SCOREBOARD
Saturday, Feb. 2
New Orleans at Sacramento (10 p.m. EST). Chris Paul and David West of the Hornets were chosen as reserves for the All-Star game on Thursday.
STARS
Friday
-Kobe Bryant, Lakers scored 46 points to lead Los Angeles to a 121-101 victory over Toronto.
-Carl Landry, Rockets, scored 13 of his career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, and Houston beat Indiana 106-103.
-Mehmet Okur, Jazz, scored 27 points, 19 in the second half, and had 11 rebounds in Utah’s 96-87 win at Washington.
-Brandon Roy, Trail Blazers, had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double and Portland beat New York 94-88 in overtime.
STREAKING
Houston won its sixth consecutive road game with a 106-103 victory over Indiana on Friday night. The Rockets’ last road loss came Jan. 2 at Boston. The Pacers dropped their fifth straight game. … Utah won its seventh straight game with a 96-87 win against Washington. The Jazz have won 11 of their past 12.
SNAPPED
New Jersey snapped a seven-game road losing streak by beating the Miami Heat 94-85 on Friday night. The Nets have won two straight following a nine-game losing streak.
WELCOME BACK
The Warriors made Jason Richardson miserable in his return to Golden State with a 127-96 victory over Charlotte on Friday night. Richardson had 10 points on 2-for-9 shooting in a dismal return to the arena. Golden State traded Richardson to Charlotte last summer after he helped to end the Warriors’ 13-year playoff drought, and he got multiple standing ovations in his first game back.
ALL-STAR COACH
New Orleans’ Byron Scott will direct the Western Conference in the All-Star game, becoming the first to coach the event on his home court in 13 years. Scott clinched the coaching honor Thursday night after Dallas’ 96-90 loss at Boston. That meant Scott’s Hornets will have the highest winning percentage in the conference among eligible coaches.
MAKING MOVES
The Los Angeles Lakers sent Kwame Brown, rookie Javaris Crittenton and two first-round draft picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for 7-footer Pau Gasol on Friday. The Grizzlies will get the Lakers’ first-round draft choices in 2008 and 2010; guard Aaron McKie, signed earlier Friday for salary cap purposes; cash considerations, and the rights to Gasol’s brother Marc, a 2007 second-round pick of Los Angeles.
BROOKLYN BOUND
A federal appeals court gave a green light Friday to a $4 billion, Frank Gehry-designed project that would bring a new arena for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit by a group of property owners and tenants facing eviction, agreeing with a lower court judge who had ruled that the seizure of the property under eminent domain would not be unconstitutional.
SPEAKING
“It was very tough – a lot of memories. You see the (No.) 23 jerseys out there. It was moving. … I guess I left a good impression here. The fans here are hardcore. It was nice to hear the ovation. I do miss it, but it’s time to move on. I have to move on.” – Jason Richardson after Charlotte’s 127-96 loss to Golden State on Friday night. Richardson had 10 points on 2-for-9 shooting despite multiple standing ovations in the arena where he became the downtrodden Golden State fans’ most consistent favorite during six seasons with the club.