NBA Daily Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - Antawn Jamison rubbed lotion into his forearms and let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he remembered what it felt like to win again. Jamison scored 18 points in his first start for Cleveland, LeBron James added 20 points and 13 assists and the Cavaliers escaped Tuesday with a 105-95 win over the New Orleans Hornets to end a three-game losing streak...New Orleans rookies Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison combined for 59 points, including a franchise-record 23 from Thornton in the second quarter. Thornton finished with a career-high 37 points and set two other team records: most points by a rookie and most points off the bench. He hit his first five shots and 10 of 13 in the second as the Hornets scored 40 points in the quarter...Collison was just as good for New Orleans. Subbing for an injured Chris Paul, he scored 22 points and added 10 assists. Collison has averaged 23.7 points over his last seven games, while he and Thornton zipped around Cavs guards most of the night as Cleveland continues to struggle with its defense...Cleveland was struggling to put the Hornets away when Mo Williams, struggling to find his touch since returning from a shoulder injury, broke an 89-all tie with a 3-pointer with 4:13 to play. West followed with a block of Thornton, then came down to the other end and knocked down another 3 to stretch the Cavaliers’ lead to 95-89. James took it from there, hitting a 3-pointer and finishing a three-point play in the final two minutes to give Cleveland its first win since the All-Star break. James, though, certainly doesn’t seem worried by Cleveland’s recent struggles. Two of the three teams Cleveland lost to—Denver and Orlando—are in first place in their respective divisions. “There’s 82 games in the regular season. You’ll have ups and downs,” James said. “We’ve had way more ups than downs. We have the best record in the Eastern Conference and one of the best records in the league. You can go two or three games where you don’t win a game. That’s not our worries."...“We lost (three) games in a row and thought it was the end of the world,” Jamison said. “I’ve never been part of that before. It’s a good feeling. It’s what championship basketball is all about.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - Road wins come so few and far between for the Minnesota Timberwolves these days that they weren’t about to apologize for getting one against a Miami Heat team missing star Dwyane Wade. Kevin Love had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Minnesota took advantage of Wade’s absence for just their fifth road win of the season, 91-88, over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. Flynn added 16 points and three steals for the Timberwolves, who snapped a six-game losing streak. They had won just once in their previous 13 games away from Target Center...Dorell Wright scored a career-high 26 points off the bench and Jermaine O’Neal added 18 for Miami, which came out sputtering against the lowly Timberwolves (14-44), who have the worst record in the Western Conference...The Heat got off to a slow start without Wade, shooting 6 of 18 for a season-low 15 points in the first quarter to go down by nine. They trailed almost the entire game except for a small stretch early in the third quarter, and couldn’t string together a solid run to overtake Minnesota. “We can’t just start off lackadaisical and get down by 17 points in the first half and expect to just climb back when we decide to play,” said Heat forward Michael Beasley, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. “Collectively as a team, there was no energy, no passion. We just didn’t come tonight.”...“We did enough good things tonight to get a win,” said Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis. “This is a microcosm of how we’ve been all year. We play well in pockets.”

vs(From the Associated Press) - Ray Allen’s blocked shot certainly stuck out, especially in a game that featured very little defense. Rajon Rondo scored 15 points and had 16 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 110-106 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night in a matchup of teams that traded with each other last week. Allen, who led the Celtics with 24 points on 9 of 14 shooting, made his biggest play on the defensive end, something that even surprised Boston coach Doc Rivers...With Boston clinging to a 109-106 lead in the closing minute and Wilson Chandler cutting in for what appeared to be an easy layup, Allen leaped from behind and knocked the ball out of bounds as the shot clock expired. “Chandler came and went to the hole,” Allen said. “At least I was going to foul him, but I got up there high enough to make a play on the ball.”...Kevin Garnett scored 16 points, Marquis Daniels 14 and Kendrick Perkins 12 as Boston sent New York to its eighth straight loss. The Celtics were without forward Paul Pierce, who was home with the flu. Rivers said Pierce wouldn’t have played anyway due to a sore right thumb injured last Thursday in a win over the Lakers. David Lee had 28 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, Wilson Chandler scored 19 points and Sergio Rodriguez 18. Celtics guard Nate Robinson—acquired last Thursday from New York along with forward Marcus Landry for Eddie House, J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker and a future conditional second-round pick—scored four points on 2 for 7 shooting in his first game with his new team...Tracy McGrady did play after saying following Monday’s loss that he wasn’t sure he would because he banged knees a couple of times during that game. He scored just six points on 3 of 8 shooting in nearly 27 minutes of action. It was only his ninth game this season after returning from knee surgery.

