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(From the Associated Press) - Paul Pierce was way off his usual game. Rajon Rondo and the other two in the Big Three picked up the scoring slack. Against the sinking 76ers, that was easily enough for a win. Rondo had 16 points and 11 assists, Kevin Garnett scored 22 points, Ray Allen had 16 and the Boston Celtics handed the Philadelphia 76ers their fifth straight loss, 96-86 on Friday night...Rondo’s production was needed because of an unusual off night from Pierce. Pierce, Boston’s leading scorer at 17.9 points a game, was limited to only seven points and he missed eight of nine shots. “I kept looking at my hand wondering what was wrong,” Pierce said. “I felt real good out there. But the shots weren’t falling.” Garnett and Allen—who form the Big Three with Pierce—were there to make up the difference. They went 15 for 25 from the floor and had the hundreds of fans in Celtics green that invaded Philly going wild. Glen Davis had 12 for the Celtics. The aging Celtics—they just added Michael Finley—couldn’t put away the lowly Sixers until the end...Lou Williams led the 76ers with 22 points, and Elton Brand had 17. The Sixers have played some of their best basketball this season against the NBA’s top teams. Turning that effort into victories has been problematic. Andre Iguodala scored 14 points. “If you want to model yourself after a good team, you look at a team with a lot of vets who play the game the right way,” Iguodala said.
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(From the Associated Press) - Rodney Stuckey was walking over to give rookie Jonas Jerebko some advice Friday night when he started feeling dizzy and sat down. Shortly after he asked for some water, he slumped unconscious into the arms of Pistons trainer Arnie Kander. Stuckey was to remain overnight at the Cleveland Clinic after collapsing and being taken from the arena by ambulance during the third quarter of Cleveland’s 99-92 win over the Pistons. “He is stable and that is good news,” Pistons coach John Kuester said. “I think he is going to be OK.” LeBron James had 40 points, 13 rebounds and six assists as the Cavaliers rallied from a 21-point deficit in the first half, but the game was overshadowed by the scary scene in the third quarter...Both teams huddled again at midcourt following the game and prayed. Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry met Kuester as the Pistons left the floor after the game. The two walked to Detroit’s locker room with their arms around each other. Kuester spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach in Cleveland. “He came over and told Arnie he was feeling dizzy,” Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva said. “He drank some water and the next thing you know, he passed out. It’s very scary. One minute, you think everything is OK, then the next second, it turns around so quick.” The players were walking off the floor for a timeout with 2:30 left in the third quarter when Kuester got off the bench to meet them. He was going to say something to Jerebko when Stuckey stepped in. “I loved that he took the initiative,” Kuester said. “As I was meeting with the coaches, all of a sudden I saw him leaning over with Arnie and before I knew it, he was on the ground.”
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(From the Associated Press) - The final seconds ticked down and Michael Jordan slowly rose from his seat. He waited until the final buzzer and then briefly clapped. Jordan showed little emotion after the Charlotte Bobcats won their first game in three tries since he agreed to buy the team. And why not? Beating the Los Angeles Lakers has become routine for this franchise. Really. No matter the personnel, coach or even the impending owner, the Bobcats own the defending champions. The combination of Stephen Jackson (21 points) and Gerald Wallace (17 points, 10 rebounds) overcame 26 points from Kobe Bryant on Friday night in Charlotte’s 98-83 victory...“We just looked flat,” Bryant said. Bryant, who was 9 for 21 from the field, got little help. The Lakers shot 36 percent, committed 20 turnovers and matched their number of road losses (12) from last season. There were plenty of culprits. Pau Gasol shot 5 for 14, Andrew Bynum 3 for 9 and Ron Artest 1 for 9. Hardly the way to go into Sunday’s finals rematch in Orlando. “I’ll probably say something,” Bryant said when asked if he planned to speak with his teammates. A reporter followed up with how the tone of that talk will be and Bryant replied: “What do you think?”
