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(From the Associated Press) - Jameer Nelson’s homecoming was one for his hometown fans to remember. Nelson rekindled fond memories for the locals of his first-team All-American days at nearby Saint Joseph’s, with 22 points and 10 assists, and the Orlando Magic beat the Philadelphia 76ers 126-105 on Monday night. “He’s the Philly guy,” center Dwight Howard said. “Comes back home and does it all.”...Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis each scored 19 points, and Howard had 14. Orlando hit five 3-pointers in the third and shot 69 percent to turn a seven-point lead at halftime into a total rout. Nelson, who needed 650 tickets for the game, made eight of 11 shots with only one turnover. “Dwight always tells me that if I’m aggressive, it helps him,” Nelson said. “And it helps to open things up for the other guys.”...Nelson swished a pull-up 3-pointer with 1:02 left to give the Magic 102 points through three quarters. Fans started fleeing for the exits and the few that remained chanted “Fire Eddie!” They had their pick of Eds: 76ers coach Eddie Jordan or team president Ed Stefanski. Both are responsible for this debacle of a season. In turn, Jordan picked his target, taking a not-so-vieled swipe at Andre Iguodala for not stepping up as a team leader as the season disintegrates. “We lost the passion to compete,” Jordan said. “We saw some poor body language and there were a couple of timeouts where we addressed it. I wasn’t going to have it. I addressed it a couple of times, I addressed just now (postgame)...Jrue Holiday scored a career-high 23 points for the Sixers. Iguodala scored 19 and Thaddeus Young, starting for Elton Brand, had 17. The Sixers played without Brand (right Achilles’ tendinitis) and Allen Iverson (personal).
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(From the Associated Press) - LeBron James’ only action in the fourth quarter Monday night came on the bench during timeouts, when he played to the crowd and danced alongside his teammates. If the New York Knicks were hoping to impress the Cavaliers superstar in their final meeting before he can become a free agent this summer, they flopped badly in Cleveland’s 124-93 victory...Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni was asked if all the losing, and the embarrassing beatings like the one sustained Monday, is worth it. “I’ll tell you next year,” he said. “Right now it’s pretty frustrating for everybody, but it’s what we’re doing.” James had 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Cleveland used a 74-point first half to hammer the Knicks in their first game since learning Shaquille O’Neal will miss the rest of the regular season...Antawn Jamison had 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Anderson Varejao had 14 points and 10 boards. Hickson had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Delonte West scored 15 points as the Cavaliers exposed New York’s defensive inefficiencies...Cleveland fans are tired of hearing about the possibility of James bolting Cleveland for New York this summer. That’s why the sellout crowd at the Q roared when two small boys held up a sign in the fourth quarter: “Hey NY, Get Your Own King.” Reserve Bill Walker scored a career-high 21 points for New York, Al Harrington had 18 and Danilo Gallinari 17. David Lee added 10 points and 10 rebounds. “They outclassed us, outmatched us, outplayed us,” D’Antoni said. “They’re just a lot better than us.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Michael Jordan was easy to spot courtside in his bright red coat. He shook hands, yelled at the referees and kept checking his phone in his first game as owner-to-be of the Charlotte Bobcats. Jordan’s old magic was missing from his team, however. Be like Mike? That distinction belonged to the NBA’s hottest club. Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 13 rebounds, Jason Terry had several key buckets down the stretch, and the surging Dallas Mavericks beat Charlotte 89-84 on Monday night...“We played scared,” Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson said. Added coach Larry Brown: “I think I did a bad job. I was looking out there and I didn’t know what we were doing.” Jordan’s presence and a 4 a.m. arrival in Charlotte couldn’t stop the Mavericks from winning their eighth straight game. Caron Butler added 22 points and Terry scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas, which rallied from a 12-point third-quarter deficit...Jackson scored 20 points, but also had six of Charlotte’s 20 turnovers. Tyrus Thomas added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Bobcats, who dropped to 0-12 against the Mavericks, the only team they’ve never beaten...Their home game Sunday night against New Orleans started late because of television purposes, and Nowitzki said he got to bed around 5 a.m. “We were a step slow in the first quarter,” Nowitzki said. “We weren’t really quite up yet.” But after falling behind 55-43 in the first minute of the third quarter, Nowitzki got hot. Hours after being named Western Conference player of the week, Nowitzki scored 10 points in the third quarter on a variety of fadeaway and turnaround jumpers, getting Dallas within 68-66. Terry then took over in the fourth. He hit a mid-range jumper, bank shot and 3-pointer in a 13-1 run to put Dallas ahead 83-75 with 4:43 left. Charlotte got within 85-81 on Jackson’s 3-pointer, but Terry scored on a runner with 1:15 left, and Nowitzki hit two free throws with 8.8 seconds left to put it away.
