LOS ANGELES: Dwight Howard thoroughly enjoyed his first road game against the team he left as a free agent after one tumultuous and contentious season, getting 20 points and 13 rebounds in the Houston Rockets’ 134-108 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night that extended their winning streak to eight.

The streak is Houston’s longest since a franchise-record, 22-game run in 2007-08 under coach Rick Adelman. James Harden scored 11 of his 29 points in the final 1:25 of the third quarter and added 11 assists.

Wesley Johnson scored 24 points for Los Angeles, and Kendall Marshall had 20 points and 16 assists. The injury-ravaged Lakers remained tied for last place in the Western Conference with Sacramento at 18-36 and are 5-23 since Dec. 20, when they beat Minnesota to get back to the .500 mark at 13-13.

Timberwolves 104, Pacers 91: Minnesota forward Kevin Love won a scorers’ duel against fellow All Star Paul George as the Timberwolves earned a surprise win against the Eastern Conference-leading Pacers.

Love scored 42 and grabbed 16 rebounds to overshadow George’s 35 and 11 in the victory.

Wolves starting point guard Ricky Rubio added a career-high 17 assists, and four Minnesota players in addition to Love scored in double figures.

Indiana have lost three of five games to loosen their lead over the Miami Heat in the East.

Knicks 98, Pelicans 91: Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 42 points, including 13 consecutive points in the final 7:10, to power the New York Knicks to a victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Anthony’s performance helped the Knicks (21-33) snap a three-game losing streak.

The Pelicans (23-30) were led by guard Eric Gordon’s 28 points, but Gordon did not score in the final quarter on just two shot attempts.

Wizards 114, Hawks 97: The Washington Wizards got 21 points and 12 assists from guard John Wall to defeat the Atlanta Hawks.

The Wizards also got 19 points and nine rebounds from forward Trevor Ariza and 19 points and six assists from guard Bradley Beal.

Washington (26-28) broke a three-game losing streak with the victory, their first in Atlanta since Jan. 11, 2008, and moved into fifth place in the NBA East. Atlanta (25-28) lost for the seventh straight game.

Cavaliers 101, Magic 93: Kyrie Irving scored a team-high 22 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ victory over the Orlando Magic.

It was the Cavaliers’ (22-33) sixth consecutive victory, their longest streak since March 2010.

Orlando (16-40) never led in the game. The Magic were led by guard Arron Afflalo’s game-high 23 points.

Bobcats 116, Pistons 98: Al Jefferson scored 29 points and guard Kemba Walker added 24 points and a career-high 16 assists as the Charlotte Bobcats completed an important two-night sweep over the Detroit Pistons.

The victory followed a 108-96 win in Detroit on Tuesday night, and enabled the Bobcats (25-30) to push their lead over the Pistons (22-32) to 2 1/2 games in the fight for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot.