Jordan's magic sparks Wizards to victory over Grizzlies
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Michael Jordan scored 16 points and had nine assists early, and Richard Hamilton scored a season-high 30 points as the Washington Wizards beat the Memphis Grizzlies 91-81 Tuesday night for their third straight victory.
In his previous two games, Jordan scored most of his points in the fourth quarter in helping the Wizards beat Houston and Dallas.
But the Wizards trailed only once in their first game ever in Memphis, when they were down 27-26 in the first. They led 58-41 at halftime, thanks to a 13-6 run, and expanded their lead to 21 in the third.
Jason Williams led the Grizzlies with 17 points and 11 assists.
Celtics 102, Knicks 93, OT
NEW YORK -- Antoine Walker scored a season-high 42 points and Boston caught a break when Latrell Sprewell missed a foul shot late in regulation.
Sprewell scored a career-high 49 points for New York. He could have reached 50 and all but locked up the victory with 6.2 seconds left, but missed one of two free throws to give the Celtics one last chance.
Walker got free behind the 3-point arc as he received the inbounds pass, and his shot tied it at 89-89 with 3.6 seconds left. Sprewell took the final shot of regulation, but Paul Pierce got a piece of it and the game went to overtime.
The Celtics won for the seventh time in eight games and remained ahead of the Knicks in the Atlantic Division.
Heat 99, Bucks 97
MIAMI -- Eddie Jones scored 23 points, including the go-ahead layup with 10.5 seconds left, to lift Miami over Milwaukee.
Milwaukee had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but Anthony Mason's drive to the basket was stopped by Jones and Alonzo Mourning.
Mourning had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Jim Jackson added 16 points for Miami, which has won two of three after losing 12 straight. The Heat had a season-high in points and shooting percentage, 49.3.
Ray Allen had 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including five 3-pointers for Milwaukee, which had its two-game winning streak snapped.
Hawks 89, 76ers 87
ATLANTA -- Jacque Vaughn hit a long jumper with 3 seconds left to give Atlanta a win and send Philadelphia to its sixth straight loss.
Jason Terry scored 23 points, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 19 points and 11 rebounds for Atlanta, which stopped its eight-game losing streak against Philadelphia.
Dikembe Mutombo, playing his first game in Atlanta since he was traded to Philadelphia last season, had 15 rebounds and eight points.
Allen Iverson scored 34 points for Philadelphia, and Aaron McKie added 16.
Timberwolves 107, Warriors 86
MINNEAPOLIS -- Wally Szczerbiak scored 22 points, and Kevin Garnett had 20 as Minnesota beat Golden State.
Joe Smith added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who won their fourth straight since going winless during a three-game West Coast road trip.
Danny Fortson scored 17 points, 13 off free throws, and had 14 rebounds for the Warriors, who have lost seven of their last eight games. Larry Hughes added 14 points for Golden State, which committed 20 turnovers against the Timberwolves, three days after committing 24 in a loss at Utah.
Nets 107, Bulls 93
CHICAGO -- Lucious Harris had 20 of his season-high 22 points in the first half, and Jason Kidd just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine assists as New Jersey beat Chicago.
Harris didn't miss a shot in the first half, and ended the night 8-of-10, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range. Richard Jefferson added 16, and Keith Van Horn had 12.
Ron Mercer led the Bulls with 18, and Brad Miller and Greg Anthony added 15 each.
Cavaliers 107, Rockets 102
HOUSTON -- Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored a season-high 22 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as Cleveland beat Houston -- the Rockets' 11th straight loss.
Lamond Murray scored 20 points, and Jumaine Jones added 16 points and 11 rebounds as the Cavaliers improved to 4-1 in the month of December.
Cuttino Mobley had 33 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter to help Houston close the gap to one point after trailing by as many as 20. Oscar Torres added a career-high 28 for Houston, which has its longest losing streak since the 1977-78 team dropped 13 straight from Feb. 27 to March 22.
Cavaliers point guard Andre Miller, the NBA's assists leader, left the game with 5:30 to play with a dislocated right shoulder. The team said Miller will be re-evaluated Wednesday to determine the severity of the injury, but he will miss at least Thursday's game at Dallas.
Mavericks 105, Trail Blazers 103
DALLAS -- Steve Nash scored a career-high 39 points, including 17 in the final 6:23, as Dallas ended its season-high three-game losing streak.
Michael Finley shot only 7-for-26 from the field but finished with 20 points for the Mavericks, who were without top scorer Dirk Nowitzki in the second half. Nowitzki injured his left ankle in the second quarter.
Bonzi Wells had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who had won four of their previous six.
Hornets 99, Nuggets 96
DENVER -- Lee Nailon scored 20 points, and Elden Campbell made two late free throws as Charlotte beat Denver.
Campbell scored 16 points and had five rebounds before fouling out with 58 seconds left. P.J. Brown added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets, who last beat the Nuggets on Dec 10, 1999.
Raef LaFrentz had 23 points and nine rebounds, and James Posey 22 points for Denver which lost its season-high fifth straight game. Nick Van Exel, who has repeatedly demanded a trade the past four days, added 18 points and 15 assists.
Kings 112, Magic 100
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Chris Webber had 24 points and nine rebounds in his second game back from injury, and Kings coach Rick Adelman got his 500th career victory as Sacramento beat Orlando.
Peja Stojakovic scored 23 points as the Kings improved to 17-5 -- the best start in the franchise's 54-year history. Hedo Turkoglu added 17 points in a reserve role as Sacramento ended a five-game homestand with its fourth straight victory.
SuperSonics 104, Lakers 93
LOS ANGELES -- Gary Payton had 29 points and 10 assists, and Vin Baker added a season-high 27 points and nine rebounds as Seattle took command late in the third quarter in surprising Los Angeles.
The loss was the second straight and just the third of the season for the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers, who had won their previous 15 regular-season games at Staples Center -- including 11 this season.
Dating to last season, the Lakers had won 39 of their previous 41 games before losing this game on top of a 97-91 setback at Sacramento on Friday night.
Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 37 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots. Kobe Bryant added 16 points for Los Angeles, but made only 7-of-23 shots.