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(From the Associated Press) - George Hill had a tough defensive assignment in trying to slow emerging Hornets rookie Darren Collison. Hill decided to make it tough for Collison to stay with him on the other end, scoring a team-leading 23 points as the San Antonio Spurs beat New Orleans 106-92 on Monday night. “George has been great all year long. He’s a big part of what we do and he’s just finding his rhythm,” said Spurs center Tim Duncan, who added 22 points and nine rebounds. “He knows where he’s supposed to be. We ask him to go out there and guard their best player, their most active player and he does that on nightly basis. He’s a big part of what we do and when he plays well like that, we play well.”...Collison, who has been thriving since being elevated to a starting role because of Chris Paul’s left knee injury, was coming off a career-high, 35-point outing in New Orleans’ loss at Dallas on Sunday night. The Western Conference rookie of the month for February managed only 10 points against San Antonio, but was still effective with 15 assists...The loss was the Hornets’ fourth in five games, dropping New Orleans (31-30) four games behind Portland for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. Tony Parker had 18 points for the Spurs (34-24), who shot 51 percent and led by 20 in the third quarter before holding on without much drama. Rookie shooting guard Marcus Thornton was 6 of 7 from 3-point range—a career high for 3s in a game—and scored 30 points for New Orleans. Emeka Okafor scored 18 points and David West added 13 for the Hornets, who never led in the final three quarters.
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(From the Associated Press) - Nate McMillan let his team know at halftime they were not playing as if they were fighting to hold on to a playoff spot. The Portland Trail Blazers responded by scoring 41 points in the third quarter, equaling their points in all of the first half. Brandon Roy scored 25 points and Nicolas Batum added 21 as Portland erased a 14-point first-half deficit with the strong third quarter and defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 103-93 on Monday night...LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 13 points, and Andre Miller scored 12 points and handed out 11 assists as the Trail Blazers ended their five-game road trip with four victories. They also solidified their hold on the Western Conference’s eighth playoff spot...The win was the seventh straight road win for Portland over the Grizzlies. Meanwhile, Memphis extended its current home losing streak to seven. “Home should be the easiest place to play,” said forward Zach Randolph, who led Memphis with 22 points. Rudy Gay finished with 19 points, Marc Gasol added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Mike Conley scored 13. Portland overtook Memphis by outscoring the Grizzlies 41-21 in the third, the Trail Blazers’ highest points total in a quarter this season. It also was the most surrendered by Memphis in a period this season. “We didn’t come out with the same energy in the second half or defensive intensity,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said.
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(From the Associated Press) - Whether he was selected or not, Josh Smith is playing like an All-Star. Smith scored 17 points with a season-high 18 rebounds, Jamal Crawford scored 21 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the short-handed Chicago Bulls 116-92 on Monday night for their fourth win in five games...Marvin Williams had 18 points as Atlanta pulled away down the stretch after its 18-point, second-quarter lead dwindled to five early in the fourth. Williams scored seven points during a 9-0 run following a basket by Chicago’s Derrick Rose, making it 94-79 midway through the fourth quarter and breaking open a six-point game. Rose led the Bulls with 24 points despite missing most of the first quarter after hurting his right knee. But it was a long night for a team that had won eight of 11. Smith delivered his fourth straight double-double for the Hawks, after getting 22 points and 15 rebounds the previous night in an overtime win over Milwaukee...Al Horford added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks. Joe Johnson scored 14 points, 12 in the first quarter as the Hawks grabbed a 34-23 lead, after getting nine during the overtime against the Bucks. Already missing center Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis in his left foot) and forward Luol Deng (swollen left knee), the Bulls got a big scare 4 1/2 minutes into the game. Rose, who banged his left knee late in Saturday’s game at Indiana, came up clutching his right one after Atlanta’s Mike Bibby collided with him while trying to pick off a pass...“We have to get Joakim and Luol back,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “Atlanta is a very athletic, strong front line. They are young and they have hurt us before. Obviously, that was the difference in the game. They would miss and go get it and control the tempo of the game.”
