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(From the Associated Press) - The only question left in the final minutes was whether or not LeBron James(notes) would get his 27th career triple-double. He finished one rebound short, but the Cavaliers still beat the Indiana Pacers 94-73 on Friday night to win their seventh straight game. James finished with 22 points, a season-high 13 assists and nine boards...Shaquille O’Neal(notes) tied a season high with 22 points in 25 minutes on 8-for-10 shooting. “Shaq is going to play like this,” James said. “We know how good a player he is, and tonight was another prime example.” Danny Granger(notes) led the Pacers with 13 points, but he shot 6 for 23 from the field. He also had 10 rebounds and five assists. It was the fewest points the Cavaliers allowed all season, bettering the 79 points they gave up against Charlotte on Halloween. “Defensively, we were in tune with just about everything they were doing on offense,” James said. James had nine assists in the first quarter to help the Cavaliers take a 36-18 lead. He just missed the team record of 10 assists in a quarter, accomplished by Mark Price in 1990 and ’93...The Cavaliers have an 11-3 record in January. James has scored at least 30 points eight times, more than 40 points once and has reached double figures in assists five times this month.
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(From the Associated Press) - A.I. vs. Kobe delivered the throwback duel fans paid to see. Just like in the 2001 NBA finals, Bryant’s Lakers topped Allen Iverson’s(notes) 76ers. Bryant roused the 20,000 fans who came to jeer him as much as they did to root on the 76ers, scoring 24 points to lead Los Angeles to a 99-91 win over Philadelphia on Friday night. “It was a like a trip down memory lane for me,” Bryant said. “It was exciting.”...While Bryant is still in his prime, Iverson is in a steady decline. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the All-Star showdown misses some of the buzz of years past when both could make the argument they were tops at their position. Don’t tell Iverson. He crossed-over and crashed his way toward a season-high 23 points...Iverson insisted he was so focused on trying to win the game, he didn’t get caught up trying to outshine Bryant. He also refused to draw parallels between his career with Bryant’s. “It’s evident that he is one of the best ever to do it,” Iverson said. “He goes out there night in and night out and plays the same way every night.” Bryant and the Lakers did serious damage in the third. The Lakers built a 16-point lead and played the fourth in cruise control. Pau Gasol(notes) had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Ron Artest(notes) scored 18 points and Lamar Odom(notes) had 13 for the Lakers. Elton Brand scored 19 points, and Sam Dalembert had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
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(From the Associated Press) - Joe Johnson(notes) was already looking ahead to the playoffs as he sought perspective on the Atlanta Hawks’ first season sweep of the Celtics in 11 years. Johnson scored 16 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help the Hawks beat Boston 100-91 to complete the four-game sweep...“It means nothing, to be honest,” Johnson said. “It just means we swept them in the regular season; the postseason is a totally different game.” Jamal Crawford(notes) had 28 points as the Hawks recovered after Boston cut a 14-point deficit to one in the third quarter. Paul Pierce(notes) led Boston with a season-high 35 points. The Celtics have lost five of seven, including losses to Orlando and Atlanta in back-to-back days...Kevin Garnett(notes) had 15 as Boston’s only other scorer in double figures...Johnson said Crawford, Josh Smith(notes) (12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Al Horford(notes) (11 points, 8 rebounds) carried the team in the first three periods.
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(From the Associated Press) - Two nights after losing to the worst team in the East, the Clippers lost to the team with the Western Conference’s worst record, falling 111-97 to the Timberwolves on Friday night. Al Jefferson(notes) scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, and the Timberwolves led by as many as 23 points in their 10th victory this season. Jefferson also had 16 rebounds and Ryan Hollins(notes) tied a career-high with 19 points for Minnesota. “We just talked about salvaging the rest of this season and this thing’s not over for us and to put Wednesday’s loss behind us,” Marcus Camby(notes) said of the meeting. “Hopefully we could come out and respond the right way, but we didn’t.” Baron Davis(notes) scored 23 of his 28 points in a brilliant third quarter, but the Clippers already had dug themselves too big a hole. They now have lost back-to-back games to the Nets and Wolves, teams that have combined for 14 wins...“We hope they don’t catch up to us at the end of the year,” said Camby, who had 10 points and 19 rebounds. “But it seems to look that way as of right now.”...“We had to get it back together,” said Wolves point guard Jonny Flynn(notes), who had 19 points and eight assists. “Coming off their loss to New Jersey, you knew they didn’t want to lose to us, too.” Corey Brewer(notes), who scored 20 points, hit a 3-pointer that gave the Timberwolves a 66-43 lead early in the third quarter before Davis went on a tear. He scored 21 of the Clippers’ next 30 points to get Los Angeles back in the game.
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(From the Associated Press) - Luol Deng(notes) scored 26 points, including a putback with 0.2 left in regulation to force overtime, and the Chicago Bulls outlasted the New Orleans Hornets 108-106 on Friday night. Derrick Rose(notes) added 18 points for the Bulls, including two free throws that put Chicago ahead for good in overtime. The Bulls finished a season-long, seven-game road trip with their fifth consecutive victory...David West(notes) led New Orleans with 29 points. Chris Paul(notes) added 18 points and 12 assists, but he hurt his left leg trying to save a loose ball near the end of regulation and was ineffective in overtime...New Orleans appeared ready to win in regulation when West grabbed a rebound and was fouled with 8.8 seconds left. The Hornets were not in the penalty yet, though, and West’s long inbounds pass to Paul sailed over his head. Paul chased it down just before the ball went out of bounds—hurting his leg in the process — but his desperation save went to Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich(notes). The Bulls raced down the court, and Deng tipped in a rebound after West got a piece of Rose’s shot...“The Bulls played outstanding basketball tonight, and we just came up a little short,” Hornets coach Jeff Bower said. “The thing I will focus most on is the effort in the fourth quarter to come back and get into the game.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Two days after the NBA suspended their leading scorer and another teammate, Earl Boykins(notes) and the Wizards’ reserves gave Washington a much needed lift, if only for a night. Boykins hit a jumper with 0.4 to play and Washington defeated the New Jersey Nets 81-79 on Friday night, the Wizards’ first game since guards Gilbert Arenas(notes) and Javaris Crittenton(notes) were suspended for the remainder of the season for bringing weapons into the locker room...The 5-foot-5 guard came off the bench, scored a team-high 15 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field and grabbed five rebounds. His biggest shot, of course, was his last, which came 12.6 seconds after Brook Lopez(notes) tied the game at 79 for New Jersey with a layup with 13 seconds to go...Reserves Andray Blatche(notes) added 14 points and Nick Young(notes) had 10 for the Wizards, who did not get double figures from any of their starting five. Courtney Lee(notes) had 19 points—17 in the first half—and Lopez added 17 and eight rebounds for the Nets. “This are tough losses when you compete this hard,” Nets interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. “Everybody across the board was competing.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Already scoring with more consistency than any NBA player ever has at his age, Kevin Durant(notes) believes his first trip to the All-Star game is only the beginning. Durant scored 30 points to continue a monthlong tear and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped Denver’s nine-game winning streak with a 101-84 victory Friday night, limiting the Nuggets to their lowest scoring output of the season...Durant, who was averaging 31.9 points over his previous 17 games, was picked as a reserve for the West All-Stars on Thursday night. He’ll become the first player to represent Oklahoma City at the All-Star Game...Chauncey Billups(notes) led the Nuggets with 19 points and reserve J.R. Smith(notes) hit five 3-pointers and scored 18. Denver shot 10-for-21 from 3-point range, losing for the first time in 11 games when reaching double digits in 3-pointers...Durant scored 15 of Oklahoma City’s first 23 points before the rest of his teammates got involved. Russell Westbrook(notes) and James Harden(notes) added 12 points apiece, and the Thunder outscored Denver 54-20 in the paint and held the Nuggets to 40 percent shooting. Their previous scoring low came in a 96-88 loss at Miami on Nov. 6, in the sixth game of the season...“It’s just us being mentally focused, continuing to get better each game,” said the Thunder’s Jeff Green(notes), who scored 15. “We were focused for this game. We knew how big and important it was for us to get off this streak.”
