Month: February 2013

Warriors rally past Spurs 107-101 in OT

Jarrett Jack had 30 points and 10 rebounds, David Lee added 25 points and 22 boards, and the Golden State Warriors rallied past the San Antonio Spurs 107-101 in overtime Friday night to snap a 16-game losing streak in the series.

Stephen Curry finished with 18 points and six assists to carry the short-sleeve-wearing Warriors from 13 points down in the fourth quarter. Golden State, also playing without center Andrew Bogut hadn’t won against San Antonio since another overtime game at home—all the way back on Jan. 7, 2008.

Danny Green scored 20 points and Tim Duncan had 19 points and 18 rebounds for the NBA-leading Spurs, who had won five straight and 16 of 17 overall. San Antonio fell to 6-2 on its rodeo trip, which ends Sunday at Phoenix.

The Spurs seemed to take control between the third and fourth quarters, breaking away from a tie game with 13 straight points behind Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker Both finished with 18 points, and both disappeared late…

Spurs swingman Stephen Jackson dressed but did not play for undisclosed reasons. He played against the Clippers a night earlier, his first game back since his wife had a miscarriage. Jackson had left the team in Chicago on Feb. 11. … The Warriors are also planning to wear the sleeved jerseys for home games against Houston on March 8 and Chicago on March 15. … The Spurs have won 28 in a row against the Warriors in San Antonio.

— Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

Jeff Green scores 31, Celtics rout Suns 113-88

Jeff Green gave Boston a sensational performance in his first start in nearly two years.

Green scored a season-high 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting and the short-handed Celtics routed the Phoenix Suns 113-88 on Friday night.

”I didn’t have a different mindset,” said Green, who missed last season following heart surgery to correct an aortic aneurysm. ”It was the same as me coming off the bench. I just tried to make a statement early and that’s what I did by attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line.”

Green started in place of 36-year-old Kevin Garnett, given a rest with Boston playing its third game in four nights…

Chris Wilcox had 13 points off the bench, and Avery Bradley and Jason Terry scored 13 each for the Celtics, who moved two games ahead of Milwaukee for seventh place in the Eastern Conference…

Paul Pierce scored only eight on 3-of-5 shooting for his fourth single-digit game of the season. But that mattered little to the Celtics, who were dominant from the opening tip in snapping a two-game skid.

Jordan Crawford, acquired from Washington on Thursday, made his Celtics debut and scored 10 points off the bench as Boston improved to 9-3 without injured guard Rajon Rondo…

Goran Dragic had 18 points and 10 assists, Markieff Morris scored 11 and Marcin Gortat added 10 points and six rebounds for the Suns, who have lost two straight and six of seven.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Westbrook scores 37, Thunder beat Wolves 127-111

With All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant leading the way, the Oklahoma City Thunder can outscore any team in the NBA on any given night.

That still isn’t good enough for a team with the highest of aspirations.

Westbrook scored a season-high 37 points, Durant added 27 and Oklahoma City snapped a three-game losing streak Friday night with a 127-111 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves that did little to fix what was wrong during the skid.

”A baby, minor step” was how Westbrook described it…

The Thunder avoided losing four in a row for the first time since April 2009, near the end of their first season in Oklahoma City, but were hardly better on defense after allowing 113.7 points per game during their longest losing streak of the season…

Alexey Shved led Minnesota with 17 points, and Andrei Kirilenko and Dante Cunningham had 15 points apiece. The Timberwolves shot 53 percent in the first half but couldn’t keep up that pace and wound up hitting on 43 percent after halftime.

Seven Timberwolves reached double figures in points, and leading scorer Nikola Pekovic wasn’t one of them…

Kevin Martin had 19 points off the bench for the Thunder, who went 9 for 14 from 3-point range and hit all 22 of their free throws. Oklahoma City came in first in the league in foul shooting and second in 3-point accuracy…

Greg Stiemsma and Ricky Rubio had 13 points apiece, and Ridnour chipped in 10. Rubio also had nine assists and five steals.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Vince Carter 3 lifts Mavs over Hornets, 104-100

Dirk Nowitzki knows a vintage Vince Carter performance when he sees it.