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(From the Associated Press) - The Houston Rockets needed a boost after losing four of their last five games. The struggling and beat-up Toronto Raptors provided just that. Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks scored 28 points each in three quarters and the Rockets rolled to a 116-92 win over Toronto on Monday night. The Rockets led by 32 after three and both teams played mostly reserves the rest of the way...Bosh did not make the trip as he deals with a sprained left ankle and Jose Calderon missed the game with an elbow injury. Hedo Turkoglu scored four points in 15 minutes in the first half, but did not return after halftime because of a sore ankle. “Let’s be a little bit realistic, three of our top four players are not playing,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said. “I don’t care who you’re playing against, if three of your top four guys aren’t out there and playing, you’re going to have a hard time winning games.”...Marcus Banks led the Raptors with 15 points and Andrea Bargnani added 14. Triano saw his team get discouraged early after Houston’s hot start. “Without Chris and Jose, two big scorers, we’ve got to manufacture points somewhere and I think everybody tried to take it upon themselves and we played selfish basketball,” he said...Chase Budinger made a nifty play when he tipped in an alley-oop from Brooks with his left hand as he fell a few minutes later. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw as Houston’s David Andersen and Toronto’s Antoine Wright got into a shoving match. Both players were given technicals for the scuffle and Houston had its biggest lead of the night—93-57. Andersen added 16 for Houston and Luis Scola had 11 points and eight rebounds.
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(From the Associated Press) - Amare Stoudemire and the Phoenix starters had a front-row seat for the Suns’ turnaround against the Denver Nuggets. Stoudemire had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the reserves keyed a big second quarter for the Suns in a 101-85 victory on Monday night. “They gave us a lead, a comfortable lead, and we came out in the second half and kept it going,” said Stoudemire, who fell one point shy of his fifth straight 20-point game. Goran Dragic scored 10 first-half points off the bench and the reserves had 24 of 33 second-quarter points, when the Suns quickly erased an early double-digit deficit. Channing Frye scored seven points in the second quarter and Louis Amundson added five points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots in the period as the Suns outscored Denver 33-11 to turn a 13-point deficit into a 57-44 halftime lead. “It happened so fast,” said Carmelo Anthony, who finished with 17 points on 7-of-21 shooting...“We went to the zone, got them out of their rhythm and they never really got back in their rhythm,” said Grant Hill, who also scored 19. The success of the Phoenix bench allowed coach Alvin Gentry to sit starters Stoudemire, Steve Nash and Robin Lopez for the entire second quarter...Billups scored 21 points, Anthony had 17 and J.R. Smith added 16 for the Nuggets, who lost for the second time in two days. Denver had not lost consecutive games since dropping three straight from Dec. 25-28. “If you watched the way we played on the beginning of this trip you’d be happy if we were able to go 2-2,” said Nuggets coach George Karl. “We’re not happy now but a week from now, hopefully after we win a few home games, we will be happy.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Blowing large leads isn’t exactly uncommon for the Los Angeles Clippers, who came within two points of squandering a 17-point margin in the final 6 1/2 minutes against the Utah Jazz before completing a rare wire-to-wire victory. Eric Gordon scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter on Monday night in a 108-104 win that snapped a six-game losing streak against the Jazz. “It was a case of them running out of time and us looking for time to run out,” newly acquired Drew Gooden said. “They had us on our heels, making big, aggressive plays down the stretch, but we made big stops at the end and held them off.”...Los Angeles has won four of its last six games after dropping its first five under interim coach Kim Hughes. Every starter reached double figures before the third quarter ended. Gooden had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Kaman added 18 points and 14 boards, and Davis finished with 19 points and 12 assists. Carlos Boozer scored 20 points for the Jazz, who were coming off their second straight 10-win month. Andrei Kirilenko, who sat out three of Utah’s previous four games because of back spasms, had 13 points in 29 minutes and was 6 for 15 from the field. First-time All-Star Deron Williams missed eight of his first nine shots, finishing 5 for 15 with 13 points and 13 assists. “We had a good comeback,” Boozer said. “That’s a good team with the new additions they’ve had, and they played very well tonight. We did not have control of this game, and we knew that from the beginning.”...Williams’ three-point play got Utah as close as 103-101 with 40 seconds left. He had a chance to tie it with 16 seconds on the clock, but missed both free throws, and Butler and Kaman each hit two foul shots at the other end to close it out. “There was no sense of panic at all. They did a great job of coming back, but the main thing was staying together and getting stops,” Gooden said. “Deron Williams missed two free throws, which was clutch for them and big for us.