Pistons 96, Wizards 87

Former UConn star Charlie Villanueva scored 19 points Saturday night, Rodney Stuckey added 18 and Detroit got its second win in as many nights over Washington.

It was only the second time this season that Detroit had won consecutive games.

The Wizards, who trailed throughout the game, have lost seven straight and dropped to an NBA-worst 3-22.

For the second straight night, Detroit had 58 rebounds, a season high.

The Wizards closed to 88-81 with 6:15 to play, but didn't score for nearly four minutes as Detroit built a 94-81 lead with 2:55 to play.

Jordan Crawford, who scored his only point of the first half with 1:05 to play, scored 20 in the second half to lead Washington with 21. Emeka Okafor, another former UConn star, had 14 points and tied a season high with 14 rebounds.

Heat 105, Jazz 89

LeBron James scored 30 points, Dwyane Wade added 21 points and seven assists, and Miami rode the strength of a big third-quarter run to beat Utah.

James added nine rebounds and seven assists for the Eastern Conference-leading Heat, who won their fourth straight game and next play on Christmas against Oklahoma City in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals. Shane Battier scored 15 and Ray Allen added 13 for Miami, which opened the second half on a 22-6 run to build a 69-49 lead.

Marvin Williams scored 16 for Utah, which got 15 from Gordon Hayward and 11 from Paul Millsap.

The Jazz played the second half without Mo Williams, who appeared to hurt his right thumb. Miami was without Chris Bosh, home with what the team said was a cold.

Hawks 92, Bulls 75

Al Horford had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and every Atlanta starter scored in double figures as the Hawks routed Chicago to snap a two-game losing streak.

Lou Williams added 16 points in his first start, and the Atlanta native led the way as the Hawks outscored the Bulls 61-33 in the second and third quarters combined. Both teams played on Friday, but the Bulls were the only one that looked tired a night later.

Luol Deng paced Chicago with 11 points, but the Bulls (15-11) couldn't build on its 110-106 victory over the Knicks in New York on Friday. The Hawks (16-9), however, bounced back from a poor fourth-quarter performance in a 99-80 loss at Philadelphia.

Atlanta starters outscored Chicago's starters 72-39 in Hawks coach Larry Drew's 100th victory (100-73).

Pacers 81, Hornets 75

David West scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half and Indiana overcame a 22-point deficit to beat New Orleans, handing the Hornets their 11th straight loss.

Paul George steadied Indiana in the first half with 11 points, and finished with 17 to help the Pacers win for the seventh time in eight games.

Robin Lopez had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets, stuck in their worst stretch since December 2004.

Greivis Vasquez added 14 points, and Anthony Davis had 10 for the Hornets.

After the Hornets took a 46-24, the Pacers outscored them 57-29 - including 24-7 in the third quarter.

West scored his 10,000th career point midway through the third quarter.

Rockets 121, Grizzlies 96

James Harden scored 31 points with eight assists, and Houston earned its third straight win.

The Grizzlies entered the game allowing an NBA-low 89.2 points a game. But they had no answer for Harden. He did all his scoring in the first three quarters and reached at least 20 points for an eighth straight game.

Houston used a big run midway through the second quarter to take the lead, and didn't trail after that to break a four-game winning streak by the Grizzlies.

Mike Conley had 16 points for the Grizzlies on a night when leading scorer Rudy Gay finished with a season-low six points.

Memphis hadn't allowed 100 points since the Clippers scored 101 in the season-opener - an NBA-best streak of 23 games.

The Rockets needed just over three quarters to reach the mark with a free throw by Jeremy Lin with 9 1-2 minutes left that made it 100-80.

It was the Rockets' 13th straight home victory over the Grizzlies. Memphis hasn't won in Houston since April 2006.

Lin added 15 points and 11 assists, and Marcus Morris scored 16 points.

Notes

Kings suspend C Cousins indefinitely

DeMarcus Cousins was suspended indefinitely by the Sacramento Kings on Saturday for "unprofessional behavior and conduct detrimental to the team."

Cousins and Kings coach Keith Smart exchanged words in the locker room during halftime of Sacramento's 97-85 loss at the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. Smart benched Cousins for the entire second half and ordered him to remain in the locker room.

Cousins also was suspended one game without pay by the NBA for striking O.J. Mayo in the groin during a loss at Dallas on Dec. 10. Following a loss at San Antonio on Nov. 9, the league suspended Cousins two games without pay for confronting Spurs announcer Sean Elliott in a "hostile manner."

"We're trying to set a standard here, and when guys move below that standard, things are going to take place," Smart said after the game in Los Angeles. "We'll just move on to the next game and I'll make some decisions from there."

Cousins, drafted fifth overall in 2010, took responsibility for the incident after the game. The 22-year-old center is averaging a team-high 16.6 points and 9.5 rebounds to go with 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game this season.

"What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. But I was wrong. I was wrong," said Cousins, who scored nine points in 20 minutes. "I'm a player that definitely wants to win every night, and I'm an emotional player. That's never going to change. But I shouldn't have responded back. Something was said, and I just should have stayed quiet. Is it a humbling thing? Yeah, I will say that. I mean, I messed up and I apologize to my teammates for responding the way I did and I'll move on from it."

Mavs waive Derek Fisher

The Dallas Mavericks have waived Derek Fisher, a move made at the request of the veteran guard.

The Mavericks announced the move Saturday, four days after the 38-year-old Fisher strained a tendon in his right knee in a game against Philadelphia.

Fisher, a 16-year veteran who won five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, was a free agent when he signed with Dallas three weeks ago because of injuries and lack of depth at the point. In nine games for Dallas, Fisher averaged 8.6 points and 3.6 assists.