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(From the Associated Press) - The Miami Heat haven’t had many things come easily this season, and Friday started off like another long night. After all, Heat forward Michael Beasley(notes) missed his first game of the season with a hyperextended right knee, and Miami got another scare when Jermaine O’Neal(notes) went down with a knee injury in the first minute. It didn’t matter. Dwyane Wade(notes) scored 22 points in 24 minutes and O’Neal came back to record a double-double as the Heat routed the Detroit Pistons 92-65...The Pistons have lost 18 of their last 22 games but were still one of the league’s best rebounding teams. Friday, even that failed them. Miami had 17 offensive rebounds, just one fewer than Detroit’s defensive total, and had a 35-7 edge on the other end of the floor. No Pistons player had more than four rebounds...Udonis Haslem(notes) added 16 points for the Heat, who snapped a two-game losing streak, and Dorell Wright(notes) scored 12. Charlie Villanueva(notes) led the Pistons in scoring with 15 points. Tayshaun Prince(notes) (10) was Detroit’s only starter to reach double figures...“There is no way we should score like this with the offensive guys we’ve got on this team,” said Richard Hamilton(notes), who finished with eight points on 4-of-14 shooting. “We’ve got to get better. This was a bad night in all aspects of the game.”
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(From the Associated Press) - The Houston Rockets got back to their attacking style and snapped a three-game losing streak. Aaron Brooks(notes) scored 33 points and Carl Landry(notes) added 21 in the Rockets’ 104-100 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. Brooks reached 30 points for the fifth time this season, and Luis Scola(notes) and Trevor Ariza(notes) added 12 points apiece for the Rockets, who’ve won 12 of the last 13 regular-season meetings with the Blazers in Houston...Rudy Fernandez(notes) sank five 3-pointers and scored 25 points and LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) added 20 for the Blazers, who played without injured leading scorer Brandon Roy(notes) for the fifth straight game. Portland has dropped five of its last seven, and four of the five games Roy has missed with a right hamstring injury. The Rockets opened a 13-point lead in the third quarter, repeatedly finding openings in the lane. Portland missed six of its first eight shots out of the break and struggled to contain the speedy Brooks, who had nine points and three assists in the quarter. “He is extremely quick and very good with the ball in his hands,” said Portland point guard Steve Blake(notes). “You really can’t lay off him because he shoots the 3-pointer so well. He is a tough cover.”..Houston backup point guard Kyle Lowry(notes) scored 11 points early in the second quarter, most of them on driving layups, to close the Rockets’ gap. But Lowry came up limping after colliding with Aldridge on a drive with 8:24 left in the half. He stayed in the game for four more minutes, then went to the locker room with what the team said was a sprained left knee. Houston coach Rick Adelman said Lowry would be evaluated on Saturday.
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(From the Associated Press) - Even without point guard Tony Parker(notes), the San Antonio Spurs had more depth than the Memphis Grizzlies could handle. In their first game since Parker sprained his ankle Wednesday, the Spurs got 18 points from backup George Hill(notes) and plenty of help from Manu Ginobili(notes) and Roger Mason(notes) Jr. in a 104-97 victory over the Grizzlies on Friday night...Mason and Ginobili led the way as San Antonio rolled up a 42-21 edge in points off the bench. Mason scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, and Ginobili finished with 14 points and seven assists...O.J. Mayo(notes) led Memphis with 28 points, and Zach Randolph(notes) added 19 points and 12 rebounds...Seven Spurs scored in the first period as San Antonio moved to a 28-21 lead. The margin grew to 11 early in the second quarter, but Memphis chipped away. Consecutive fast-break layups by Mayo in the final minute closed the gap to a point before a short jumper by Tim Duncan(notes) with 3.9 seconds left put the Spurs up 53-50 at the break. Duncan, who led the Spurs with 19 points, and Ginobili combined for 15 points in the third period, fueling a surge that rebuilt the Spurs’ lead to 11 on four occasions before they settled for a 77-70 edge entering the fourth quarter. “I felt pretty good active, a lot of energy so I tried to attack a bit more knowing that TP was not there, and he’s our main guy attacking the rim,” Ginobili said.
