NBA Capsules

 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Paul Pierce had 19 points and 12 assists, Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and the Boston Celtics broke open a surprisingly tight game in the fourth quarter to beat Philadelphia 113-103 on Wednesday night.
Ray Allen added 12 points for Boston (15-2), but it was Eddie House and James Posey who sank the big 3-pointers that let the NBA-best Celtics remain undefeated in the Atlantic Division.
House and Posey went 7-for-13 on 3s and that was the difference late in the game.
Andre Miller kept the Sixers alive until the fourth with his first double-double of the season, a 26-point, 12-assist effort. Andre Iguodala scored 24 points.
The Sixers gave an inspired effort in their first game with Ed Stefanski as president and general manager. Stefanski left his job as general manager of the Nets to take a similar role in Philadelphia after Billy King was fired on Monday.
Wizards 105, Cavaliers 86
WASHINGTON (AP) – Caron Butler scored 27 points to lead Washington past the Cleveland, which has lost four straight with LeBron James sidelined by a sprained left index finger.
Cleveland has lost five straight overall for the first time since Feb. 22-March 1, 2006.
Meanwhile, Washington is 6-4 without Gilbert Arenas, who underwent surgery on his left knee last month. Arenas sat on the Wizards’ sideline for the first time since his surgery.
Antawn Jamison had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Washington. Brendan Haywood finished with 17 points and 10 boards as the Wizards outrebounded the Cavs 45-29.
Suns 136, Raptors 123
TORONTO (AP) – Leandro Barbosa scored 35 points, Canadian star Steve Nash had a season-high 18 assists and Phoenix set a season high in points in beating Toronto.
Shawn Marion added 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns, who have won four straight and 12 of their past 14. Amare Stoudamire had 25 points and six rebounds.
Nash scored 10 points in his only appearance of the regular season in Canada.
T.J. Ford, who had missed five of the past seven games because of a stinger in his left arm, scored 27 for Toronto, which had won four straight home games. Anthony Parker added 22, and Jose Calderon and Carlos Delfino had 14 points apiece.
Bulls 91, Bobcats 82
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Luol Deng scored 30 points and Chicago dominated the fourth quarter to send Charlotte to its seventh straight loss.
Andres Nocioni scored 10 of his 15 in the final quarter and added 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who erased an 11-point deficit to win on the road for the second time in nine tries.
Gerald Wallace had 22 points for the Bobcats, but was on the bench with five fouls for the decisive 10-2 run early in the fourth quarter that gave Chicago its first lead of the game.
Jason Richardson scored 17 points, but was shut out in the final quarter and Raymond Felton scored 17 points but missed six free throws down the stretch for the Bobcats.
Knicks 100, Nets 93
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Jamal Crawford scored 29 points, Zach Randolph added 25, and New York overcame the absences of Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry to beat New Jersey.
Fred Jones and David Lee stepped into the lineup and finished in double figures, helping New York beat its cross-river rival for the second time in the last 12 regular-season meetings.
Richard Jefferson scored 31 points for the Nets. Vince Carter added 19 and Bostjan Nachbar had 16. Jason Kidd missed a game for the first time this season because of a migraine, and New Jersey failed to get anything going until it already trailed by 14 in the fourth quarter.
New York got its first road win in eight tries this season. The Nets fell to 20-5 in the regular season against the Knicks since acquiring Kidd in 2001.
Pistons 91, Hornets 76
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Richard Hamilton scored 21 points to help Detroit win its fifth straight.
As has often been the case during the streak, the Pistons received balanced scoring, help from the bench and rebounded well. Unlike the other games, though, Detroit trailed New Orleans by double-digits early and had to come back.
Chauncey Billups scored 18 for Detroit, while Rasheed Wallace had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Antonio McDyess added 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Tyson Chandler had 17 points and 22 rebounds for New Orleans, which had won three of its previous four. Peja Stojakovic scored 19 points, hitting two 3-pointers to give him 51 for the season, second-best in the NBA behind Orlando’s Rashard Lewis (53). Chris Paul added 14 points.