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(From the Associated Press) - David Lee thought the New York Knicks let one get away. Sonny Weems scored a career-high 20 points, Jose Calderon had 16 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Knicks 102-96 on Friday night, snapping a four-game losing streak despite playing their seventh straight without All-Star Chris Bosh...Jarrett Jack and Amir Johnson each scored 14, and Hedo Turkoglu had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who won on a night when Bosh was forced to go to hospital with severe stomach cramps an hour before the tip. “I was more concerned about Chris than the game,” Jack said...Lee had 23 points and 18 rebounds for the Knicks, while Wilson Chandler added 18 points. Tracy McGrady and Danilo Gallinari each scored 13, and Al Harrington and Sergio Rodriguez both had 10 for New York, which has lost 11 of 13. Like Lee, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said his team could have been better, especially with the game on the line in the fourth. “I just didn’t think we had the necessary gumption to get up on them and guard a little man-to-man and stop it,” D’Antoni said. “We couldn’t do it. They scored every time.”...Toronto finished with a season-high 62 points in the paint against the undersized Knicks. “I thought we did a great job offensively, but, defensively, when you give up that many points in the paint, it’s going to be tough to really stop a team,” McGrady said.
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(From the Associated Press) - Even when he isn’t putting the ball in the basket himself, Brandon Jennings knows full well he can help the Milwaukee Bucks. And gain some attention in the process. Jennings’ perfect alley-oop pass from two steps across half-court led to Andrew Bogut’s dunk that helped set the tone in the first quarter, and the surging Bucks went on to beat the Washington Wizards 102-74 for their eighth victory in nine games...Bogut led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds despite sitting out the fourth quarter, and the Bucks also got 19 points from Carlos Delfino, along with 17 from John Salmons. Jennings’ recent shooting problems continued—he was 2 for 7 for four points—but he did have nine assists, only one fewer than the entire Wizards team. “That’s what we need from him,” Bogut said. “He knows we don’t need him to score. People get on him because he’s not making shots, but he’s running this ballclub as well as anyone has. He’s moving the ball, and his defensive pressure has been great.”...The Bucks held the Wizards to season lows in points and assists. But Washington coach Flip Saunders and some of his players placed much of the blame squarely on the Wizards themselves. “We’re not good enough to play 1-on-1,” said guard Mike Miller, who scored six points. The Wizards are a completely revamped team, one without any of the players who rank 1-4 in scoring average this season: Gilbert Arenas (season-ending suspension for bringing guns into the locker room); Antawn Jamison (traded to Cleveland); Caron Butler (traded to Dallas); Josh Howard (season-ending knee injury). Starting center Brendan Haywood also was dealt to Dallas.
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(From the Associated Press) - With leading scorer Joe Johnson playing despite flulike symptoms, the Atlanta Hawks needed someone else to come up big. Turns out, four players did: Josh Smith, Al Horford, Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford. Smith scored a season-high 29 points and Horford added 27 points and 15 rebounds as the surging Hawks held off the Golden State Warriors 127-122 on Friday night...Johnson, averaging 21.7 points per game, played 37 minutes. He shot 0 for 6 in the first half and finished 3 of 14 from the field, scoring 10 points to go with eight assists. “He was fighting the flu. He wasn’t feeling well. It was important we all came out and gave him support,” Horford said...Stephen Curry led the Warriors, who lost their third in a row and fifth in six games, with 31 points and 11 assists. Golden State dropped its ninth consecutive road game and fell to 4-26 away from home. Anthony Morrow had 21 points for the Warriors. C.J. Watson and Anthony Tolliver each scored 20, and Corey Maggette added 18. “My shot was falling in the second quarter and we went on a little run,” Curry said. “We stayed in the game as long as we could, we just couldn’t get enough stops down the stretch.”...“We had a chance and we needed to make a couple of shots down the stretch. We didn’t do that and the Hawks made their free throws,” Golden State coach Don Nelson said. “No complaints. We played at a high level and we lost.”
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(From the Associated Press) - With a month to go in the season, Stan Van Gundy isn’t very happy with the way the Orlando Magic play with the lead. Instead of putting teams away, the Magic have been letting them hang around. It didn’t hurt against the woeful New Jersey Nets on Friday night. The playoffs might be different. “All year, losing the lead is how we play,” Van Gundy said after the Magic defeated the Nets 97-87 for their fourth straight win. “Give us a lead and we will play poorly at both ends of the floor. I have absolutely no idea how to fix it.” Matt Barnes scored 14 of his 16 points in the first quarter to stake the Magic to a double-digit lead, but Orlando never could put together a run to make the game a laugher. “We’re just trying to get wins, get the job done,” said Vince Carter, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half against his former teammates. “Give credit to them. That team plays hard regardless of the record. We got lax, but we got the job done.”...Dwight Howard added 11 points and 16 rebounds, and the Magic hit 13 3-pointers in beating the Nets for the third time this season. “We know we have things to work on,” said point guard Jameer Nelson, who had 15 points and eight of the Magic’s 24 assists. “You don’t want to have a 17-point lead and see them cut it to eight. It happened and we have to continue to work on it.” Devin Harris had 17 points and 10 assists for the Nets (6-55), who lost their third straight after stunning Boston last weekend. Brook Lopez added 18 points and eight rebounds. Terrence Williams added 14 points and Kris Humphries 12 as the Nets fell to 3-28 at the not-so-friendly confines of the Izod Center. Jason Williams, who had 18 points in his last five games, tallied 13 for Orlando.
