NBA Daily Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - A tough practice paid big dividends for the Miami Heat. Dwyane Wade scored 24 points and the Heat cruised to a 105-78 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, continuing a run of easy wins for the streaking team. Jermaine O’Neal added 20 points for Miami, which won its third straight, and Udonis Haslem had 13 while Michael Beasley added 12...Philadelphia welcomed back Allen Iverson, who returned after missing five games to help care for his ill daughter, Messiah. Iverson came off the bench and shot 1 for 7 from the field for four points. Thaddeus Young led the 76ers with 16 points, and Andre Iguodala added 11...“They killed us in every facet of the game,” Iverson said. “They played so much better than us. We can’t play defense the way we played tonight and expect to win basketball games.” Miami continued a stretch of convincing wins, in which they have beaten the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks and 76ers by 33, 18 and 27, respectively, providing momentum for three more road games through New Jersey, Memphis and Dallas. “We’re playing well, and this was a win that you need on the road, especially with having four road games,” Wade said. “We’re going to need everyone to step up and pull their own weight.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - Forgive the New Jersey Nets if they’d like a schedule change: More games with the Charlotte Bobcats, please. Courtney Lee scored 21 points, Devin Harris added 17 and the Nets never trailed in beating Charlotte 103-94 on Tuesday night for only their fifth win of the season...“I have no idea,” said Brook Lopez when asked to explain their mastery over a potential playoff team. “But I don’t mind it at all.” Lopez scored 16 points before fouling out for the energized Nets (5-48), who snapped an eight-game losing streak, improved to 2-27 on the road and moved ahead of the pace of the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who finished an all-time NBA-worst 9-73...“It was an embarrassing performance. We didn’t compete,” said All-Star Gerald Wallace, who got into early foul trouble. “They did, their confidence got going and they started making shots.” Wallace had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Boris Diaw had 19 points and 10 rebounds, but the Bobcats allowed the NBA’s worst-shooting and lowest-scoring team to shoot 52 percent...“Everybody is really down because it was the Nets but they are an NBA team,” said Stephen Jackson, who scored 15 points but hit only 7 of 20 shots. “We didn’t respect them and they came in and played a better game than we did. They played harder, they made shots.”...Harris added nine assists and six rebounds and the Nets placed five players in double figures in a rare solid offensive performance. New Jersey came in averaging 89.8 points and 42 percent shooting from the field.

vs(From the Associated Press) - The Detroit Pistons are probably being flattered by an easy stretch of games. That isn’t going to stop them from enjoying a rare bright spot in a terrible season. Detroit pulled away in the second half to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-85 on Tuesday for its third win in four games...“We knew we could play like this,” said rookie Jonas Jerebko, who led a balanced attack with 21 points. “It’s a lot of fun when we play together and share the ball. We just have to keep it up.”...Minnesota dropped its third in a row, and fell to 4-26 on the road. Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis was angry about his team’s first game after the All-Star break. “We were awful,” he said. “Our defense was awful, our energy level was awful, our ball movement was awful and our execution was awful.” Kevin Love agreed, comparing the game to the team’s play during a 1-15 start. “This looked like the old Timberwolves—the way we played at the beginning of the season,” said Love, who finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds despite an ugly mouth injury. “We had the game tied at halftime, and we talked about needing great energy in the second half, and then we came out and played like we were still on the All-Star break.”...The Pistons had five players in double figures and got at least two points from all 12...Detroit took control with a 12-point run to start the third quarter. Rodney Stuckey and Ben Wallace each had four points in the surge. The Pistons outscored Minnesota 33-13 in the quarter, giving them a comfortable 20-point lead heading into the final period, and they cruised to the win.

vs(From the Associated Press) - Caron Butler was hitting shots, Brendan Haywood was making a difference inside and the new-look Dallas Mavericks were rolling along. Then, the Oklahoma City Thunder roared back with an offensive flurry and their stingy defense to run away with a seventh straight victory. Kevin Durant had 25 points and 14 rebounds, rookie reserve James Harden added 17 points and Oklahoma City spoiled the debut of Dallas’ three new players in a 99-86 win Tuesday night. The surprising Thunder moved within a half-game of the scuffling Mavericks for fourth place in the Western Conference...Butler scored 13 points and helped Dallas build an early 12-point lead after coming over in a weekend trade from Washington, but he finished 4 for 16 from the field and Oklahoma City charged ahead in the second half. Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points, Jason Terry had 14 points and Jason Kidd had 12 assists for the Mavericks, who shot a season-low 32 percent. Starting center Erick Dampier had 13 rebounds but headed to the locker room with 2:54 remaining with an open dislocation of the middle finger on his right hand...Jeff Green and Westbrook also scored 17 points for Oklahoma City...Playing their first games with the Mavericks, Haywood scored all seven of his points in the first half and DeShawn Stevenson played five scoreless minutes. “We knew it was going to take some time, so you’ve got to have a short memory on this one,” said Nowitzki, who was 2 for 12 in the second half. “We have four games in five nights coming out of the break. That’s never easy. The first game after the break is usually never easy. I think you can see the potential, especially there in the first quarter.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - The All-Star break didn’t help the Memphis Grizzlies snap out of their slump. Nor did it interrupt the Phoenix Suns’ roll. Jason Richardson scored 27 points, Amare Stoudemire added 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Suns won their sixth game in the last seven with a 109-95 victory over Memphis on Tuesday night. Richardson was 12 of 17 from the field in the Suns’ fifth straight road victory. Robin Lopez finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Steve Nash had 16 assists for the Suns. Rudy Gay led Memphis with 21 points and Zach Randolph had 18 points and 15 rebounds. O.J. Mayo and Sam Young, added 15 points apiece. Marc Gasol had 11 points and 12 rebound, and Mike Conley had 10 points and 11 assists. The Grizzlies lost their fifth straight. Memphis was in the Western Conference’s seventh playoff spot less than a month ago, but is now watching its postseason hopes dwindle...Phoenix built the lead to as many as 21 in the second half, and Memphis never cut the advantage under double digits after that. The Suns dominated in the paint, outscoring Memphis 58-32 and shooting 50 percent from the field. The Grizzlies made 36 percent of their shots...Phoenix is now in the sixth spot, but only a game out in the loss column to Oklahoma City and Dallas. “I knew this was a big game for us,” Richardson said. “The second half of the season with 29 games left. In the Western Conference every game counts.”




vs(From the Associated Press) - Still sore no matter how well he hid the pain, Derrick Rose figures he’ll just have to handle it for a while. If he keeps this up, opponents are in trouble. Rose made it look easy despite a bruised right hip, hitting his first nine shots and scoring 29 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 118-85 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday...Rose buried all seven shots while scoring 15 in the first quarter and was 14 for 18 in all, just missing his sixth 30-point game. “You couldn’t really tell,” Luol Deng said. “His jumper was falling today. He didn’t attack as much. He didn’t really need to.” He had help from Deng, who added 18 points. Kirk Hinrich scored 14, and Chicago shot a season-high 60.5 percent. David Lee led New York with 24 points and 12 rebounds, but the Knicks were simply overmatched by Rose and the Bulls. They shot 34.6 percent, were blocked nine times and were dominated on the boards 49-38 in the first of back-to-back games with Chicago...“They just overwhelmed us physically,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. Both teams could have a different look by the end of the week, with the trade deadline approaching. For the Knicks, that might not be a bad thing, considering they’ve dropped 13 of 17. The Bulls weren’t exactly lighting it up either, dropping four of six before the All-Star break, but they did just that this time. Particularly Rose...“When he’s hitting that jump shot, he’s especially tough to handle,” Lee said. “He’s so strong. When he starts going to the basket, he’s so good finishing. He’s one of the best finishers as far as guards are concerned in the league.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - The All-Star break hasn’t interrupted Utah’s midseason momentum. Deron Williams scored 17 points and dished out 15 assists, Mehmet Okur scored 21 points and the Jazz beat the Houston Rockets 104-95 on Tuesday night for their 14th win in 16 games. Paul Millsap scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Jazz won their fourth straight road game. Utah finished with 30 assists to offset 21 turnovers...Backup center David Andersen and Aaron Brooks scored 18 points apiece for Houston, which committed a season-high 24 turnovers. The Rockets shot better from 3-point range (42.3 percent) than they did from the field overall (40.5 percent). Houston has dropped six of its last eight home games, and seven of 10 overall...The Jazz had a nine-game winning streak snapped by the Los Angeles Lakers just before the All-Star break, and Utah talked about the importance of starting off the second half with a victory in Houston. “This game was very important, to get that confidence back after the Laker game,” Williams said. “It was a great team victory.” Houston, meanwhile, let another winnable game slip away. The Rockets recently finished a stretch of 16 games decided by 10 points or less, and lost nine of those. They blew a 13-point lead in the second half of a 102-95 loss to Philadelphia on Feb. 6, and now this...The teams gave away 13 combined turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the second half, and Houston retook the lead. Another Rockets turnover led to Ronnie Price’s breakaway dunk, and Utah led 76-74 after three quarters.

