EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Paul Pierce added 18 points and the Boston Celtics beat the New Jersey Nets 86-77 on Friday night for their 30th win of the season.
Ray Allen scored 16 points as Boston (30-4) matched the 1959-60 champion Celtics for the best start in franchise history.
Richard Jefferson led the Nets with 17 points, Vince Carter had 16 and Josh Boone added 14 and a career-high 16 rebounds. Jason Kidd just missed another triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.
The Nets left a lot of points on the free-throw line where they were 9-for-24. New Jersey also struggled from the floor in the final quarter, going 3-for-19. Boston outscored New Jersey 23-9 in the fourth.
Cavaliers 113, Bobcats 106, 2OT
CLEVELAND (AP) – LeBron James scored eight of his 31 points in the second overtime, and pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds to lead Cleveland.
James’ 30-footer gave the Cavaliers a 103-102 lead early in the second overtime. He followed with a free throw and a jumper before Damon Jones’ 3-pointer from the corner gave Cleveland a 109-102 lead with 1:27 left, putting the game away.
Anderson Varejao, who was questionable going into the game because of knee and Achilles’ tendon injuries, grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds and scored 16 points for the Cavaliers. Larry Hughes added 16.
Gerald Wallace led Charlotte with 27 points, and Nazr Mohammed added 21. Jason Richardson, who scored 15 points in the first 7:07 of the game, finished with 19.
Raymond Felton’s 3-pointer from the top of the key with .03 seconds left forced overtime.
Hornets 114, Heat 88
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Bobby Jackson made a career-high seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points to lead New Orleans.
Jackson, who made all nine of his shots, became the first Hornets player ever to make seven 3s without missing one. That also tied Jackson for third in NBA history for most 3s in a game without a miss, two shy of Latrell Sprewell’s record.
New Orleans (24-12), off to its best 36-game start in team history, made 13 3-pointers and shot 61 percent overall in winning for the ninth time in 11 games. Miami (8-28) is still trying to end a losing skid that has reached 10 games.
Tyson Chandler scored 19 points for the Hornets, Chris Paul had 16 points and 16 asissts. and Peja Stojakovic added 15 points.
Mark Blount led Miami with 27 points, while Jason Williams scored 12 and Dwyane Wade 11.
Wizards 102, Hawks 98, OT
ATLANTA (AP) – Hours after commissioner David Stern took away an Atlanta win in the afternoon, the Hawks fell in overtime as Antawn Jamison scored 22 points and Caron Butler added 21 to lead Washington.
Josh Smith scored 35 points for the Hawks, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the team’s 12-of-22 showing at the foul line. Washington made them pay, knocking down 22 of 24 free throws.
Antonio Daniels scored off a finger roll with 37.5 seconds left in overtime to put the Wizards ahead to stay. Butler and Daniels sealed the win at the line, going 6-of-6 the rest of the way.
Bulls 100, 76ers 97
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Andres Nocioni scored 27 points, Joe Smith added 19 and Chicago rallied to beat Philadelphia.
Ben Gordon scored 15 points and Kirk Hinrich had 11 for the Bulls, who improved to 14-20 overall and 5-3 under interim coach Jim Boylan.
Andre Iguodala scored 25 points, Samuel Dalembert had 21 and a season-high 20 rebounds, and Andre Miller added 20 points for the Sixers, who dropped their season-high sixth straight game. Lou Williams had 15 points for Philadelphia and Reggie Evans grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Bulls extended their advantage to 16 early in the fourth on two free throws by Tyrus Thomas.
Philadelphia chipped away with a 10-1 run and pulled to 94-90 with 1:04 remaining on a dunk by Dalembert. But Nocioni responded with a layup with 39.9 seconds left to put the Bulls back up by six.
Rockets 113, Timberwolves 82
HOUSTON (AP) – Luis Scola had 22 points and nine rebounds and rookie Carl Landry had 15 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs, as Houston won for the seventh time in the nine games Tracy McGrady has missed with a left knee injury.
Yao Ming scored 15 points in only 28 minutes as the Rockets blew out the Timberwolves in the first half and cruised to their season-high fifth consecutive victory.
Luther Head scored 15 points and Rafer Alston had 11 points and five assists for Houston.
Ryan Gomes had 20 points and six rebounds for the Wolves, who have lost 15 of their last 17 games overall and 13 straight on the road.
Nuggets 113, Magic 103
DENVER (AP) – Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points and Anthony Carter had 14 of his career high-tying 21 in the fourth quarter to lead the Nuggets.
Allen Iverson added 21 points and 13 assists for Denver. He also had five rebounds, giving him 3,000 for his career.
Carter, who also had 11 assists, scored 21 points against the Magic, on Dec. 29, 1999.
Dwight Howard finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, his NBA-leading 33rd double-double of the season. Howard was also whistled for two goaltending calls in the fourth quarter and accidentally knocked in a basket for the Nuggets in the first half.
Reserve forward Linas Kleiza scored 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, and Kenyon Martin added 13 points for the Nuggets.
Rashard Lewis scored 21 and Maurice Evans added 15 for the Magic.
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