Rockets 105, Grizzlies 92
HOUSTON (AP) – Tracy McGrady finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his third-career triple-double, and Yao Ming added 24 points and 13 rebounds to help the Houston.
Reserve Bonzi Wells added a season-high 24 for the Rockets, who have won four of six since losing six straight.
Paul Gasol led the Grizzlies with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Damon Stoudamire had 19 points.
The Grizzlies came back from a 13-point halftime deficit to get within seven at one point in the third quarter. But McGrady, who hit only three of his first 15 shots, warmed up in the third by scoring seven points. Yao added 13 as Houston pulled back to an 85-71 lead.
Spurs 97, Mavericks 95
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 37 points to help San Antonio overcome the absence of Tim Duncan and beat Dallas.
Tony Parker added 23 points for the Spurs, who lost almost all of an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Spurs won their fourth game in a row and remained unbeaten at home by making up for a 105-92 November loss to the Mavericks.
Josh Howard led the Mavericks with 22 points and nine rebounds. Jason Terry added 20 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Ginobili was a game-time decision after bruising a finger on his left hand in Sunday’s game against Portland. Normally a reserve, he started for the first time this season.
Lakers 111, Nuggets 107
DENVER (AP) – Allen Iverson scored a season-high 51 points but Kobe Bryant’s 25 led Los Angeles past Denver.
Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and eight rebounds and Marcus Camby had 20 rebounds for the Nuggets. Vladimir Radmanovic scored 21 points and Derek Fisher added 20 for the Lakers.
Iverson was held scoreless in the fourth until his layup with 3:15 left gave Denver a 102-99 lead. They were his only two points of the period.
Andrew Bynum’s alley-oop dunk cut the lead to one, and Radmanovic’s free throw tied the game with 2 minutes left.
Bryant hit a pair of layups to give Los Angeles a 106-102 lead, and after Anthony scored, Bryant hit a jumper with 35.3 seconds left. Kenyon Martin hit one of two free throws with 23.2 seconds left, but Fisher hit two foul shots to make it 110-105 with 15.8 seconds left. Anthony missed a 3-pointer and Fisher hit a free throw to seal the win.
Warriors 120, Bucks 90
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson scored 20 points apiece and Golden State regained its outside shooting touch.
Kelenna Azubuike scored 16 and Harrington added 15 and for the Warriors. Michael Redd scored 24 points to lead the Bucks, who have lost six of seven.
A game after shooting 9-for-40 from 3-point range in an overtime loss to Orlando, the Warriors got off to a fast start from long distance and never slowed down. Al Harrington, Jackson and Davis hit 3-pointers on successive possessions in the first quarter and Golden State made 10 of its first 14 shots from long range.
Harrington’s third 3-pointer of the night capped an 11-0 run and gave Golden State a 64-36 lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter. The Warriors coasted from there to their 10th win in 12 games after an 0-6 start.
The Warriors shot 15-of-22 from 3-point range for the game. The last time a team shot better than that in a game it made at least 15 3-pointers was when Toronto made 17 of 24 on Dec. 3, 2003, against Boston.
SuperSonics 95, Clippers 88
SEATTLE (AP) – Rookie Kevin Durant led five Seattle players in double figures with 18 points, and the SuperSonics extended the Clippers’ longest losing streak in nearly three years.
Los Angeles lost its seventh straight, most since dropping eight consecutive games in February 2005.
Durant made just 5 of 13 shots, but was 7-for-8 at the free throw line and added seven rebounds. Nick Collison had 18 points and a season-high 17 rebounds, and Wally Szczerbiak and Damien Wilkins added 17 points apiece for the Sonics.
Corey Maggette led Los Angeles with 23 points and Chris Kaman added 19 points and 14 rebounds.