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Jameer Nelson’s homecoming was one for his hometown fans to remember. Nelson rekindled fond memories for the locals of his first-team All-American days at nearby Saint Joseph’s, with 22 points and 10 assists, and the Orlando Magic beat the Philadelphia 76ers 126-105 on Monday night. “He’s the Philly guy,” center Dwight Howard said. “Comes back home and does it all.”...Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis each scored 19 points, and Howard had 14. Orlando hit five 3-pointers in the third and shot 69 percent to turn a seven-point lead at halftime into a total rout. Nelson, who needed 650 tickets for the game, made eight of 11 shots with only one turnover. “Dwight always tells me that if I’m aggressive, it helps him,” Nelson said. “And it helps to open things up for the other guys.”...Nelson swished a pull-up 3-pointer with 1:02 left to give the Magic 102 points through three quarters. Fans started fleeing for the exits and the few that remained chanted “Fire Eddie!” They had their pick of Eds: 76ers coach Eddie Jordan or team president Ed Stefanski. Both are responsible for this debacle of a season. In turn, Jordan picked his target, taking a not-so-vieled swipe at Andre Iguodala for not stepping up as a team leader as the season disintegrates. “We lost the passion to compete,” Jordan said. “We saw some poor body language and there were a couple of timeouts where we addressed it. I wasn’t going to have it. I addressed it a couple of times, I addressed just now (postgame)...Jrue Holiday scored a career-high 23 points for the Sixers. Iguodala scored 19 and Thaddeus Young, starting for Elton Brand, had 17. The Sixers played without Brand (right Achilles’ tendinitis) and Allen Iverson (personal).
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(From the Associated Press) - LeBron James’ only action in the fourth quarter Monday night came on the bench during timeouts, when he played to the crowd and danced alongside his teammates. If the New York Knicks were hoping to impress the Cavaliers superstar in their final meeting before he can become a free agent this summer, they flopped badly in Cleveland’s 124-93 victory...Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni was asked if all the losing, and the embarrassing beatings like the one sustained Monday, is worth it. “I’ll tell you next year,” he said. “Right now it’s pretty frustrating for everybody, but it’s what we’re doing.” James had 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Cleveland used a 74-point first half to hammer the Knicks in their first game since learning Shaquille O’Neal will miss the rest of the regular season...Antawn Jamison had 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Anderson Varejao had 14 points and 10 boards. Hickson had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Delonte West scored 15 points as the Cavaliers exposed New York’s defensive inefficiencies...Cleveland fans are tired of hearing about the possibility of James bolting Cleveland for New York this summer. That’s why the sellout crowd at the Q roared when two small boys held up a sign in the fourth quarter: “Hey NY, Get Your Own King.” Reserve Bill Walker scored a career-high 21 points for New York, Al Harrington had 18 and Danilo Gallinari 17. David Lee added 10 points and 10 rebounds. “They outclassed us, outmatched us, outplayed us,” D’Antoni said. “They’re just a lot better than us.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Michael Jordan was easy to spot courtside in his bright red coat. He shook hands, yelled at the referees and kept checking his phone in his first game as owner-to-be of the Charlotte Bobcats. Jordan’s old magic was missing from his team, however. Be like Mike? That distinction belonged to the NBA’s hottest club. Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 13 rebounds, Jason Terry had several key buckets down the stretch, and the surging Dallas Mavericks beat Charlotte 89-84 on Monday night...“We played scared,” Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson said. Added coach Larry Brown: “I think I did a bad job. I was looking out there and I didn’t know what we were doing.” Jordan’s presence and a 4 a.m. arrival in Charlotte couldn’t stop the Mavericks from winning their eighth straight game. Caron Butler added 22 points and Terry scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas, which rallied from a 12-point third-quarter deficit...Jackson scored 20 points, but also had six of Charlotte’s 20 turnovers. Tyrus Thomas added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Bobcats, who dropped to 0-12 against the Mavericks, the only team they’ve never beaten...Their home game Sunday night against New Orleans started late because of television purposes, and Nowitzki said he got to bed around 5 a.m. “We were a step slow in the first quarter,” Nowitzki said. “We weren’t really quite up yet.” But after falling behind 55-43 in the first minute of the third quarter, Nowitzki got hot. Hours after being named Western Conference player of the week, Nowitzki scored 10 points in the third quarter on a variety of fadeaway and turnaround jumpers, getting Dallas within 68-66. Terry then took over in the fourth. He hit a mid-range jumper, bank shot and 3-pointer in a 13-1 run to put Dallas ahead 83-75 with 4:43 left. Charlotte got within 85-81 on Jackson’s 3-pointer, but Terry scored on a runner with 1:15 left, and Nowitzki hit two free throws with 8.8 seconds left to put it away.