vs(From the Associated Press) - Brandon Roy and the rest of the Portland Trail Blazers had no intention of blowing a big lead for a second straight game despite a gutsy try by woeful New Jersey Nets. Roy scored 10 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and the Trail Blazers avoided a second straight collapse by holding off New Jersey 102-93 on Tuesday night...LaMarcus Aldridge added 27 points and Andre Miller had 20 as the Trail Blazers also overcame a sprained right ankle to recently acquired center Marcus Camby in snapping a two-game losing streak and winning for only the sixth time in 14 games. The victory, coupled with New Orleans’ loss to Cleveland, gave the Trail Blazers a two-game lead in the race for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference...Courtney Lee and Devin Harris led the Nets with 28 points apiece. The total matched Lee’s career high set earlier this season, and was a season high for Harris. “It’s frustrating because of the effort to fight back,” Lee said. “If we started the game like that, it would have been a little different. But once you are down by so much and you are giving it you’re all to come back, it takes a lot out of you.”...Camby, acquired on Feb. 16 from the Los Angeles Clippers for Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw and cash considerations, was hurt when Nets center Brook Lopez (17 points, 10 rebounds) stepped on his ankle as both waited for a rebound with 6:47 left in the first quarter.



vs(From the Associated Press) - Hitting a game-winning shot never gets old for Kobe Bryant. “Every time it feels like the first time,” he said. Bryant returned to lineup after missing five games with an ankle injury and made a 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to 99-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday night. Bryant led the Lakers with 32 points, including his team’s final nine points. His 3-pointer with 54 seconds left tied the game at 96-all. His game-winner came off an inbounds play 4 seconds after his layup attempt was blocked by Rudy Gay...After Gay’s free throw, Bryant dropped in a technical free throw to make it 96-93. Gay scored again with 40 seconds left to up the Grizzlies lead to 98-93 before Bryant’s back-to-back 3-pointers won it for the Lakers. “Only in Hollywood, I guess,” Bryant said. “It’s fun. It’s my responsibility to make plays down the stretch. I enjoy it.” Pau Gasol added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the seventh time in their last eight road games...The Grizzlies, who lost their fifth straight home game, were led by O.J. Mayo’s 25 points. Zach Randolph scored 20 and grabbed 14 rebounds, his seventh straight double-double. Mayo’s two missed free throws with 18.8 seconds allowed the Lakers an opportunity to complete a comeback from nine points down early in the fourth quarter. Had Mayo made his free throws, the Grizzlies would have led by four. “I’d love to take those last two free throws again,” Mayo said. “I’d love to take them and make them.”...“We gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game,” Hollins said. “But Kobe was better. That’s the bottom line.”