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(From the Associated Press) - After waiting 45 games for his first start of the season, Paul Millsap(notes) played as if he didn’t want it to be his last. Millsap tied his career high with 32 points and added 14 rebounds and seven assists to lead the short-handed Utah Jazz over the Sacramento Kings 101-94 on Friday night. Utah was without starters Carlos Boozer(notes) and Deron Williams(notes), but still pulled off its fifth straight win for the Jazz’s longest winning streak of the season...Andrei Kirilenko(notes) added 18 points, seven rebounds and blocked five shots— including one with 25 seconds left to help seal it for Utah—and Sundiata Gaines(notes) added 12 points and five assists. “A lot of people played pretty well tonight,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “Everyone was focused on getting us this win and wasn’t worried about their individual games.” Kevin Martin(notes) led Sacramento with 33 points and Tyreke Evans(notes) had 25 points and six assists...C.J. Miles(notes) also scored 12 for the Jazz, who moved within three games of Northwest Division leader Denver with their ninth win in 10 games.
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(From the Associated Press) - Stephen Jackson(notes), Charlotte’s mercurial forward who has been known to lose his cool, stayed remarkably calm in his return to Oracle Arena and has the Bobcats in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race as a result. Jackson scored 30 points in his first appearance in Oakland since a mid-November trade from Golden State, Gerald Wallace(notes) had 30 points and 13 rebounds and the Bobcats beat the Warriors 121-110 on Friday night...“The boos, that’s nothing for me to think about,” Jackson said. “They were booing me in layup lines and (those) shots didn’t even count. I wasn’t concerned about that. It’s good to be back, I’m still appreciative of what this organization’s done, what this city’s done, and the people that do love me I appreciate it.” Raymond Felton(notes) and D.J. Augustin(notes) added 14 points apiece for the Bobcats (23-22), who have won 10 of 15. Corey Maggette(notes) had 25 points, while Monta Ellis(notes) and Stephen Curry(notes) had 22 points apiece for the Warriors (13-32), who have lost five of six...Since the trade that also included Acie Law(notes) going to the Bobcats in exchange for Raja Bell(notes) and Vladimir Radmanovic(notes), Charlotte has gone 20-16, improved its scoring average by more than 15 points and moved into a tie with Chicago for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Golden State, on the other hand, is just 10-26 since sending Jackson away—and scoring 5.2 fewer points.
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(From the Associated Press) - The only question left in the final minutes was whether or not LeBron James(notes) would get his 27th career triple-double. He finished one rebound short, but the Cavaliers still beat the Indiana Pacers 94-73 on Friday night to win their seventh straight game. James finished with 22 points, a season-high 13 assists and nine boards...Shaquille O’Neal(notes) tied a season high with 22 points in 25 minutes on 8-for-10 shooting. “Shaq is going to play like this,” James said. “We know how good a player he is, and tonight was another prime example.” Danny Granger(notes) led the Pacers with 13 points, but he shot 6 for 23 from the field. He also had 10 rebounds and five assists. It was the fewest points the Cavaliers allowed all season, bettering the 79 points they gave up against Charlotte on Halloween. “Defensively, we were in tune with just about everything they were doing on offense,” James said. James had nine assists in the first quarter to help the Cavaliers take a 36-18 lead. He just missed the team record of 10 assists in a quarter, accomplished by Mark Price in 1990 and ’93...The Cavaliers have an 11-3 record in January. James has scored at least 30 points eight times, more than 40 points once and has reached double figures in assists five times this month.