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(From the Associated Press) - The Dallas Mavericks’ season-high winning streak has reached 10, and there’s not a blowout in the bunch. This time, they needed a big game off the bench from rookie Roddy Beaubois to keep the streak alive. Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points and 12 rebounds, Beaubois added a career-high 22 points, and the Mavericks extended the longest active streak in the league with a 108-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. Beaubois went 9 for 14 from the field and 3 for 6 on 3-pointers in 24-plus minutes, stepping up in the absence of the team’s No. 2 scorer, Jason Terry...Dallas has only two double-digit victories during the current streak, 10-point wins over Phoenix and Orlando. The rest have gone down to the wire. “When you’re on a streak like this, everybody’s gunning for you, everybody wants to be the team to take you down,” said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who was ejected in the second quarter. “So you’re going to get everybody’s best game. We’ve had some slow starts, but it’s something we’ve been able to overcome many times.” Carl Landry had 21 points, and Beno Udrih and Tyreke Evans each added 20 for the Kings, who’d won three of their previous four...Nowitzki and Jason Kidd each converted two foul shots over the final 21.5 seconds to seal the victory. Kidd had 17 points and 12 assists. Nowitzki has been successful on all 17 fourth-quarter free-throw attempts in the last two games.
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(From the Associated Press) - After a brief lull, Carmelo Anthony is scoring big again. Anthony had 34 points and the Denver Nuggets overcame the injury-related absences of Kenyon Martin and Ty Lawson to beat the Indiana Pacers 122-114 on Friday night. It was Anthony’s second consecutive 30-point performance after going a season-high six straight games without reaching that mark. He averaged 22.5 points during that six-game stretch before breaking through for 30 on 11-of-19 shooting in a win over Oklahoma City on Wednesday, just hours after being treated for dehydration with intravenous fluids. “That’s what All-Stars do. That’s why he puts up the numbers that he does,” said Indiana’s Danny Granger, who scored 32 points. “We just didn’t have any answer for him.”...“Every time we started to climb back in, Carmelo just took over,” Indiana coach Jim O’Brien said. “He is a terrific talent, no matter how closely you guard him. He makes shots. He just overpowers people. They have a heck of a basketball team.” J.R. Smith added 20 points off the bench and Chauncey Billups had 14 for the Nuggets, who sent the Pacers to their fifth loss in a row on the road. Nene and Chris Andersen each added 13 points and they combined for 16 rebounds, helping to make up for the absence inside of Martin, who sat out with a recurrence of left knee tendinitis. Lawson, a key reserve, missed a third straight game with a bruised left shoulder...Troy Murphy added 14 points, and Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush had 12 points apiece for the Pacers.
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(From the Associated Press) - By the standards of this underachieving season for the San Antonio Spurs, coach Gregg Popovich said even back-to-back wins is something of an accomplishment. Don’t look now, but the Spurs have won three straight. Tony Parker scored 20 points and the Spurs extended their longest winning streak in nearly two months, beating New Orleans 102-91 on Friday night to sweep the season series from the Hornets for the second time in four seasons...Manu Ginobili had 16 points and Keith Bogans scored 15 for the Spurs. San Antonio is on its longest winning streak since January and turn around Saturday to face Memphis, which are also trying to catch the Spurs for a playoff spot. New Orleans, meanwhile, keeps tumbling from the playoff picture. Rookie Darren Collison had 32 points for the Hornets, including 16 in the fourth quarter. But the Hornets still dropped their fourth straight, their longest skid of the season...Marcus Thornton had 18 points for the Hornets, but left in the fourth after taking a hard fall. He was diagnosed with an upper back strain and did not return, and was to be re-evaluated Saturday. Losing for the sixth time in seven games, the Hornets (31-32) fell under .500 for the first time since Jan. 2 and fell 5 1/2 games behind Portland for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Climbing back won’t be easy. Still stuck without Chris Paul—who has watched his team go 6-11 since injuring his left knee—the Hornets have only seven of their remaining 19 games against losing teams. David West had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets.