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(From the Associated Press) - George Hill had a tough defensive assignment in trying to slow emerging Hornets rookie Darren Collison. Hill decided to make it tough for Collison to stay with him on the other end, scoring a team-leading 23 points as the San Antonio Spurs beat New Orleans 106-92 on Monday night. “George has been great all year long. He’s a big part of what we do and he’s just finding his rhythm,” said Spurs center Tim Duncan, who added 22 points and nine rebounds. “He knows where he’s supposed to be. We ask him to go out there and guard their best player, their most active player and he does that on nightly basis. He’s a big part of what we do and when he plays well like that, we play well.”...Collison, who has been thriving since being elevated to a starting role because of Chris Paul’s left knee injury, was coming off a career-high, 35-point outing in New Orleans’ loss at Dallas on Sunday night. The Western Conference rookie of the month for February managed only 10 points against San Antonio, but was still effective with 15 assists...The loss was the Hornets’ fourth in five games, dropping New Orleans (31-30) four games behind Portland for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. Tony Parker had 18 points for the Spurs (34-24), who shot 51 percent and led by 20 in the third quarter before holding on without much drama. Rookie shooting guard Marcus Thornton was 6 of 7 from 3-point range—a career high for 3s in a game—and scored 30 points for New Orleans. Emeka Okafor scored 18 points and David West added 13 for the Hornets, who never led in the final three quarters.
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(From the Associated Press) - Nate McMillan let his team know at halftime they were not playing as if they were fighting to hold on to a playoff spot. The Portland Trail Blazers responded by scoring 41 points in the third quarter, equaling their points in all of the first half. Brandon Roy scored 25 points and Nicolas Batum added 21 as Portland erased a 14-point first-half deficit with the strong third quarter and defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 103-93 on Monday night...LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 13 points, and Andre Miller scored 12 points and handed out 11 assists as the Trail Blazers ended their five-game road trip with four victories. They also solidified their hold on the Western Conference’s eighth playoff spot...The win was the seventh straight road win for Portland over the Grizzlies. Meanwhile, Memphis extended its current home losing streak to seven. “Home should be the easiest place to play,” said forward Zach Randolph, who led Memphis with 22 points. Rudy Gay finished with 19 points, Marc Gasol added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Mike Conley scored 13. Portland overtook Memphis by outscoring the Grizzlies 41-21 in the third, the Trail Blazers’ highest points total in a quarter this season. It also was the most surrendered by Memphis in a period this season. “We didn’t come out with the same energy in the second half or defensive intensity,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said.
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(From the Associated Press) - Whether he was selected or not, Josh Smith is playing like an All-Star. Smith scored 17 points with a season-high 18 rebounds, Jamal Crawford scored 21 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the short-handed Chicago Bulls 116-92 on Monday night for their fourth win in five games...Marvin Williams had 18 points as Atlanta pulled away down the stretch after its 18-point, second-quarter lead dwindled to five early in the fourth. Williams scored seven points during a 9-0 run following a basket by Chicago’s Derrick Rose, making it 94-79 midway through the fourth quarter and breaking open a six-point game. Rose led the Bulls with 24 points despite missing most of the first quarter after hurting his right knee. But it was a long night for a team that had won eight of 11. Smith delivered his fourth straight double-double for the Hawks, after getting 22 points and 15 rebounds the previous night in an overtime win over Milwaukee...Al Horford added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks. Joe Johnson scored 14 points, 12 in the first quarter as the Hawks grabbed a 34-23 lead, after getting nine during the overtime against the Bucks. Already missing center Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis in his left foot) and forward Luol Deng (swollen left knee), the Bulls got a big scare 4 1/2 minutes into the game. Rose, who banged his left knee late in Saturday’s game at Indiana, came up clutching his right one after Atlanta’s Mike Bibby collided with him while trying to pick off a pass...“We have to get Joakim and Luol back,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “Atlanta is a very athletic, strong front line. They are young and they have hurt us before. Obviously, that was the difference in the game. They would miss and go get it and control the tempo of the game.”