vs(From the Associated Press) - Coach Alvin Gentry knows that Jason Richardson’s play has become a barometer for the Phoenix Suns’ success. So, with the game on the line, he left it to the veteran to give the Suns a lift in the Western Conference standings. Richardson connected on a floater from the foul line with 0.7 seconds left to complete the Suns’ rally from a 10-point deficit, and Phoenix snapped the Oklahoma City Thunder’s nine-game winning streak with a 104-102 victory on Tuesday night...Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points and Richardson had his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Suns, who were down 10 with 3 1/2 minutes to play. He also forced a key turnover late, tying up James Harden and then winning the ensuing jump ball. And Richardson’s game-winner helped Phoenix improve to 17-2 when he scores at least 20 points this season...Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Westbrook had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who had narrow escapes in their previous two wins. Phoenix has won nine of its last 11 games to move past the surging Thunder into fifth place in the West. “It’s our best win of the year, by far, I think. Especially playing without Steve,” Gentry said. “To come in here and be able to beat this team without Steve, it’s a heck of an accomplishment. It’s a big plus for our guys.”...Grant Hill added 20 points for Phoenix and Goran Dragic—making only his third career start at point guard with Nash and backup Leandro Barbosa (wrist surgery) both out—had 16 points and a career-high 10 assists.

vs(From the Associated Press) - Richard Hamilton is back in a comfortable groove, shooting the ball as he did when the Detroit Pistons were among the NBA’s elite teams. Hamilton scored 30 points and Detroit pulled away in the third quarter to defeat the struggling Sacramento Kings 101-89 on Tuesday night. “He’s getting his legs back, that’s important,” Pistons coach John Kuester said. “He’s coming off screens well and it’s allowing him to get good looks.”...Injuries to Hamilton and Gordon, who missed a combined 46 games, resulted in the Pistons (21-35) playing poorly for much of the season, which included a miserable 12-game losing streak that lasted an entire month. Tayshaun Prince scored 22 points for the Pistons, who shot 58 percent in winning their second straight game. Rodney Stuckey had 13 points, while both Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva added 11...Tyreke Evans had 28 points and a career-high 13 assists for the Kings, who have dropped five straight since beating the Pistons in their final game before the All-Star break. Carl Landry scored 18 points in his Sacramento debut after being acquired last week from Houston. The loss was the 23rd in 27 games for the Kings, a young team that had a surprising 14-16 start this season after having only 17 wins a year ago when they had the NBA’s worst record.

vs(From the Associated Press) -
Lou Williams wasn’t surprised to find the ball in his hands near the perimeter—even though Philadelphia coach Eddie Jordan designed the play to go inside. The way Williams’ night was going, he figured it might come his way. Making his first start in nearly five weeks due to the absence of Allen Iverson, Williams scored 26 points, including a clinching 3-pointer with 14.5 seconds left, to help the 76ers beat the Golden State Warriors 110-102 on Tuesday night...Williams matched his career highs in 3-pointers (five) and rebounds (10) while adding seven assists to help the Sixers win in their first game since Iverson took an indefinite leave of absence to be with his ill daughter...“We needed to keep our poise and we executed enough to win the game,” Sixers coach Eddie Jordan said. “We knew they were going to make a run, but we did enough to pull out the win.” Andre Iguodala added 22 points and seven assists for Philadelphia, which was coming off a 32-point loss to Chicago three days earlier...Monta Ellis had 22 points and C.J. Watson added 20 for the Warriors, who pulled within 105-102 on Anthony Morrow’s 3-pointer with 39.1 seconds remaining. Williams then answered with his own 3 and Rodney Carney added a pair of free throws for the Sixers. “Whenever they were open they just made shots,” Golden State coach Don Nelson said. “I’m very disappointed in the way the team played. We ended up losing a game that should have been a winnable game for us.”...The Warriors, who rallied from 18 down to beat Atlanta on Sunday, trailed 90-73 at the start of the fourth quarter but went on an 16-4 run early in the period to close the gap. Stephen Curry, who had 17 points and six rebounds, scored seven straight points and Watson added a 3-pointer to make it 103-99. Iguodala made a 14-foot jumper for Philadelphia before Morrow’s 3-pointer pulled the Warriors within 105-102. Williams—who has come off the bench the past 15 games after starting the first 41—then sealed it for the Sixers with his fifth 3-pointer.