So with a subtle nod, Nowitzki gave Carter the green light to take a crucial shot in the final seconds, and could not have been more pleased with the result.

Carter capped a 22-point performance with a 3-pointer that gave Dallas the lead with 6.5 seconds left, and the Mavericks held on for their third straight victory, 104-100 over the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.

”I looked at him to see what he wanted,” Carter said of Nowitzki, who was supposed to get the shot with the Mavericks trailing 100-99. ”He gave me the nod to go ahead. Yes sir.” …

Nowitzki, who scored 25 points, said he and Carter noticed New Orleans making a defensive switch in the final few possessions, resulting in 7-foot forward Jason Smith covering Carter. When it happened just inside the final minute, Carter tried to drive on Smith, and found Mike James open in the left corner for a clutch 3 that made it a one-point game…

Elton Brand added 13 points for Dallas (25-29), which is 4 1/2 games out of the last Western Conference playoff spot with 28 games left. Darren Collison scored 11, hitting a pair of free throws with 3 seconds left for the final margin.

Eric Gordon scored 23 for the Hornets, who have lost three straight, but had only three points in the second half and lost the ball out of bounds while being closely guarded by O.J. Mayo with 5.8 seconds left, costing New Orleans a chance to set up a shot to tie or lead.

— Reported by Brett Martel of the Associated Press

Rockets beat Nets for 13th straight time, 106-96

East Rutherford, Newark or Brooklyn. The Houston Rockets win no matter where the nomadic Nets call home.

James Harden and Carlos Delfino each scored 22 points, and the Rockets tied their longest winning streak against any opponent by beating Brooklyn for the 13th straight time, 106-96 on Friday night.

Houston blew most of a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter before Delfino hit a big 3-pointer with 1:54 left. He later made another jumper before Harden followed with a 3-pointer to put it away and remain unbeaten on the road against the Nets for 10 years…

Delfino made six 3-pointers. Harden, coming off a career-high, 46-point game Wednesday against Oklahoma City, made four 3s and finished 7 of 14 from the field.

Brook Lopez scored 27 points for the Nets, who played without starting guard Joe Johnson for the first time this season because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Deron Williams added 15 points and 13 assists, but shot 5 of 17 as Brooklyn had its four-game winning streak snapped…

The Rockets used only nine players. Newcomers Thomas Robinson, the No. 5 pick in last year’s draft, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt weren’t available because Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas and Cole Aldrich, the players traded to Sacramento on Wednesday, hadn’t gotten their physicals done in time. The Rockets hope they will be available Saturday…

Omer Asik had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets. Lin finished with nine points and six assists, the former Knicks star getting a nice ovation before the game.

C.J. Watson scored 17 points in place of Johnson.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Hawks pull away late, beat Kings 122-108

When Josh Smith took the challenge of defending DeMarcus Cousins, the Atlanta Hawks finally took control against the Sacramento Kings.

Smith, who remained in Atlanta after being discussed in talks leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline, came through with his defense one day later.

Al Horford led Atlanta’s balanced scoring with 24 points and the Hawks overcame a slow start to beat Sacramento 122-108 on Friday night.

Jeff Teague had 20 points and 12 assists, Smith added 18 points and DeShawn Stevenson had 17 for Atlanta, which had six players in double figures.

Smith also had six rebounds and four assists, but coach Larry Drew talked the most about the decision made by the 6-foot-9 power forward to defend the 6-foot-11, 270-pound Cousins, the Kings’ high-scoring center…

Smith said Thursday he didn’t sleep well Wednesday night as the trade deadline neared. He said he ”slept too good, actually” on Thursday night and had the energy to hold Cousins, who had 26 points and 13 rebounds, to only four points in the final quarter…

Isaiah Thomas scored 30 points with nine assists to lead the Kings, who have lost four straight and eight of 10.

