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D-Will, Lopez lead Nets past Hornets, 101-97

Deron Williams snapped out of a lackluster second half in time to save the Brooklyn Nets from a painful collapse.

One game after coming up empty in the final minutes of a close loss to Memphis, Williams scored for 11 of his 31 points in the final 1:24 in New Orleans, and the Nets snapped a two-game skid by holding off the Hornets, 101-97 on Tuesday night…

Williams was coming off a game against the Grizzlies in which he went scoreless during the last six minutes, with one shot blocked and a turnover with 10.9 seconds left with his team trailing 74-72.

After scoring 20 points in the first half in New Orleans, Williams had only one basket during the next 22:36 as the Hornets nearly erased a deficit that had been as large as 22. Then Williams drained a timely 3, added a fadeaway jumper, and followed that with six free throws in the final 18.7 seconds to seal it…

Brook Lopez added 20 points and four blocks while playing against his twin brother, Robin, and Keith Bogans added 12 points for Brooklyn, hitting all four of his shots, including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Williams made four of his eight 3-point attempts, and the Nets shot 60 percent (12 of 20) from long range as a team.

Greivis Vasquez scored 20 and Robin Lopez 14 for New Orleans, which has lost four of five.

— Reported by Brett Martel of the Associated Press

Heat win 12th straight game, outlast Kings in 2OT

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra summed up the efforts of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in three words: ”Video game numbers,” he said.

Both put up monster stat lines.

And the Miami Heat needed them.

James scored 40 points and added a career-high 16 assists, Wade had 39 points, and the Heat pushed their winning streak to 12 games by outlasting the Sacramento Kings 141-129 in double overtime on Tuesday night.

”Some great stat lines tonight,” James said. ”But I’m happy I was able to do what I did and help our team win.”

Great stat lines might be calling it an understatement. Consider:

– A season high in scoring for James, who capped off the best shooting month of his career.

– A season high in scoring for Wade, who tied a career best with 19 field goals.

– A 36-point night for the Kings’ Marcus Thornton, the most by any non-starter in the NBA this season.

– The 141 points tied a Heat franchise record, set in 1991.

– Add James’ assists to the mix, and he put up the NBA’s first night of at least 40 points and 16 assists since April 1994. The man who did it then? None other than Phoenix guard Kevin Johnson, now, ironically enough, the mayor of Sacramento. And for February, James finished 139 for 217 from the floor, that 64.1 percent clip the best of his career for any month.

”It was a great atmosphere,” said Thornton, who made 11 of 18 shots, including 8 of 12 from 3-point range.

— Reported by Tim Reyolds of the Associated Press

Pacers beat Warriors after 4th-quarter scuffle

If the Indiana Pacers learned anything from their 108-97 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, it’s exactly how close they are as a team.

Team unity and having each other’s back has been a theme for the Pacers, and they had a chance to show it when center Roy Hibbert got involved in a fourth-quarter scuffle.

Hibbert was ejected following the skirmish that began when he and David Lee exchanged shoves under the basket after a missed shot.

”There were two or three guys coming after (Hibbert),” Pacers forward David West said. ”We preach and talk about togetherness, so that’s part of what we’re going to do. We’re going to defend one another. They came after him too many times.”

West, who had 28 points and seven rebounds, also was called for a technical foul, along with the Warriors’ Lee, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, for the altercation.

No players left the bench…

George Hill had 23 points and seven assists, and Paul George had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers (36-21), who have won five straight.

Curry scored a season-high 38 points and Thompson had 13 for the Warriors (33-24), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

— Reported by Jim Johnson of the Associated Press

Magic beat Sixers, end 10-game road losing streak

Players were high-fiving and telling jokes in the giddy postgame locker room.

It was a rare and pleasant atmosphere for the Orlando Magic, especially on the road.

Arron Afflalo and Tobias Harris scored 16 points apiece and the Magic snapped a 10-game road losing streak with a 98-84 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.

”It feels great,” said forward Maurice Harkless. ”Guys feel good about themselves and it shows what hard work can do. There are a lot of smiles around here for a change on the road.”