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(From the Associated Press) - A.I. vs. Kobe delivered the throwback duel fans paid to see. Just like in the 2001 NBA finals, Bryant’s Lakers topped Allen Iverson’s(notes) 76ers. Bryant roused the 20,000 fans who came to jeer him as much as they did to root on the 76ers, scoring 24 points to lead Los Angeles to a 99-91 win over Philadelphia on Friday night. “It was a like a trip down memory lane for me,” Bryant said. “It was exciting.”...While Bryant is still in his prime, Iverson is in a steady decline. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the All-Star showdown misses some of the buzz of years past when both could make the argument they were tops at their position. Don’t tell Iverson. He crossed-over and crashed his way toward a season-high 23 points...Iverson insisted he was so focused on trying to win the game, he didn’t get caught up trying to outshine Bryant. He also refused to draw parallels between his career with Bryant’s. “It’s evident that he is one of the best ever to do it,” Iverson said. “He goes out there night in and night out and plays the same way every night.” Bryant and the Lakers did serious damage in the third. The Lakers built a 16-point lead and played the fourth in cruise control. Pau Gasol(notes) had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Ron Artest(notes) scored 18 points and Lamar Odom(notes) had 13 for the Lakers. Elton Brand scored 19 points, and Sam Dalembert had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
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(From the Associated Press) - Joe Johnson(notes) was already looking ahead to the playoffs as he sought perspective on the Atlanta Hawks’ first season sweep of the Celtics in 11 years. Johnson scored 16 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help the Hawks beat Boston 100-91 to complete the four-game sweep...“It means nothing, to be honest,” Johnson said. “It just means we swept them in the regular season; the postseason is a totally different game.” Jamal Crawford(notes) had 28 points as the Hawks recovered after Boston cut a 14-point deficit to one in the third quarter. Paul Pierce(notes) led Boston with a season-high 35 points. The Celtics have lost five of seven, including losses to Orlando and Atlanta in back-to-back days...Kevin Garnett(notes) had 15 as Boston’s only other scorer in double figures...Johnson said Crawford, Josh Smith(notes) (12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Al Horford(notes) (11 points, 8 rebounds) carried the team in the first three periods.
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(From the Associated Press) - Two nights after losing to the worst team in the East, the Clippers lost to the team with the Western Conference’s worst record, falling 111-97 to the Timberwolves on Friday night. Al Jefferson(notes) scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, and the Timberwolves led by as many as 23 points in their 10th victory this season. Jefferson also had 16 rebounds and Ryan Hollins(notes) tied a career-high with 19 points for Minnesota. “We just talked about salvaging the rest of this season and this thing’s not over for us and to put Wednesday’s loss behind us,” Marcus Camby(notes) said of the meeting. “Hopefully we could come out and respond the right way, but we didn’t.” Baron Davis(notes) scored 23 of his 28 points in a brilliant third quarter, but the Clippers already had dug themselves too big a hole. They now have lost back-to-back games to the Nets and Wolves, teams that have combined for 14 wins...“We hope they don’t catch up to us at the end of the year,” said Camby, who had 10 points and 19 rebounds. “But it seems to look that way as of right now.”...“We had to get it back together,” said Wolves point guard Jonny Flynn(notes), who had 19 points and eight assists. “Coming off their loss to New Jersey, you knew they didn’t want to lose to us, too.” Corey Brewer(notes), who scored 20 points, hit a 3-pointer that gave the Timberwolves a 66-43 lead early in the third quarter before Davis went on a tear. He scored 21 of the Clippers’ next 30 points to get Los Angeles back in the game.
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(From the Associated Press) - Luol Deng(notes) scored 26 points, including a putback with 0.2 left in regulation to force overtime, and the Chicago Bulls outlasted the New Orleans Hornets 108-106 on Friday night. Derrick Rose(notes) added 18 points for the Bulls, including two free throws that put Chicago ahead for good in overtime. The Bulls finished a season-long, seven-game road trip with their fifth consecutive victory...David West(notes) led New Orleans with 29 points. Chris Paul(notes) added 18 points and 12 assists, but he hurt his left leg trying to save a loose ball near the end of regulation and was ineffective in overtime...New Orleans appeared ready to win in regulation when West grabbed a rebound and was fouled with 8.8 seconds left. The Hornets were not in the penalty yet, though, and West’s long inbounds pass to Paul sailed over his head. Paul chased it down just before the ball went out of bounds—hurting his leg in the process — but his desperation save went to Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich(notes). The Bulls raced down the court, and Deng tipped in a rebound after West got a piece of Rose’s shot...“The Bulls played outstanding basketball tonight, and we just came up a little short,” Hornets coach Jeff Bower said. “The thing I will focus most on is the effort in the fourth quarter to come back and get into the game.