NBA: Charlotte Bobcats register fifth straight home win in Wednesday night’s action

Al Jefferson scored 34 points for the Charlotte Bobcats as they beat the NBA-leading Indiana Pacers 109-87.

It was a fifth straight home win for Charlotte, while the Pacers lost back-to-back games for only the second time this season. Indiana have already secured a play-off place, the only team in the NBA to have done so at this point.

James Harden scored 25 of his 31 points in the second half as the Houston Rockets rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat the Orlando Magic 101-89.

Houston trailed by 14 in the first half, but recovered for a 13th win in 15. Dwight Howard had 19 points and 14 rebounds against his former team.

Joe Johnson scored 21 points and Marcus Thornton brought 20 off the bench as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 103-94 to move above .500 for the first time this season.

Jason Collins, the NBA’s first openly gay player, played 17 minutes without scoring on the day he signed a second 10-day contract with the Nets.

Klay Thompson and David Lee had 18 points apiece for the Golden State Warriors in a 108-88 victory over the Boston Celtics, who lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Trevor Ariza’s 26 points led the Washington Wizards to a 104-91 win over the Utah Jazz, while DJ Augustin scored 26 off the bench to lift the Chicago Bulls to a 105-94 road win over the Detroit Pistons.

The New York Knicks won for the first time in their last eight attempts as Carmelo Anthony had 33 points to lead them to a 118-106 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Maurice Williams had 15 points to lead six Portland players scoring in double figures as they cruised to a 102-78 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Isaiah Thomas’ 25 points helped the Sacramento Kings beat the Milwaukee Bucks 116-102, while Wilson Chandler had 21 in a 115-110 victory for the Denver Nuggets over the Dallas Mavericks.