Rudy Gobert and Gordon Hayward led the offensive charge as the Utah Jazz claimed the season series against the Houston Rockets with a 115-108 victory Wednesday. The Jazz improved to 41-24 on the season and moved to within three games of the third seed in the Western Conference standings. Gobert tallied a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds in front of a crowd of 16,200 at the Toyota Center arena. Hayward delivered several clutch jumpers en route to 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Utah, which stretched its winning streak to four games. The Rockets were held back by a lack of shooting as they made just eight of 32 attempts from three-point range. Utah hit 12 of 31 from beyond the arc. After cutting a 13-point deficit to three points in the third quarter, the Rockets finished the period shooting one of nine on three-pointers and five of 13 from the free-throw line. While Houston clawed to within four down the stretch, its defence failed repeatedly in trying to stop the Jazz. Guard James Harden led the Rockets with 35 points and six assists, while centre Clint Capela added a double-double (19 points, 12 boards). Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell came off the bench to score 12 each. Both Gobert (10) and Rodney Hood (12) reached double figures by the intermission as Utah stretched its 30-22 lead entering the second quarter to 11 points by the break. Celtics 99, Warriors 86 Jae Crowder hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions during a 15-0 fourth-quarter flurry that propelled Boston to a victory over Golden State. Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points, hitting four three-pointers, as the Celtics snapped a two-game losing streak. Kelly Olynyk added 17 points, and Crowder finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. The Warriors lost for the third time in five games and saw their lead over San Antonio atop the Western Conference sliced to 1 1/2 games. Klay Thompson scored 25 points and Stephen Curry 23 for the Warriors, who had four turnovers and two missed shots during Boston's runaway. Spurs 114, Kings 104 Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 19 points and David Lee equaled his season-best scoring output with 18 points as the short-handed San Antonio Spurs roared from behind to beat the Sacramento Kings 114-104 for their ninth straight victory. The victory assured the Spurs (50-13) their 18th consecutive 50-win season. San Antonio has now won 50 or more games every season since 1997-98 except in the strike-shortened 1998-99 campaign, when they went 37-13. The Spurs have had just one losing season (20-62 in 1996-97) in 28 years. Pacers 115, Pistons 98 Paul George scored 21 points, Thaddeus Young had 18 points and eight rebounds and CJ Miles added 15 points, and Indiana pulled away from Detroit. With the victory, Indiana avoided slipping to .500 and completed a four-game season series sweep from Detroit. Indiana now has a two-game lead on Detroit for the No. 6 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Timberwolves 107, Clippers 91 Karl-Anthony Towns had 29 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota, and Ricky Rubio added 15 points and 12 assists as the Timberwolves beat Los Angeles. Andrew Wiggins scored 20 points for Minnesota. Shabazz Muhammed added 17 points for the Timberwolves in a spot start. DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers. Blake Griffin added 16 points, but Chris Paul had just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting as Los Angeles shot 42.2 percent as a team. Paul had 10 assists. Raptors 94, Pelicans 87 Jonas Valanciunas scored a team-high 25 points, including four in a 9-0 run in the final 4:46, to lead Toronto to a victory over New Orleans at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans played the second half without All-Star forward Anthony Davis, who bruised his left wrist late in the second quarter and did not return after scoring seven points. New Orleans was led by DeMarcus Cousins, who scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds. Heat 108, Hornets 101 Dion Waiters scored 24 points and Goran Dragic added 22 points and 10 assists to lead Miami to a win over Charlotte. Other results: Bucks 104, Knicks 93; Magic 98, Bulls 91; Hawks 110, Nets 105; Wizards 123, Nuggets 113. — Agencies
