HOUSTON (AP) -As long as the Houston Rockets avoided the free-throw line on Wednesday night, they did just fine against the Detroit Pistons.
Tracy McGrady scored 29 points and Yao Ming added 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Rockets nearly entered the NBA record book for foul-shot futility before beating the Pistons 80-77.
The Rockets missed 14 of their first 15 shots from the line, before finishing 6-for-22 (27 percent) to win for the third time in seven games.
Houston’s throwback uniforms were all too appropriate – the 1983 Rockets went 3-for-14 from the free-throw line (21 percent) in a game against Portland. Toronto is the only team in history to not make a free throw in a regular-season game, missing all three attempts in a game against Charlotte in 1996.
Rasheed Wallace scored 21, Chauncey Billups added 15 and Richard Hamilton had 14 for Detroit, which shot 36 percent (30 of 83) and went 4-for-15 from 3-point range.
Pacers 117, Bulls 102
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Kareem Rush scored 22 points to lead Indiana over Chicago in a wild game that featured five technical fouls and two ejections.
Jamaal Tinsley added 18 points and eight assists for Indiana in first home game since he was shot at, but unhurt, early Sunday morning in downtown Indianapolis.
Ben Gordon led Chicago with 18 points, but he shot just 7-for-21 from the field.
Indiana coach Jim O’Brien was called for a technical foul with the Pacers trailing 38-24. Indiana responded with an 11-1 run.
The Bulls were leading 41-36 with 3:51 left in the second quarter when Chicago forward Tyrus Thomas took exception to a hard foul by Indiana center Troy Murphy and responded by shoving him in the face. Murphy swung back, and players from both teams intervened before things escalated.
Celtics 90, Kings 78
BOSTON (AP) – Rookie Glen Davis made his first start since taking his power game and cute name to the NBA from LSU and kept the Celtics unbeaten at home.
The young-looking, 289-pound center had 16 points and nine rebounds, and made all 10 of his free throws as Boston improved to an NBA-best 18-2.
Paul Pierce led Boston with 26 points, Ray Allen had 15 and Kevin Garnett added 11. Sacramento, playing its fourth straight game without their injured leading scorer, Kevin Martin, got 16 points each from Ron Artest and Beno Udrih and 14 from Mike Miller.
SuperSonics 117, Knicks 110
NEW YORK (AP) – Kevin Durant scored 30 points, and fellow Seattle rookie Jeff Green added 17.
Former Knicks forward Kurt Thomas scored five clutch points in the final 2:31 as Seattle handed New York its fourth straight loss. Luke Ridnour and Wally Szczerbiak each scored 12 points to help the SuperSonics snap a five-game road skid.
The Sonics bounced back impressively from a 123-96 loss in Chicago on Tuesday night. Coach P.J. Carlesimo said they got into their New York hotel around 4 a.m., but Seattle seemed to have plenty of energy, shooting a season-best 58 percent (47-of-81) from the field.
Jamal Crawford scored 29 points, and Zach Randolph added 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who usually start slowly at home. This time their troubles came late: Seattle made 13 of 18 shots in the fourth quarter.
76ers 98, Timberwolves 94
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Samuel Dalembert had 18 points, 11 rebounds and tied a career high with nine blocked shots and Andre Iguodala scored 25 points.
Willie Green added 18 points, and Andre Miller had 10 to help the suddenly surging Sixers improve to 9-13 after a season-high fourth straight win.
Al Jefferson had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who fell to an NBA-worst 3-17 and lost for the seventh time in eight games. Rashad McCants scored 15 and Marko Jaric and Antoine Walker had 14 each for Minnesota.
Bucks 100, Magic 86
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Michael Redd had 27 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help Milwaukee snap a four-game losing streak.
Yi Jianlian scored 18 points, Mo Williams had 15 and Andrew Bogut had 11 before fouling out in the fourth quarter for the Bucks, who were coming off a five-game road trip that ended with four straight losses.
Dwight Howard had 20 points and 13 rebounds for his league-leading 19th double-double, Rashard Lewis had 20 points and Hedo Turkoglu added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Magic who came with the NBA-best road record at 11-2. The loss also gave them their first three-game losing streak of the season.
Raptors 92, Mavericks 76 1/4 TORONTO (AP) – Kris Humphries had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Chris Bosh scored 17 points to help Toronto beat Dallas for the first time in more than four years.
Toronto won its third straight and ended an eight-game slump against the Mavericks, whose 76 points were a season low. The Raptors’ last win over the Mavericks was a 77-71 victory on Nov. 6, 2003.
Jason Terry had 21 points for Dallas, while Josh Howard added 19.
Toronto almost ended its losing streak earlier this year, but Dallas overcame a 24-point deficit to beat Toronto 105-99 on Nov. 20, the Mavericks’ largest comeback for a regulation win.
Nuggets 105, Hornets 99
DENVER (AP) – Carmelo Anthony had 32 points, including a three-point play with 38.4 seconds left.
Allen Iverson had 22 points and 11 assists and Marcus Camby had 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks for the Nuggets, who won their third straight and fifth in the last six.
Chris Paul had 30 points and 12 assists and David West scored 25 for New Orleans.
Bobcats 108, Clippers 103
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Raymond Felton scored 26 points and keyed a fourth-quarter surge.
Emeka Okafor added 25 points and 16 rebounds and Gerald Wallace scored 25 points for the Bobcats, who won for only the second time in 10 games.
Felton hit two free throws, had a steal, a no-look pass for an assist and hit a jumper in an 8-0 run that put Charlotte ahead 96-89 with 2:45 left. After the Clippers got within four, Wallace hit a jumper from the left corner with 1:06 left.
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