SCOREBOARD
Tuesday, Feb. 12
Detroit at Atlanta (7 p.m. EST). The Pistons have won eight straight.
STARS
Monday
– Stephen Jackson, Warriors, scored a season-best 41 points in a 120-117 win over Washington.
– Larry Hughes, Cavaliers, finished with a season-high 40 points, leading Cleveland to a 118-111 over Orlando.
– Kobe Bryant, Lakers, scored 31 points in a 106-97 victory at Charlotte.
– Manu Ginobili, Spurs, had a season-high 34 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in a 93-88 win over Toronto.
STREAKING
Philadelphia has won four straight after a 84-76 win over Dallas on Monday. … The Los Angeles Lakers beat Charlotte 106-97 on Monday and improved to 4-1 since acquiring Pau Gasol. Kobe Bryant finished with 31 for his third straight game of 30 or more points. … San Antonio won for the fifth time in six games, 93-88 over Toronto. .. Houston won its season-high seventh straight game, 95-83 over Portland. Houston has won 11 of its last 12 games, 16 of its last 20, and matched its longest winning streak since it won the last seven games of the 2004-05 season.
CAPTAIN JACK
phen Jackson, named tri-captain in the offseason, scored a season-high 41 points, hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer and getting 10 of the Warriors’ 12 straight points in the final minutes of a 120-117 victory Monday night over Washington.
ABSENCE
Toronto coach Sam Mitchell is taking a leave of absence so that he can fly home to Atlanta following the death of his father-in-law. A team spokesman said Monday that Mitchell will not rejoin the Raptors until after the All-Star break. Toronto’s first game after the break is at home against Orlando on Feb. 20.
DESERT SHAQ
Shaquille O’Neal practiced with the Phoenix Suns for the first time Monday, showing no sign of the hip injury that has sidelined him since Jan. 21. There was no word, however, on when O’Neal would play in a game.
SLUMPING
Charlotte dropped its seventh straight, 106-97 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. … Milwaukee has lost a season-high three straight home games, and lost for the sixth time in seven games, following a 96-89 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers. … Washington blew a 23-point lead and lost its eighth straight, 120-117 at Golden State.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Raymond Felton scored 29 points and Nazr Mohammed added 22 points and 11 rebounds in Charlotte’s 106-97 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. … Toronto’s Jose Calderon scored a career-high 27, but the Raptors lost 93-88 to San Antonio. … Mo Williams had 31 points in Milwaukee’s 96-89 loss to the Clippers.
SPEAKING
“To me, it’s a matter of focus. His focus is on the offensive end – he gets discouraged when he doesn’t get the ball. I know the numbers prove that what we need him to focus on to win is defense and rebounding. But that’s not what he wants to do right now, and so we’ve got a little bit of a conflict.” – Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy calling out his All-Star center Dwight Howard after a 118-111 loss to Cleveland on Monday. Howard agreed with his coach’s assessment.