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(From the Associated Press) - The Houston Rockets needed a boost after losing four of their last five games. The struggling and beat-up Toronto Raptors provided just that. Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks scored 28 points each in three quarters and the Rockets rolled to a 116-92 win over Toronto on Monday night. The Rockets led by 32 after three and both teams played mostly reserves the rest of the way...Bosh did not make the trip as he deals with a sprained left ankle and Jose Calderon missed the game with an elbow injury. Hedo Turkoglu scored four points in 15 minutes in the first half, but did not return after halftime because of a sore ankle. “Let’s be a little bit realistic, three of our top four players are not playing,” Raptors coach Jay Triano said. “I don’t care who you’re playing against, if three of your top four guys aren’t out there and playing, you’re going to have a hard time winning games.”...Marcus Banks led the Raptors with 15 points and Andrea Bargnani added 14. Triano saw his team get discouraged early after Houston’s hot start. “Without Chris and Jose, two big scorers, we’ve got to manufacture points somewhere and I think everybody tried to take it upon themselves and we played selfish basketball,” he said...Chase Budinger made a nifty play when he tipped in an alley-oop from Brooks with his left hand as he fell a few minutes later. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw as Houston’s David Andersen and Toronto’s Antoine Wright got into a shoving match. Both players were given technicals for the scuffle and Houston had its biggest lead of the night—93-57. Andersen added 16 for Houston and Luis Scola had 11 points and eight rebounds.
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(From the Associated Press) - Amare Stoudemire and the Phoenix starters had a front-row seat for the Suns’ turnaround against the Denver Nuggets. Stoudemire had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the reserves keyed a big second quarter for the Suns in a 101-85 victory on Monday night. “They gave us a lead, a comfortable lead, and we came out in the second half and kept it going,” said Stoudemire, who fell one point shy of his fifth straight 20-point game. Goran Dragic scored 10 first-half points off the bench and the reserves had 24 of 33 second-quarter points, when the Suns quickly erased an early double-digit deficit. Channing Frye scored seven points in the second quarter and Louis Amundson added five points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots in the period as the Suns outscored Denver 33-11 to turn a 13-point deficit into a 57-44 halftime lead. “It happened so fast,” said Carmelo Anthony, who finished with 17 points on 7-of-21 shooting...“We went to the zone, got them out of their rhythm and they never really got back in their rhythm,” said Grant Hill, who also scored 19. The success of the Phoenix bench allowed coach Alvin Gentry to sit starters Stoudemire, Steve Nash and Robin Lopez for the entire second quarter...Billups scored 21 points, Anthony had 17 and J.R. Smith added 16 for the Nuggets, who lost for the second time in two days. Denver had not lost consecutive games since dropping three straight from Dec. 25-28. “If you watched the way we played on the beginning of this trip you’d be happy if we were able to go 2-2,” said Nuggets coach George Karl. “We’re not happy now but a week from now, hopefully after we win a few home games, we will be happy.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Blowing large leads isn’t exactly uncommon for the Los Angeles Clippers, who came within two points of squandering a 17-point margin in the final 6 1/2 minutes against the Utah Jazz before completing a rare wire-to-wire victory. Eric Gordon scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter on Monday night in a 108-104 win that snapped a six-game losing streak against the Jazz. “It was a case of them running out of time and us looking for time to run out,” newly acquired Drew Gooden said. “They had us on our heels, making big, aggressive plays down the stretch, but we made big stops at the end and held them off.”...Los Angeles has won four of its last six games after dropping its first five under interim coach Kim Hughes. Every starter reached double figures before the third quarter ended. Gooden had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Kaman added 18 points and 14 boards, and Davis finished with 19 points and 12 assists. Carlos Boozer scored 20 points for the Jazz, who were coming off their second straight 10-win month. Andrei Kirilenko, who sat out three of Utah’s previous four games because of back spasms, had 13 points in 29 minutes and was 6 for 15 from the field. First-time All-Star Deron Williams missed eight of his first nine shots, finishing 5 for 15 with 13 points and 13 assists. “We had a good comeback,” Boozer said. “That’s a good team with the new additions they’ve had, and they played very well tonight. We did not have control of this game, and we knew that from the beginning.”...Williams’ three-point play got Utah as close as 103-101 with 40 seconds left. He had a chance to tie it with 16 seconds on the clock, but missed both free throws, and Butler and Kaman each hit two foul shots at the other end to close it out. “There was no sense of panic at all. They did a great job of coming back, but the main thing was staying together and getting stops,” Gooden said. “Deron Williams missed two free throws, which was clutch for them and big for us.”
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