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(From the Associated Press) - Kevin Durant first met Spencer Haywood three years ago during his rookie season, when the Oklahoma City Thunder were based in Seattle and in the throws of a 20-62 season. The former SuperSonics star told Durant to keep his head up because things would turn around. On Friday night, Durant tied Haywood’s 1972-73 franchise mark by recording his 35th game of the season with 30 or more points in a 104-87 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The first-time All-Star finished with 32 points and nine rebounds...Russell Westbrook had 15 points and nine assists, helping the Thunder record their 18th road victory—three more than their combined total the previous two seasons. “Russell was a big part of how we played tonight with his energy and effort,” coach Scott Brooks said. “He didn’t feel like he had a good game offensively, with the (seven) turnovers, but defensively he was good and he really inspired our team from the opening jump by playing good defense on Baron Davis.” Chris Kaman had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Clippers, who shot just 37.2 percent from the field. None of them had more than one field goal during the first 16 minutes except for reserve forward Craig Smith, who made six of his first seven shots after missing two games with a left biceps strain. Smith finished 7 for 11 with 19 points in a foul-plagued 22 minutes...Trailing by 11 early in the third quarter, the Clippers narrowed the gap to 68-64 on Rasual Butler’s 3-pointer with 4:07 left in the period. But that was as close as they got, as the Thunder opened the fourth with an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 86-69. Rookie James Harden, who had 17 points off the bench, set up an alley-oop dunk by Durant on a fast break with 6 minutes to play after rookie Serge Ibaka blocked a layup by Kaman at the other end. “We did a great job of locking in and getting focused,” Durant said. “It was an overall effort from everyone, and we really helped each other out. It was a good team win. We’ve worked hard, and we continue to get better.”
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(From the Associated Press) - Paul Pierce was way off his usual game. Rajon Rondo and the other two in the Big Three picked up the scoring slack. Against the sinking 76ers, that was easily enough for a win. Rondo had 16 points and 11 assists, Kevin Garnett scored 22 points, Ray Allen had 16 and the Boston Celtics handed the Philadelphia 76ers their fifth straight loss, 96-86 on Friday night...Rondo’s production was needed because of an unusual off night from Pierce. Pierce, Boston’s leading scorer at 17.9 points a game, was limited to only seven points and he missed eight of nine shots. “I kept looking at my hand wondering what was wrong,” Pierce said. “I felt real good out there. But the shots weren’t falling.” Garnett and Allen—who form the Big Three with Pierce—were there to make up the difference. They went 15 for 25 from the floor and had the hundreds of fans in Celtics green that invaded Philly going wild. Glen Davis had 12 for the Celtics. The aging Celtics—they just added Michael Finley—couldn’t put away the lowly Sixers until the end...Lou Williams led the 76ers with 22 points, and Elton Brand had 17. The Sixers have played some of their best basketball this season against the NBA’s top teams. Turning that effort into victories has been problematic. Andre Iguodala scored 14 points. “If you want to model yourself after a good team, you look at a team with a lot of vets who play the game the right way,” Iguodala said.
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(From the Associated Press) - Rodney Stuckey was walking over to give rookie Jonas Jerebko some advice Friday night when he started feeling dizzy and sat down. Shortly after he asked for some water, he slumped unconscious into the arms of Pistons trainer Arnie Kander. Stuckey was to remain overnight at the Cleveland Clinic after collapsing and being taken from the arena by ambulance during the third quarter of Cleveland’s 99-92 win over the Pistons. “He is stable and that is good news,” Pistons coach John Kuester said. “I think he is going to be OK.” LeBron James had 40 points, 13 rebounds and six assists as the Cavaliers rallied from a 21-point deficit in the first half, but the game was overshadowed by the scary scene in the third quarter...Both teams huddled again at midcourt following the game and prayed. Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry met Kuester as the Pistons left the floor after the game. The two walked to Detroit’s locker room with their arms around each other. Kuester spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach in Cleveland. “He came over and told Arnie he was feeling dizzy,” Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva said. “He drank some water and the next thing you know, he passed out. It’s very scary. One minute, you think everything is OK, then the next second, it turns around so quick.” The players were walking off the floor for a timeout with 2:30 left in the third quarter when Kuester got off the bench to meet them. He was going to say something to Jerebko when Stuckey stepped in. “I loved that he took the initiative,” Kuester said. “As I was meeting with the coaches, all of a sudden I saw him leaning over with Arnie and before I knew it, he was on the ground.”