Andrew Nicholson contributed 13 and Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and 19 rebounds for the Magic (16-41), who hadn’t won on the road since Jan. 12 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

E’Twaun Moore had 12 points and a career-high 10 assists, while Harkless had 10 points for the Magic…

Damien Wilkins scored a season-high 14 points and Jeremy Pargo also had 14 for the 76ers. Dorell Wright had 11 and Evan Turner 10 for Philadelphia, which fell a season-worst 11 games under .500 at 22-33…

Orlando is also dealing with its share of injuries, but it was hardly evident on this night. It played without guard Jameer Nelson (left knee) and forwards Glen Davis (fractured left foot) and Hedo Turkoglu (NBA suspension).

— Reported by Andy Jasner of the Associated Press

Bulls forward Taj Gibson out with knee sprain

Taj Gibson is expected to miss at least two weeks with a sprained left knee, forcing the Chicago Bulls to play without one of their key reserves at a pivotal point in the season.

Gibson stepped on the foot of Oklahoma City guard Reggie Jackson in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 102-72 loss to the Thunder and knew something wasn’t right almost immediately.

”The first thing I did was grab my knee,” he said. ”I was in shock because I felt great. I went up for a regular shot block and I came down and it just gave way.”

Gibson had an MRI and was diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament. He said doctors are planning to take another look to make sure there are no small tears.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Shane Battier out Tuesday with tight hamstring

Heat forward Shane Battier was held out of Miami’s game against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night because of tightness in his right hamstring.

It’s the seventh game Battier has missed this season. He missed three games in late November and early December with knee soreness, and then sat out three more games in January with hamstring tightness.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the team wants ”to be proactive” when it comes to Battier.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Derek Fisher hopes for championship with Thunder

derek fisher

Five-time NBA champion Derek Fisher isn’t planning on his latest stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder being his last chance to play in the league. He has just one goal in mind and he’ll wear a reminder of it on his jersey in every game.

Fisher chose No. 6 to wear on his uniform, to represent his quest for a sixth NBA title. He won five alongside Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers and for the second straight season will join the Thunder for the stretch run to try and help Kevin Durant win his first.

“It symbolizes something for me in terms of No. 6 but it also symbolizes for me the reason why I’m here to be a part of this team and that’s to help get No. 1,” Fisher said Tuesday after his first practice.

Fisher wore No. 37 last season to reflect his age and deliver a message that he could still play after getting traded away by the Lakers. He wasn’t offered the chance to return to Oklahoma City during the offseason, but he was signed Monday as a free agent after the Thunder traded away third-string point guard Eric Maynor.

Reported by the Associated Press

Dennis Rodman on diplomacy mission to North Korea

Talk about an odd choice.

Dennis Rodman is in North Korea as an ambassador for sports diplomacy.

The flamboyant, basketball hall-of-famer arrived on Tuesday in Pyongyang with VICE television and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters for a news program on North Korea that will be aired by HBO later this year.

The free-spirited, hard-partying, heavily tatooed, five-time NBA champion sticks out like a sore thumb in the staid, buttoned-down dictatorship.

But Rodman and VICE said he will run a basketball camp for children and play in a game with North Korea’s top basketball players.

“Is sending the Harlem Globetrotters and Dennis Rodman to the DPRK strange? In a word, yes,” VICE founder Shane Smith told the Associated Press.

“But finding common ground on the basketball court is a beautiful thing.”

Reported by Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun

Sacramento City Council to consider different deal on Kings arena than last time

Sacramento’s new plan to finance a downtown sports arena may wind up being vastly different than the deal reached last year between the city and the owners of the Sacramento Kings.

City officials said Monday they aren’t starting from scratch in their quest to develop a financing plan for an arena, but acknowledged in a staff report to the City Council that last year’s plan “and all its detail will likely change in this scenario.”

The City Council will be asked tonight to give top city officials the go-ahead to begin formal arena negotiations with a private investment group interested in buying the Kings and keeping them in Sacramento. The council is also being asked to commit $150,000 to pay consultants and attorneys to represent the city.

At the moment, the council still hasn’t officially been briefed on whom the city will be negotiating with. It’s widely known, however, that Mayor Kevin Johnson has been talking to Southern California billionaire Ron Burkle and 24-Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov.

Reported by Ryan Lillis, Tony Bizjak and Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee