The Miami Heat cruised to victory over the New Orleans Pelicans with a dominant second-half performance, having been 11 points behind at half time.

The Pelicans left LeBron James unguarded at times after the break, allowing the reigning MVP to finish the night with 32 points, while Dwyane Wade also had an impact with 22.

The Indiana Pacers held off a late charge from the Toronto Raptors to take their third win in a row.

Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson did the damage for the home side, before the Pacers defended well in the fourth to halt a Raptors comeback.

The Dallas Mavericks ended their recent poor run at home with a win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dirk Nowitzki helped the Mavericks to their first win in five outings at American Airlines Center, scoring 27, while a late run from Monta Ellis ended any hopes of a Lakers comeback.

The Utah Jazz stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder despite Kevin Durant scoring 48 points for the visitors.

Durant, the league's leading scorer, could not give the Thunder a clear lead, as Gordon Hayward added a career-high 37, including their final 17 points of the game to seal the win.

The Washington Wizards played strongly at the start of the second half to secure a win over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Bradley Beal led the visitors on a 17-0 run at the start of the third quarter following a close first half, putting the Wizards in a position to clinch victory.

The New York Knicks were able to take a narrow win over the Detroit Pistons, despite a strong finish from the away side.

Detroit trailed by 15 points heading into the fourth quarter, following another high-scoring evening for Carmelo Anthony.

Josh Smith led the Pistons back into the game, and had a chance to give them the lead with less than 10 seconds to play, but his jump shot came up short, before Anthony increased the score at the other end of the court.

The Chicago Bulls came away with the win in a closely-fought contest with the Phoenix Suns.

Taj Gibson stepped up for the hosts, adding 19 points and 10 rebounds to help the Bulls to their sixth win in their last eight games.

The San Antonio Spurs needed overtime to claim a win against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Having finished level after four quarters, there continued to be little between the two teams in overtime, but Manu Ginobili scored the game-winning points with 1.8 seconds to spare.

The Cleveland Cavaliers eased to a win over the Philadelphia 76ers, beating them by 18 points.

Despite Sixers rookie Michael Carter-Williams scoring a season-high 33, the visitors were unable to block CJ Miles as he led the Cavaliers charge with 34, while Kyrie Irving had 16 on his return from a knee injury.

Newly-acquired small forward Luol Deng attended the game, but did not dress for Cleveland less than a day after being traded by the Chicago Bulls.

The Golden State Warriors maintained their current streak with a comfortable win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

David Lee led the team with 22 points, 18 rebounds and two assists as the Warriors took their 10th consecutive win, giving them their longest winning run since 1975.

The Sacramento Kings got the better of the Portland Trail Blazers in a high-scoring finale at the Sleep Train Arena.

DeMarcus Cousins put the Kings in a strong position, scoring 35 points, but Damian Lillard had a late run as the Blazers outscored the hosts 46-43 in the fourth quarter, just falling short.

The Denver Nuggets won a third game in a row by thrashing the Boston Celtics 129-98.

Randy Foye finished the night with a season-high 23 points, while Kenneth Faried also got the better of the Celtics' defense with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Results in full: Washington Wizards 97-83 Charlotte Bobcats, Philadelphia 76ers 93-111 Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors 79-86 Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans 88-107 Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons 85-89 New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns 87-92 Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs 110-108 Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors 101-80 Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers 97-110 Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics 98-129 Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder 101-112 Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers 119-123 Sacramento Kings