vs(From the Associated Press) - Struggling for over a month, the Boston Celtics entered the All-Star break last week understanding their current trend needed to end quickly or their chances for an NBA title were very slim. Although the Celtics weren’t sharp in their first game back Tuesday night, the effort was good enough to hold off the Sacramento Kings in the first of four road games against Western Conference teams. Rasheed Wallace and Paul Pierce each scored 17 points, and the Celtics used a strong defensive effort to beat Sacramento 95-92...“We shot the ball poorly,” said Ray Allen, who was 5 of 15 overall and hit on just one of six 3-point attempts. “We missed a lot of easy looks, but we didn’t hang our heads, we got back and played defense.” Omri Casspi scored 19 points, Tyreke Evans had 17 points, seven assists and tied a career high with 11 rebounds, and Jason Thompson added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who have dropped 19 of 23 since Dec. 28...Allen scored 15 points and Eddie House had 12 for Boston, which made six straight free throws in the final 15.4 seconds to seal the victory...“We were competitive all through the game with one of the best teams in the league and then lose the game on the free-throw line,” said Casspi, a rookie who shot 2 of 6 in the fourth. “It was tough. I even made a free throw I tried to miss.” Injuries to several key players have contributed to a radical departure for a team that opened the season 23-5. Boston is already two losses shy of their total from last season and two over the total from their 2007-08 championship season. “It was important for us to get this win and get some momentum,” said Kevin Garnett, who had nine points and nine rebounds. “It was a team effort tonight. Our bench came in and played unbelievable.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - The Portland Trail Blazers went through a lot of changes Tuesday. The one they enjoyed most was getting back to their winning ways at home after beating the Los Angeles Clippers 109-87. Portland, which lost four of its past six home games before the All-Star break, had little trouble putting away the struggling Clippers, who have lost five consecutive games. Martell Webster tied a career high with 28 points, while LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 for the Blazers (32-24). Webster went 7 of 11 from 3-point range in tying a career high he set Jan. 23 against Detroit. Aldridge, who hit nine of 16 shots, has scored at least 15 points in 15 consecutive games, the longest stretch of his four-year career...Eric Gordon scored 20 points and Rasual Butler had 18 for the Clippers (21-32). Portland made a big change to its starting lineup, but it may have backfired. Brandon Roy, who missed 15 games because of a pulled right hamstring, had a mixed performance in his first appearance since Jan. 20. The All-Star guard shot 2 of 7 and scored four points in 15 minutes during the first half, but sat out the second half due to a recurrence of the hamstring injury...Earlier Tuesday, Portland and Los Angeles made a three-player trade in which the Blazers acquired 6-foot-11 center Marcus Camby in exchange for guard Steve Blake and forward Travis Outlaw. Camby was averaging 7.7 points and 12 rebounds a game for the Clippers this season. None of the three played. Camby sat behind Portland’s bench during the game, and was introduced to the Rose Garden crowd midway through the first quarter, to a standing ovation...Aldridge and Andre Miller, who scored 10 points and handed out 12 assists, fueled Portland’s offense when Webster wasn’t shooting. Aldridge and Webster helped stake the Blazers to a 16-7 lead midway through the first quarter, and a 49-38 halftime lead.

vs(From the Associated Press) -
Every time Kobe Bryant misses a game—which isn’t often— the Los Angeles Lakers give another example of how much championship depth they have. Shannon Brown set career highs with 27 points and 10 rebounds while starting in Bryant’s place, and the Lakers kept rolling with a 104-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night...The defending NBA champions have won all four games they’ve played without Bryant, who also was unable to play in the All-Star game. Four different players have led the Lakers in scoring during the 12-time All-Star’s absence, including Ron Artest, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, who had 18 rebounds and eight points against the Warriors...All of the Lakers’ starters scored in double digits. Andrew Bynum added 21 points and seven rebounds in his return to the lineup after missing two games because of a bruised right hip that still gives him discomfort. He was 8 for 11 from the field in 30 minutes...Anthony Morrow scored 23 points and C.J. Watson added 20 off the bench for the Warriors, who lost to the Lakers for the eighth straight time and have dropped 29 of their last 32 road games against Los Angeles. Stephen Curry had 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. The injury-ravaged Warriors, who are 2-20 against the Lakers at Staples Center since the arena opened in 1999, used their 30th different starting lineup while losing for the 10th time in 11 games...“Morrow and C.J. kept us in the game with some big plays, but Shannon made some big plays toward the end for them and Lamar had a great rebounding game,” Corey Maggette said. Maggette had 17 points after missing two games with a dislocated ring finger on his non-shooting hand, but leading scorer Monta Ellis missed his second straight due to a sprained left knee and was in Birmingham, Ala., to get it examined by Dr. James Andrews...Bryant did not miss a game in either of the previous two seasons. The next game he plays will be his 1,000th during the regular season, and will make him the youngest player in NBA history to reach that milestone.