PORTLAND: Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 47 points and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled closer to a playoff berth with a 113-106 victory over the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

The Lakers moved a game up on the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Portland, missing the playoffs for the second straight season, has lost nine straight, the most since an 11-game skid in the 2005-06 season. Rookie Damian Lillard led the Blazers with a career-high 38 points.

Pau Gasol had 23 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, while Dwight Howard added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. Bryant was 18 of 18 from the free throw line.

Nuggets 96, Spurs 86: Wilson Chandler scored 29 points and Corey Brewer added 28 as Denver downed San Antonio to set a franchise record with its 21st consecutive home victory.

Andre Iguodala had 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as the Nuggets improved to a league-best 36-3 at home while surpassing the record set by the 1984-85 squad.

Denver has won five straight and is one game ahead of Memphis for the third seed in the Western Conference. San Antonio fell into a tie with Oklahoma City for the top seed in the West.

Clippers 111, Timberwolves 95: Chris Paul led the way with 19 points and 11 assists as Los Angeles easily handled visiting Minnesota to grab its third straight win.

Blake Griffin added 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Clippers, who are two games behind the Denver Nuggets for the third spot in the Western Conference.

Nikola Pekovic scored 20 points and Derrick Williams had 13 and 10 boards as the Timberwolves dropped their second game in as many nights.

Kings 121, Hornets 110: John Salmons scored 22 points while Jason Thompson and Marcus Thornton added 20 apiece as Sacramento salvaged the finale of its five-game home stand.

The Kings snapped their five-game losing streak at home.

Eric Gordon scored a game-high 23 points while Robin Lopez and Brian Roberts each contributed 20 for New Orleans, which completed a 1-4 road trip.

Suns 102, Mavericks 91: Goran Dragic recorded 21 points and 13 assists as Phoenix ended their 10-game losing streak and delivered a major blow to Dallas’ slim playoff hopes.

Shawn Marion had 22 points and nine rebounds while Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points for Dallas, who fell 3 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for eighth place in the Western Conference with four games remaining.

Heat 103, Wizards 98: Ray Allen scored 23 points off the bench and Rashard Lewis added 17 as Miami set a franchise record with its 62nd victory and clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs despite playing without four starters.

LeBron James (hamstring), Dwyane Wade (ankle), Chris Bosh (illness) and Udonis Haslem (ankle) all sat out Wednesday’s game.

A.J. Price scored 23 points and John Wall collected 17 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Wizards, who had a nine-game home winning streak snapped.

Nets 101, Celtics 93: Deron Williams had 29 points and 12 assists as Brooklyn moved closer to locking up the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Brook Lopez scored 21 points and Joe Johnson added 20 as the Nets moved 3-1/2 games ahead of Chicago and Atlanta with four to play in the race for fourth place and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.

Magic 113, Bucks 103 (OT): Nikola Vucevic had 30 points and 20 rebounds for his second successive 20-20 outing and Tobias Harris matched a career high with 30 points and grabbed a career-best 19 rebounds as Orlando notched its 14th consecutive home victory over Milwaukee.

The Magic scored the first four points of the extra session and never trailed again to snap a five-game losing skid.

Hawks 124, 76ers 101: Josh Smith collected 28 points and 12 rebounds as Atlanta crushed Philadelphia to snap a three-game slide.

John Jenkins added 21 points off the bench for the Hawks (43-36), who moved into a virtual tie with the idle Chicago Bulls (42-35) for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference.

Thaddeus Young had 28 points and eight rebounds and Nick Young scored 19 off the bench as the 76ers dropped their third successive game by at least 19 points.

Pistons 111, Cavaliers 104: Rookie Andre Drummond scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Detroit completed a four-game season sweep of Cleveland.

Greg Monroe added 23 points and eight rebounds as the Pistons beat the Cavaliers for the sixth consecutive time.

Kyrie Irving scored 27 points and Tristan Thompson had 19 and eight rebounds for Cleveland.