - Heat 110, Pistons 95 LeBron James had 24 points, seven rebounds and nine assists as the Miami Heat snapped the Detroit Pistons' four-game winning streak with a victory. Ray Allen, who started in place of inactive Dwyane Wade, pumped in 18 points as Miami (16-5) avenged its 107-97 home loss to Detroit on Tuesday that ended a 10-game winning streak. Wade sat out on the second part of a back-to-back to rest his sore knees. Second-year center Andre Drummond notched his 15th double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds while point guard Brandon Jennings had 19 points and six assists for the Pistons (10-11). - - - Thunder 118, Pacers 94 Kevin Durant scored 36 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder past the NBA-best Indiana Pacers. Durant shot 14-of-23 from the field, collected 10 rebounds and added five assists. Guard Russell Westbrook came up short of a triple double with 26 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists for Oklahoma City (15-4). Paul George fought to keep the Pacers (18-3) competitive as he scored a team-high 32 points on 9-for-17 shooting. Coming off a hard-fought win over San Antonio on Saturday, the Pacers dropped to 4-3 on the second night of back-to-back games. - - - Rockets 98, Magic 88 James Harden delivered a dominating all-around performance, leading the Houston Rockets to a victory over the Orlando Magic. Harden combined critical scoring with dazzling playmaking, pairing 27 points with 10 assists while defending Magic guard Arron Afflalo with vigor. Center Dwight Howard added 20 points, 22 rebounds and three blocks as Houston (15-7) won for the 10th time in 13 games. The Magic (6-14) cut a 22-point deficit to 10 midway through the fourth quarter but could not stave off a fifth consecutive defeat. - - - Celtics 114, Knicks 73 The Boston Celtics demolished the New York Knicks behind a game-high 23 points from Jordan Crawford. The Atlantic Division-leading Celtics (10-12) ran wire-to-wire for the win over a Knicks squad (5-14) that was going for its first three-game winning streak of the season. Instead, Boston picked up its third victory in a row to extend a divisional lead in a game the Knicks trailed by many as 27 points in the first half. About the only saving grace for the Knicks was the ascending play of Amar'e Stoudemire, who scored 17 points. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)