Lakers hold off Celtics in OT
BOSTON – Pau Gasol blocked Ray Allen’s putback attempt at the buzzer in overtime, and the Los Angeles Lakers held on to beat the Boston Celtics, 88-87, on Thursday night.
Kobe Bryant had 27 points, Gasol finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Andrew Bynum added 16 points and 17 rebounds to help the Lakers snap a two-game losing streak.
The Lakers had lost six of their past seven games on the road.
Warriors 109, Nuggets 101: At Denver, Stephen Curry scored a season-best 36 points, and Golden State handed fading Denver its fifth straight loss, the Nuggets’ longest losing streak in five seasons.
Denver has dropped seven of eight games overall and also has lost five in a row at home.
Arron Afflalo led the Nuggets with 26 points.
Rockets 96, Suns 89: At Phoenix, Luis Scola scored 16 points, and Patrick Patterson added 14 to help Houston beat Phoenix.
Chase Budinger and Kyle Lowry each scored 12 points, and the Rockets used a 57-13 edge in scoring from their backups to win their third straight and fourth in five games.
Channing Frye scored a season-high 21 points, and Marcin Gortat added 16 for the Suns, who had won a season-high three straight games. Steve Nash, selected to his eighth All-Star game Thursday, scored 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting and had 13 assists.