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(From the Associated Press) - The final seconds ticked down and Michael Jordan slowly rose from his seat. He waited until the final buzzer and then briefly clapped. Jordan showed little emotion after the Charlotte Bobcats won their first game in three tries since he agreed to buy the team. And why not? Beating the Los Angeles Lakers has become routine for this franchise. Really. No matter the personnel, coach or even the impending owner, the Bobcats own the defending champions. The combination of Stephen Jackson (21 points) and Gerald Wallace (17 points, 10 rebounds) overcame 26 points from Kobe Bryant on Friday night in Charlotte’s 98-83 victory...“We just looked flat,” Bryant said. Bryant, who was 9 for 21 from the field, got little help. The Lakers shot 36 percent, committed 20 turnovers and matched their number of road losses (12) from last season. There were plenty of culprits. Pau Gasol shot 5 for 14, Andrew Bynum 3 for 9 and Ron Artest 1 for 9. Hardly the way to go into Sunday’s finals rematch in Orlando. “I’ll probably say something,” Bryant said when asked if he planned to speak with his teammates. A reporter followed up with how the tone of that talk will be and Bryant replied: “What do you think?”
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(From the Associated Press) - David Lee thought the New York Knicks let one get away. Sonny Weems scored a career-high 20 points, Jose Calderon had 16 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Knicks 102-96 on Friday night, snapping a four-game losing streak despite playing their seventh straight without All-Star Chris Bosh...Jarrett Jack and Amir Johnson each scored 14, and Hedo Turkoglu had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who won on a night when Bosh was forced to go to hospital with severe stomach cramps an hour before the tip. “I was more concerned about Chris than the game,” Jack said...Lee had 23 points and 18 rebounds for the Knicks, while Wilson Chandler added 18 points. Tracy McGrady and Danilo Gallinari each scored 13, and Al Harrington and Sergio Rodriguez both had 10 for New York, which has lost 11 of 13. Like Lee, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said his team could have been better, especially with the game on the line in the fourth. “I just didn’t think we had the necessary gumption to get up on them and guard a little man-to-man and stop it,” D’Antoni said. “We couldn’t do it. They scored every time.”...Toronto finished with a season-high 62 points in the paint against the undersized Knicks. “I thought we did a great job offensively, but, defensively, when you give up that many points in the paint, it’s going to be tough to really stop a team,” McGrady said.
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(From the Associated Press) - Even when he isn’t putting the ball in the basket himself, Brandon Jennings knows full well he can help the Milwaukee Bucks. And gain some attention in the process. Jennings’ perfect alley-oop pass from two steps across half-court led to Andrew Bogut’s dunk that helped set the tone in the first quarter, and the surging Bucks went on to beat the Washington Wizards 102-74 for their eighth victory in nine games...Bogut led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds despite sitting out the fourth quarter, and the Bucks also got 19 points from Carlos Delfino, along with 17 from John Salmons. Jennings’ recent shooting problems continued—he was 2 for 7 for four points—but he did have nine assists, only one fewer than the entire Wizards team. “That’s what we need from him,” Bogut said. “He knows we don’t need him to score. People get on him because he’s not making shots, but he’s running this ballclub as well as anyone has. He’s moving the ball, and his defensive pressure has been great.”...The Bucks held the Wizards to season lows in points and assists. But Washington coach Flip Saunders and some of his players placed much of the blame squarely on the Wizards themselves. “We’re not good enough to play 1-on-1,” said guard Mike Miller, who scored six points. The Wizards are a completely revamped team, one without any of the players who rank 1-4 in scoring average this season: Gilbert Arenas (season-ending suspension for bringing guns into the locker room); Antawn Jamison (traded to Cleveland); Caron Butler (traded to Dallas); Josh Howard (season-ending knee injury). Starting center Brendan Haywood also was dealt to Dallas.