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Two days after the NBA suspended their leading scorer and another teammate, Earl Boykins(notes) and the Wizards’ reserves gave Washington a much needed lift, if only for a night. Boykins hit a jumper with 0.4 to play and Washington defeated the New Jersey Nets 81-79 on Friday night, the Wizards’ first game since guards Gilbert Arenas(notes) and Javaris Crittenton(notes) were suspended for the remainder of the season for bringing weapons into the locker room...The 5-foot-5 guard came off the bench, scored a team-high 15 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field and grabbed five rebounds. His biggest shot, of course, was his last, which came 12.6 seconds after Brook Lopez(notes) tied the game at 79 for New Jersey with a layup with 13 seconds to go...Reserves Andray Blatche(notes) added 14 points and Nick Young(notes) had 10 for the Wizards, who did not get double figures from any of their starting five. Courtney Lee(notes) had 19 points—17 in the first half—and Lopez added 17 and eight rebounds for the Nets. “This are tough losses when you compete this hard,” Nets interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. “Everybody across the board was competing.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Already scoring with more consistency than any NBA player ever has at his age, Kevin Durant(notes) believes his first trip to the All-Star game is only the beginning. Durant scored 30 points to continue a monthlong tear and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped Denver’s nine-game winning streak with a 101-84 victory Friday night, limiting the Nuggets to their lowest scoring output of the season...Durant, who was averaging 31.9 points over his previous 17 games, was picked as a reserve for the West All-Stars on Thursday night. He’ll become the first player to represent Oklahoma City at the All-Star Game...Chauncey Billups(notes) led the Nuggets with 19 points and reserve J.R. Smith(notes) hit five 3-pointers and scored 18. Denver shot 10-for-21 from 3-point range, losing for the first time in 11 games when reaching double digits in 3-pointers...Durant scored 15 of Oklahoma City’s first 23 points before the rest of his teammates got involved. Russell Westbrook(notes) and James Harden(notes) added 12 points apiece, and the Thunder outscored Denver 54-20 in the paint and held the Nuggets to 40 percent shooting. Their previous scoring low came in a 96-88 loss at Miami on Nov. 6, in the sixth game of the season...“It’s just us being mentally focused, continuing to get better each game,” said the Thunder’s Jeff Green(notes), who scored 15. “We were focused for this game. We knew how big and important it was for us to get off this streak.”
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(From the Associated Press) - The Miami Heat haven’t had many things come easily this season, and Friday started off like another long night. After all, Heat forward Michael Beasley(notes) missed his first game of the season with a hyperextended right knee, and Miami got another scare when Jermaine O’Neal(notes) went down with a knee injury in the first minute. It didn’t matter. Dwyane Wade(notes) scored 22 points in 24 minutes and O’Neal came back to record a double-double as the Heat routed the Detroit Pistons 92-65...The Pistons have lost 18 of their last 22 games but were still one of the league’s best rebounding teams. Friday, even that failed them. Miami had 17 offensive rebounds, just one fewer than Detroit’s defensive total, and had a 35-7 edge on the other end of the floor. No Pistons player had more than four rebounds...Udonis Haslem(notes) added 16 points for the Heat, who snapped a two-game losing streak, and Dorell Wright(notes) scored 12. Charlie Villanueva(notes) led the Pistons in scoring with 15 points. Tayshaun Prince(notes) (10) was Detroit’s only starter to reach double figures...“There is no way we should score like this with the offensive guys we’ve got on this team,” said Richard Hamilton(notes), who finished with eight points on 4-of-14 shooting. “We’ve got to get better. This was a bad night in all aspects of the game.”
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(From the Associated Press) - The Houston Rockets got back to their attacking style and snapped a three-game losing streak. Aaron Brooks(notes) scored 33 points and Carl Landry(notes) added 21 in the Rockets’ 104-100 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. Brooks reached 30 points for the fifth time this season, and Luis Scola(notes) and Trevor Ariza(notes) added 12 points apiece for the Rockets, who’ve won 12 of the last 13 regular-season meetings with the Blazers in Houston...Rudy Fernandez(notes) sank five 3-pointers and scored 25 points and LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) added 20 for the Blazers, who played without injured leading scorer Brandon Roy(notes) for the fifth straight game. Portland has dropped five of its last seven, and four of the five games Roy has missed with a right hamstring injury. The Rockets opened a 13-point lead in the third quarter, repeatedly finding openings in the lane. Portland missed six of its first eight shots out of the break and struggled to contain the speedy Brooks, who had nine points and three assists in the quarter. “He is extremely quick and very good with the ball in his hands,” said Portland point guard Steve Blake(notes). “You really can’t lay off him because he shoots the 3-pointer so well. He is a tough cover.”..Houston backup point guard Kyle Lowry(notes) scored 11 points early in the second quarter, most of them on driving layups, to close the Rockets’ gap. But Lowry came up limping after colliding with Aldridge on a drive with 8:24 left in the half. He stayed in the game for four more minutes, then went to the locker room with what the team said was a sprained left knee. Houston coach Rick Adelman said Lowry would be evaluated on Saturday.
