Mavs send Celtics to fourth straight loss
BOSTON — Dirk Nowitzki had 36 points and Keith Van Horn added 21 points off the bench to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 112-100 victory over Boston on Wednesday night, sending the Celtics to their season high-tying fourth straight loss.
The Mavericks won for the ninth time in 11 games and continued to excel on the road, improving the NBA's third-best road record to 24-11.
Since winning 11 of 12 after acquiring Antoine Walker, Boston has slumped, and Walker has shot 33 percent during the four-game slide.
Magic 108, Raptors 96
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic took another step toward reviving their playoff hopes.
Grant Hill scored 21 points and rookie Dwight Howard contributed 18 points and nine rebounds as Orlando won its second game in a row after a prolonged slump, beating Toronto. Steve Francis added 16 points and nine assists for Orlando, which started the night two games behind Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Nets 95, Clippers 78
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Vince Carter scored 31 points and Jason Kidd had eight points and 13 assists as New Jersey kept its playoff hopes alive.
Nenad Krstic added 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Brian Scalabrine scored 12 and Jacque Vaughn 10 as the Nets won for the seventh time in nine games. New Jersey — trying to break into the top eight in the East — remained 10th in the conference, a half-game behind Orlando.
Wizards 102, Hawks 99
WASHINGTON — Gilbert Arenas scored nine of his 36 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes, including the go-ahead basket on a driving layup in traffic with 34 seconds to play, leading Washington over Atlanta.
Arenas also drew a charge on Al Harrington with 20 seconds left, denying the Hawks a chance to tie the game and potentially break a losing streak that's nearly three weeks old. Atlanta has lost 10 straight and 23 of 24.
Bulls 102, Bobcats 99
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ben Gordon showed Emeka Okafor why the Rookie of the Year award is still up for grabs, scoring 22 of his career-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to lead Chicago to victory over Charlotte.
Gordon drained a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 42.8 seconds left, then gave Chicago a 101-97 lead with another 3 with 21.7 seconds left.
Pistons 99, Kings 82
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Richard Hamilton scored 24 points and Ben Wallace added 19 points and 14 rebounds as Detroit beat Sacramento.
Detroit, which had lost four of its last five games, was coached by assistant Gar Heard for the 10th straight game as Larry Brown recovers from urinary-tract surgery. Brown is expected to be back for Friday's game against the Clippers.
Warriors 113, Bucks 109
MILWAUKEE — Baron Davis scored 25 points and handed out 15 assists, and Mickael Pietrus scored 21 points off the bench to lead Golden State over Milwaukee.
Davis scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Warriors (26-45), who won for the sixth time in seven games.
Spurs 89, SuperSonics 76
SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker scored 28 points, and San Antonio let a 20-point fourth-quarter lead dwindle to 10 before holding off Seattle.
A three-point play by Seattle's Ronald Murray midway through the fourth quarter cut the Spurs' lead to 75-65. Parker then made two free throws and a layup, and Brent Barry tipped in his own missed layup to put San Antonio back up by 16 points with about four minutes left.
Nuggets 109, Jazz 98
SALT LAKE CITY — Andre Miller had 24 points and nine assists and led a key fourth-quarter run for Denver in a win over Utah.
With the win, Denver (39-31) tied Memphis for the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference playoff race.
Rockets 100, Trail Blazers 84
PORTLAND, Ore. — Yao Ming scored 29 points and Tracy McGrady had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead Houston to a victory over the Trail Blazers, completing a four-game sweep of the season series against Portland.
McGrady's 3-pointer extended Houston's lead to 72-57 midway through the third quarter, and the Rockets went on to lead by as many as 25 points for their sixth win in seven games.
Suns 116, 76ers 87
PHOENIX — Steve Nash had a triple-double, Quentin Richardson set Phoenix marks for 3-point shooting and the Suns clinched their first Pacific Division title in 10 years by beating Philadelphia.
Nash, who played only 27 minutes, had a career-high 13 rebounds to go with 12 points and 12 assists. The stylish point guard drew a loud ovation with his 10th assist, a pass to Steven Hunter for a dunk that sent Phoenix ahead 77-58 with 5:07 left in the third quarter.