The Washington Times (Mike Jones) reports: The Washington Wizards avoided making history Wednesday. The bad kind. With only a couple of opportunities left to avert becoming the first NBA team to go winless in its division, the Wizards overcame a shallow bench to pull off a 95-93 victory over the visiting Charlotte Bobcats. The victory was the first for the Wizards (17-56) in 15 games against Southeast Division opponents this season.
Month: March 2009
Suns win sixth in a row, beating Jazz
The AP reports: Grant Hill certainly isn’t done yet. The 36-year-old Hill, often written off because of a series of serious injuries over his 14-year NBA career, scored 26 points, including a tiebreaking jumper in the lane with 31.5 seconds remaining, to lift the Phoenix Suns to their season-high sixth straight victory, 118-114 over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night… Matt Barnes, with 18 points in the second half, and Jason Richardson each had 21 points for the Suns. Steve Nash scored 12 and had 14 assists, while Shaquille O’Neal had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Deron Williams led Utah with 25 points and 10 assists. Ronnie Brewer scored 17, Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver each added 15 points, and Carlos Boozer 14.
Nowitzki, Terry, Barea lead Mavs past Warriors
The AP reports: Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry came back from a four-day break as sharp as ever and J.J. Barea led a late surge, sending the Mavericks to a 128-106 victory over the weary, woeful Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. The Mavs scored their most points of the season and narrowly missed their most-accurate, too, settling for 58.5 percent. They went ahead for good when the game was only a few minutes old, then when the Warriors got within four late in the third quarter, Barea quickly ended any suspense, going on an 8-0 run that had Dallas up by 21 a few minutes later… Barea scored 20, including an 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter that included three straight layups then a pair of free throws after getting whacked on his next drive into the lane… Anthony Morrow was 10-of-11 for 29 points, his most since November, and Monta Ellis scored 22.
Magic bounce Celtics from 2nd in East
The AP reports: Dwight Howard blocked a potential go-ahead layup by Paul Pierce with 3.8 seconds left, and the Orlando Magic clinched their second straight Southeast Division title with an 84-82 win over the Celtics on Wednesday night. Howard had 24 points and 21 rebounds as the Magic (53-18) bumped Boston (54-19) by percentage points for second in the Eastern Conference. Orlando remains five games back of Cleveland for the conference lead with 11 games left. The Magic took the division title with Atlanta’s loss to San Antonio… Rashard Lewis had 21 points, and Hedo Turkoglu added 13 points for the Magic, who nearly blew a 16-point lead before holding on for their fourth straight win and 11th in their last 13 games. The Magic were held to just 14 points in the final period.
Nuggets end Hornets 3-game win streak, 101-88
The AP reports: Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and Denver beat New Orleans 101-88 on Wednesday night, snapping the Hornets’ three-game winning streak while gaining ground in the tight Western Conference playoff race… Chauncey Billups scored 26 points, hitting four of his five 3-pointers in the second half to help the Nuggets pull away after the game was tied with a little over 7 minutes to go in the third quarter… Chris Paul had 19 points and 13 assists, and David West scored 18 points for New Orleans (44-26), which dropped a game behind Denver (46-26) in the Western Conference standings… Hilton Armstrong and Rasual Butler each scored 10 points for New Orleans, which played an unusually sloppy game. Denver wound up converting 19 Hornets turnovers into 18 points. Paul turned the ball over six times.
Taylor, Randolph help Clippers edge Knicks in OT
The AP reports: Another big game at Madison Square Garden for Zach Randolph, another ill-timed technical foul for Al Harrington against the Clippers. Everything in this one had been seen before—except the performance from Mike Taylor. Taylor more than doubled his career high with 35 points, Randolph added 33 against his former team, and Los Angeles outlasted the New York Knicks 140-135 in overtime Wednesday night… Al Thornton scored 21 and Eric Gordon had 19 for the Clippers, who snapped a nine-game road losing streak… Harrington finished with 38 points and Wilson Chandler scored 22 for the Knicks, who matched a season high with their sixth straight loss.
Jamison leads 8-man Wizards past Bobcats 95-93
The AP reports: Hey, Raymond Felton, how do you feel about what happened to your Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night? The wasted 20-point lead. The 19-for-30 foul shooting, including 6-for-13 in the fourth quarter. And everything else that went awry in a 95-93 loss to the woebegone Washington Wizards, a team that came in with an NBA-high 56 losses, a team that was 0-14 against Southeast Division foes, a team down to eight players because of injuries… “We didn’t want to be the first,” said Nick Young, who scored 23 points for Washington. “Players, captains, Coach—everybody was talking about it.” … “Both guys just rushed the shot,” said Antawn Jamison, who scored 27 points for Washington. “They didn’t realize they were going to be that open.”
Parker has 42, Spurs beat Hawks 102-92
The AP reports: Tony Parker spent the past month scoring big to compensate for the absence of Manu Ginobili. With Ginobili back, Parker picked up his scoring even more to help the San Antonio Spurs win without Tim Duncan. Parker scored 42 points and the Spurs ended Atlanta’s eight-game home winning streak with a 102-92 victory on Wednesday night… Joe Johnson had 30 points, including Atlanta’s first 11 points of the fourth quarter, but he had too little help as the Hawks suffered their first loss at Philips Arena since March 1… Ginobili had two points in 13 minutes as he returned in a limited role after missing 19 games with a right ankle injury. Roger Mason had 18 points and Michael Finley added 13 for the Spurs.
Young leads 76ers over T-Wolves, 96-88
The AP reports: Thaddeus Young scored 29 points and Andre Miller had 15 to lead the Sixers to a 96-88 win over the revamped Timberwolves on Wednesday night. The Sixers (37-33) pulled a half-game behind Miami in the Eastern Conference standings and upped their odds toward clinching their first winning record in four seasons. The Heat lost 90-88 at Indiana on Wednesday… Rodney Carney stuck it to his former team with 21 points and Craig Smith had 20 for the Timberwolves, whose new lineup couldn’t help them avoid their sixth straight loss.
Cavaliers set team wins record, beat Nets 98-87
The AP reports: LeBron James scored 22 points with 11 assists and made all the right moves in the closing minutes as the too-tough-at-home Cavaliers set a franchise record with their 58th win—and 10th straight—by beating the New Jersey Nets 98-87 on Wednesday night… Vince Carter scored 20 and Jarvis Hayes 18 for the Nets, who are running out of time to make the playoffs… Anderson Varejao, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mo Williams scored 16 apiece and Delonte West had 13 points with nine rebounds for the Cavs, who again showed they are much more than James.