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(From the Associated Press) - Even without point guard Tony Parker(notes), the San Antonio Spurs had more depth than the Memphis Grizzlies could handle. In their first game since Parker sprained his ankle Wednesday, the Spurs got 18 points from backup George Hill(notes) and plenty of help from Manu Ginobili(notes) and Roger Mason(notes) Jr. in a 104-97 victory over the Grizzlies on Friday night...Mason and Ginobili led the way as San Antonio rolled up a 42-21 edge in points off the bench. Mason scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, and Ginobili finished with 14 points and seven assists...O.J. Mayo(notes) led Memphis with 28 points, and Zach Randolph(notes) added 19 points and 12 rebounds...Seven Spurs scored in the first period as San Antonio moved to a 28-21 lead. The margin grew to 11 early in the second quarter, but Memphis chipped away. Consecutive fast-break layups by Mayo in the final minute closed the gap to a point before a short jumper by Tim Duncan(notes) with 3.9 seconds left put the Spurs up 53-50 at the break. Duncan, who led the Spurs with 19 points, and Ginobili combined for 15 points in the third period, fueling a surge that rebuilt the Spurs’ lead to 11 on four occasions before they settled for a 77-70 edge entering the fourth quarter. “I felt pretty good active, a lot of energy so I tried to attack a bit more knowing that TP was not there, and he’s our main guy attacking the rim,” Ginobili said.
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(From the Associated Press) - After waiting 45 games for his first start of the season, Paul Millsap(notes) played as if he didn’t want it to be his last. Millsap tied his career high with 32 points and added 14 rebounds and seven assists to lead the short-handed Utah Jazz over the Sacramento Kings 101-94 on Friday night. Utah was without starters Carlos Boozer(notes) and Deron Williams(notes), but still pulled off its fifth straight win for the Jazz’s longest winning streak of the season...Andrei Kirilenko(notes) added 18 points, seven rebounds and blocked five shots— including one with 25 seconds left to help seal it for Utah—and Sundiata Gaines(notes) added 12 points and five assists. “A lot of people played pretty well tonight,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “Everyone was focused on getting us this win and wasn’t worried about their individual games.” Kevin Martin(notes) led Sacramento with 33 points and Tyreke Evans(notes) had 25 points and six assists...C.J. Miles(notes) also scored 12 for the Jazz, who moved within three games of Northwest Division leader Denver with their ninth win in 10 games.
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(From the Associated Press) - Stephen Jackson(notes), Charlotte’s mercurial forward who has been known to lose his cool, stayed remarkably calm in his return to Oracle Arena and has the Bobcats in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race as a result. Jackson scored 30 points in his first appearance in Oakland since a mid-November trade from Golden State, Gerald Wallace(notes) had 30 points and 13 rebounds and the Bobcats beat the Warriors 121-110 on Friday night...“The boos, that’s nothing for me to think about,” Jackson said. “They were booing me in layup lines and (those) shots didn’t even count. I wasn’t concerned about that. It’s good to be back, I’m still appreciative of what this organization’s done, what this city’s done, and the people that do love me I appreciate it.” Raymond Felton(notes) and D.J. Augustin(notes) added 14 points apiece for the Bobcats (23-22), who have won 10 of 15. Corey Maggette(notes) had 25 points, while Monta Ellis(notes) and Stephen Curry(notes) had 22 points apiece for the Warriors (13-32), who have lost five of six...Since the trade that also included Acie Law(notes) going to the Bobcats in exchange for Raja Bell(notes) and Vladimir Radmanovic(notes), Charlotte has gone 20-16, improved its scoring average by more than 15 points and moved into a tie with Chicago for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Golden State, on the other hand, is just 10-26 since sending Jackson away—and scoring 5.2 fewer points.
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