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(From the Associated Press) - With leading scorer Joe Johnson playing despite flulike symptoms, the Atlanta Hawks needed someone else to come up big. Turns out, four players did: Josh Smith, Al Horford, Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford. Smith scored a season-high 29 points and Horford added 27 points and 15 rebounds as the surging Hawks held off the Golden State Warriors 127-122 on Friday night...Johnson, averaging 21.7 points per game, played 37 minutes. He shot 0 for 6 in the first half and finished 3 of 14 from the field, scoring 10 points to go with eight assists. “He was fighting the flu. He wasn’t feeling well. It was important we all came out and gave him support,” Horford said...Stephen Curry led the Warriors, who lost their third in a row and fifth in six games, with 31 points and 11 assists. Golden State dropped its ninth consecutive road game and fell to 4-26 away from home. Anthony Morrow had 21 points for the Warriors. C.J. Watson and Anthony Tolliver each scored 20, and Corey Maggette added 18. “My shot was falling in the second quarter and we went on a little run,” Curry said. “We stayed in the game as long as we could, we just couldn’t get enough stops down the stretch.”...“We had a chance and we needed to make a couple of shots down the stretch. We didn’t do that and the Hawks made their free throws,” Golden State coach Don Nelson said. “No complaints. We played at a high level and we lost.”
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(From the Associated Press) - With a month to go in the season, Stan Van Gundy isn’t very happy with the way the Orlando Magic play with the lead. Instead of putting teams away, the Magic have been letting them hang around. It didn’t hurt against the woeful New Jersey Nets on Friday night. The playoffs might be different. “All year, losing the lead is how we play,” Van Gundy said after the Magic defeated the Nets 97-87 for their fourth straight win. “Give us a lead and we will play poorly at both ends of the floor. I have absolutely no idea how to fix it.” Matt Barnes scored 14 of his 16 points in the first quarter to stake the Magic to a double-digit lead, but Orlando never could put together a run to make the game a laugher. “We’re just trying to get wins, get the job done,” said Vince Carter, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half against his former teammates. “Give credit to them. That team plays hard regardless of the record. We got lax, but we got the job done.”...Dwight Howard added 11 points and 16 rebounds, and the Magic hit 13 3-pointers in beating the Nets for the third time this season. “We know we have things to work on,” said point guard Jameer Nelson, who had 15 points and eight of the Magic’s 24 assists. “You don’t want to have a 17-point lead and see them cut it to eight. It happened and we have to continue to work on it.” Devin Harris had 17 points and 10 assists for the Nets (6-55), who lost their third straight after stunning Boston last weekend. Brook Lopez added 18 points and eight rebounds. Terrence Williams added 14 points and Kris Humphries 12 as the Nets fell to 3-28 at the not-so-friendly confines of the Izod Center. Jason Williams, who had 18 points in his last five games, tallied 13 for Orlando.
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(From the Associated Press) - The Dallas Mavericks’ season-high winning streak has reached 10, and there’s not a blowout in the bunch. This time, they needed a big game off the bench from rookie Roddy Beaubois to keep the streak alive. Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points and 12 rebounds, Beaubois added a career-high 22 points, and the Mavericks extended the longest active streak in the league with a 108-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. Beaubois went 9 for 14 from the field and 3 for 6 on 3-pointers in 24-plus minutes, stepping up in the absence of the team’s No. 2 scorer, Jason Terry...Dallas has only two double-digit victories during the current streak, 10-point wins over Phoenix and Orlando. The rest have gone down to the wire. “When you’re on a streak like this, everybody’s gunning for you, everybody wants to be the team to take you down,” said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who was ejected in the second quarter. “So you’re going to get everybody’s best game. We’ve had some slow starts, but it’s something we’ve been able to overcome many times.” Carl Landry had 21 points, and Beno Udrih and Tyreke Evans each added 20 for the Kings, who’d won three of their previous four...Nowitzki and Jason Kidd each converted two foul shots over the final 21.5 seconds to seal the victory. Kidd had 17 points and 12 assists. Nowitzki has been successful on all 17 fourth-quarter free-throw attempts in the last two games.
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(From the Associated Press) - After a brief lull, Carmelo Anthony is scoring big again. Anthony had 34 points and the Denver Nuggets overcame the injury-related absences of Kenyon Martin and Ty Lawson to beat the Indiana Pacers 122-114 on Friday night. It was Anthony’s second consecutive 30-point performance after going a season-high six straight games without reaching that mark. He averaged 22.5 points during that six-game stretch before breaking through for 30 on 11-of-19 shooting in a win over Oklahoma City on Wednesday, just hours after being treated for dehydration with intravenous fluids. “That’s what All-Stars do. That’s why he puts up the numbers that he does,” said Indiana’s Danny Granger, who scored 32 points. “We just didn’t have any answer for him.”...“Every time we started to climb back in, Carmelo just took over,” Indiana coach Jim O’Brien said. “He is a terrific talent, no matter how closely you guard him. He makes shots. He just overpowers people. They have a heck of a basketball team.” J.R. Smith added 20 points off the bench and Chauncey Billups had 14 for the Nuggets, who sent the Pacers to their fifth loss in a row on the road. Nene and Chris Andersen each added 13 points and they combined for 16 rebounds, helping to make up for the absence inside of Martin, who sat out with a recurrence of left knee tendinitis. Lawson, a key reserve, missed a third straight game with a bruised left shoulder...Troy Murphy added 14 points, and Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush had 12 points apiece for the Pacers.
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(From the Associated Press) - By the standards of this underachieving season for the San Antonio Spurs, coach Gregg Popovich said even back-to-back wins is something of an accomplishment. Don’t look now, but the Spurs have won three straight. Tony Parker scored 20 points and the Spurs extended their longest winning streak in nearly two months, beating New Orleans 102-91 on Friday night to sweep the season series from the Hornets for the second time in four seasons...Manu Ginobili had 16 points and Keith Bogans scored 15 for the Spurs. San Antonio is on its longest winning streak since January and turn around Saturday to face Memphis, which are also trying to catch the Spurs for a playoff spot. New Orleans, meanwhile, keeps tumbling from the playoff picture. Rookie Darren Collison had 32 points for the Hornets, including 16 in the fourth quarter. But the Hornets still dropped their fourth straight, their longest skid of the season...Marcus Thornton had 18 points for the Hornets, but left in the fourth after taking a hard fall. He was diagnosed with an upper back strain and did not return, and was to be re-evaluated Saturday. Losing for the sixth time in seven games, the Hornets (31-32) fell under .500 for the first time since Jan. 2 and fell 5 1/2 games behind Portland for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Climbing back won’t be easy. Still stuck without Chris Paul—who has watched his team go 6-11 since injuring his left knee—the Hornets have only seven of their remaining 19 games against losing teams. David West had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets.
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(From the Associated Press) - Kevin Durant first met Spencer Haywood three years ago during his rookie season, when the Oklahoma City Thunder were based in Seattle and in the throws of a 20-62 season. The former SuperSonics star told Durant to keep his head up because things would turn around. On Friday night, Durant tied Haywood’s 1972-73 franchise mark by recording his 35th game of the season with 30 or more points in a 104-87 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The first-time All-Star finished with 32 points and nine rebounds...Russell Westbrook had 15 points and nine assists, helping the Thunder record their 18th road victory—three more than their combined total the previous two seasons. “Russell was a big part of how we played tonight with his energy and effort,” coach Scott Brooks said. “He didn’t feel like he had a good game offensively, with the (seven) turnovers, but defensively he was good and he really inspired our team from the opening jump by playing good defense on Baron Davis.” Chris Kaman had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Clippers, who shot just 37.2 percent from the field. None of them had more than one field goal during the first 16 minutes except for reserve forward Craig Smith, who made six of his first seven shots after missing two games with a left biceps strain. Smith finished 7 for 11 with 19 points in a foul-plagued 22 minutes...Trailing by 11 early in the third quarter, the Clippers narrowed the gap to 68-64 on Rasual Butler’s 3-pointer with 4:07 left in the period. But that was as close as they got, as the Thunder opened the fourth with an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 86-69. Rookie James Harden, who had 17 points off the bench, set up an alley-oop dunk by Durant on a fast break with 6 minutes to play after rookie Serge Ibaka blocked a layup by Kaman at the other end. “We did a great job of locking in and getting focused,” Durant said. “It was an overall effort from everyone, and we really helped each other out. It was a good team win. We’ve worked hard, and we continue to get better.”
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