— Reported by Charles Odum of the Associated Press

Balanced scoring leads Bulls past Bobcats 105-75

Taj Gibson said the Chicago Bulls need to get back to last season’s philosophy of putting tough losses behind them and not dropping back-to-back games.

They did just that on Friday night.

Gibson scored 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting to lead a balanced scoring attack as the Bulls beat Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats 105-75. The win came after a disappointing 19-point loss at home to the Miami Heat on Thursday night.

”We liked the way were able to bounce back after a bad loss,” Gibson said. ”Last year we wouldn’t allow ourselves to lose two straight games. We need that same mindset.”

Now the tough part will be stringing two wins together.

The Bulls travel to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder on Sunday night in a game that figures to be a good measuring stick for the Chicago, which was has lost five of its last eight…

Carlos Boozer had 10 points and 10 rebounds as eight Bulls finished in double figures.

Luol Deng added 14 points, Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli and Richard Hamilton all had 12, and Joakim Noah finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

Rudy Gay scores 32, Raptors beat Knicks 100-98

Rudy Gay scored a season-high 32 points, DeMar DeRozan had 18 and the Toronto Raptors beat New York 100-98 on Friday night, handing the slumping Knicks their season-worst fourth straight loss.

Kyle Lowry scored 15 points, Amir Johnson 12 and John Lucas 10 as the Raptors won for the sixth time in seven games.

Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and J.R. Smith added 19 for the Knicks, winless since beating Minnesota on Feb. 8.

Amare Stoudemire scored 14 points and Raymond Felton added 10 for New York, which rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take the lead with 6:11 left.

Trailing 79-70 to begin the fourth, New York scored nine of the next 11 points. Toronto called a timeout after Stoudemire’s dunk cut it to 81-79 with 9:09 left.

Toronto’s Jonas Valanciunas had a game-high 10 rebounds. … Raptors rookie and newly crowned slam dunk champion Terrence Ross did not dress because of flulike symptoms. … Ex-Knick Landry Fields started for the Raptors in place of Johnson. … Toronto F Linas Kleiza denied a report from Lithuania that he is set to retire because of lingering right knee pain. Sidelined since Dec. 28, Kleiza said he hopes to return within a week. … The game was briefly halted when a fan ran onto the court in the fourth quarter.

— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press

Wizards step up and beat Nuggets 119-113

The Washington Wizards put on one of their best offensive shows of the season Friday night, putting seven players in double figures while taking down another contending team with a 119-113 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Emeka Okafor had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards, who never trailed but had an 18-point fourth-quarter lead cut to two in the final minute. Bradley Beal had 17 points and a career-high 12 boards, Trevor Ariza scored 16 points and Martell Webster had 15.

Washington broke a two-game losing streak and added another example to its knack for knocking off top teams while sitting near the bottom of the NBA standings.

Ty Lawson had 27 points and 12 assists, Wilson Chandler had 22 points, and Andre Miller scored a season-high 19 for the Nuggets, who have lost four straight on the road as they jostle for playoff seeding as the fifth-place team in the Western Conference. They also have the dubious distinction of getting swept by the Wizards, having lost at home to Washington 112-108 on Jan. 18.

— Reported by Joseph White of the Associated Press

Surging Pacers destroy Pistons 114-82

David West scored 18 points, George Hill had 15 and the surging Indiana Pacers beat the Detroit Pistons 114-82 on Friday night.

Indiana has won three straight and eight of 10, including a 98-79 victory against Detroit on Jan. 30.

This one was a runaway.

The Pacers grabbed control with a 14-4 run at the start of the second quarter. Orlando Johnson had 11 points in the run, making back-to-back 3-pointers to help Indiana to a 48-23 lead.

Will Bynum scored 17 points for the stumbling Pistons, who have split their last four games.

Indiana picked up right where it left off in Wednesday’s impressive 125-91 victory against the New York Knicks. The Pacers led 74-44 at halftime of that one, and Paul George finished with 27 points.

George was relatively quiet against Detroit, finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds. But the Pacers didn’t need another big night from the All-Star.

— Reported by the Associated Press