The AP reports: Mehmet Okur scored a career-high 43 points for Utah as the Jazz beat Indiana 120-113 Monday night, holding off a late push by the Pacers after they rallied from a 20-point deficit. Okur made 13 of 19 shots, going 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, and was 14-for-15 from the foul line while leading Utah to its fourth straight win… Andrei Kirilenko added a season-high 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and Deron Williams also had a double-double with 23 points and 11 assists… Indiana’s Danny Granger had 30 points and seven assists, one night after tying his career high with 42 points in a loss at Golden State. Mike Dunleavy scored 20 points and Troy Murphy added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who lost their third straight as they closed out a five-game road trip.
Category: Games
Basketball games blog
Outlaw’s 33 lead Blazers past Bulls 109-95
The AP reports: Travis Outlaw delivered in a big way, scoring a season-high 33 points, and Greg Oden added 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 109-95 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night… With Brandon Roy (11 points) hitting 3-of-13 shots and LaMarcus Aldridge (eight points) having a quiet night, the Blazers got just what they needed from Outlaw, Oden and Steve Blake to earn their third straight win… Oden dominated in the first half, with 13 points and nine rebounds. Blake finished with 16 points and 10 assists, helping the Blazers get this week off to a good start after a rather chaotic one for them… Drew Gooden led Chicago with 22 points and nine rebounds, Gordon scored 17 and Derrick Rose finished with 13 points and 10 assists. Deng added 14 points in 22 minutes off the bench but was 3-for-10 from the field after missing eight games with a sprained left ankle.
Knicks upset Hornets 101-95
The AP reports: David Lee scored 24 points and the Knicks had 30 assists, ending a three-game losing streak with a 101-95 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night. “The biggest thing is we had 30 assists,” D’Antoni said… In New Orleans, Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson moved the ball crisply in setting up their teammates 17 times. Even center Jared Jeffries got into the act, finding cutters along the base line or through the lane for six assists… Al Harrington finished with 20 points, while Wilson Chandler scored 19 points, hitting a jumper with 2:07 left and a driving layup soon after to help keep the Hornets at bay… David West had 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets, but was 6-of-20 from the field. Chris Paul added 23 points for New Orleans… Tyson Chandler had 10 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans, which hadn’t lost to New York since Dec. 8, 2004, before Paul turned pro.
Pierce’s 39 lead Celtics to OT win over Raptors
The AP reports: “Y’all need to start playing some of that “Superman” theme music in the building when he’s going like that,” Kevin Garnett said after Paul Pierce scored nine of his season-high 39 points in overtime to lead Boston to a 115-109 win over Toronto on Monday night… Pierce also had nine rebounds, while Garnett added 20 points and 12 rebounds and held Bosh to 1-of-4 shooting in 12 minutes of the fourth quarter and kept him from shooting in all five minutes of overtime.Andrea Bargnani, whose 3-pointer with 1 second left sent the game into overtime tied at 93, led the Raptors with 23 points… Boston’s 22 points set a club record for most in overtime, breaking the mark set on Jan. 2, 1963 when it outscored the San Francisco Warriors 21-6 in a 135-120 win.
Lopez leads Nets to 103-99 OT win over Thunder
The AP reports: Rookie Brook Lopez scored a career-high 31 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the Nets to a 103-99 overtime win on Monday. The Nets believed they had already won this one in regulation. Vince Carter caught a pass from Devin Harris and had the winning basket lined up with 9 seconds left, a shot that caught nothing but net from 3-point range. To the shock of everyone on the floor, the score was wiped out because Nets coach Lawrence Frank had run onto the court to call a time out… Carter finished with 21 points while Harris, back after missing three of the previous four games with a hamstring injury, had 17 points. Keyon Dooling had 14 points, most coming early in the fourth quarter as the Nets earned a fourth straight home win after starting the season 5-12 in New Jersey. Kevin Durant had 26 points for the Thunder, who fell to 6-33, and 2-17 on the road.
Jamison despondent after Wiz blow lead to Bucks
The AP reports: The Milwaukee Bucks’ 97-91 victory over Washington on Monday night, thanks in part to Michael Redd’s 29 points, dropped the Wizards to 7-30 and was their 12th setback in a game they’ve led in the fourth quarter… Trading baskets down the stretch with Wizards guard Nick Young—who scored a career-high 30—and shaking off a tweaked right ankle, Redd helped Milwaukee overcome a deficit that was 13 points in the second quarter, 11 at halftime and five entering the final period… “We knew we could make a run at this team,” said Milwaukee forward Charlie Villanueva, who scored 16 points, “and that’s exactly what we did.” … Making his first start since Jan. 2—he missed four games with back spasms, then was a reserve for a game—center Andrew Bogut came out strong, scoring eight of Milwaukee’s first 17 points. He also finished strong, scoring eight in the fourth quarter and ending up with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Bynum leads Lakers past Heat 108-105
The AP reports: Andrew Bynum scored a season-high 24 points including a go-ahead follow shot with 18.5 seconds remaining, Vladimir Radmanovic added a season-high 18 points, and the Lakers beat the Miami Heat 108-105 to become the first Western Conference team to reach 30 victories. Bryant had 19 points and seven assists, but shot just 5-of-14. Gasol had 14 points and 18 rebounds to match his career high, but shot 4-of-15… Derek Fisher had 13 points and a season-high 11 assists and Sasha Vujacic added 10 points for the Lakers (30-6), who won for the ninth time in 10 games… Wade led the Heat (19-17) with 27 points and nine assists, and rookie Michael Beasley scored 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. Cook added 17 points, and Shawn Marion and Quinn added 12 points apiece.
Kings beat Mavericks 102-95 for first win of 2009
The AP reports: The Sacramento Kings will take whatever bright spots they can find. Beating a short-handed Dallas team counts as one. Kevin Martin scored 21 points, Francisco Garcia had seven during a key fourth-quarter stretch, and the Kings ended their five-game losing streak with a 102-95 victory over the Mavericks on Sunday night… Beno Udrih had 16 points, five rebounds and six assists for Sacramento, which hadn’t won since beating the Los Angeles Clippers 92-90 on Dec. 30. John Salmons and Brad Miller added 13 points apiece for the Kings in only their second win in the last 10 games against the Mavericks… Jason Terry scored a season-high 33 points for Dallas, including 15 in the third quarter. Dirk Nowitzki added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who were coming off their most lopsided defeat of the season, a 128-100 loss to Phoenix on Friday.
Josh Howard didn’t play.
Crawford 32 in wild 120-117 Warriors win over Pacers
The AP reports: Jamal Crawford scored 32 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 11.3 seconds left in a pell-mell fourth quarter, and Golden State snapped its five-game losing streak with a 120-117 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night. The final minutes were a sublime exchange between Danny Granger and Crawford, who hit four 3-pointers and didn’t miss any of his eight free throws. Granger, who scored 15 of his career high-tying 42 points for Indiana in the fourth quarter, went 14-for-14 from the free throw line and added seven rebounds… Kelenna Azubuike added 21 points and eight rebounds for the Warriors, hitting a free throw with 5.6 seconds left as road-weary Golden State opened a seven-game homestand with its first victory since Dec. 29… Marco Belinelli scored 17 points for Golden State before spraining his right ankle with 6:45 to play.
Stephen Jackson didn’t play.
Howard scores 24 in 105-98 Magic win over Spurs
The AP reports: Dwight Howard scored 24 points, Jameer Nelson had eight of his 22 in the final two minutes, and the Magic beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-98 on Sunday night. Hedo Turkoglu added 21 points for the Magic (30-8), who are tied with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA lead in victories. Orlando has won four straight and 13 of 15 games… Tony Parker scored 31 points for the Spurs (24-12), but missed a pair of layups in the final two minutes as San Antonio closed the game by missing six of seven shots… In the matchup against Howard, Tim Duncan had 18 points, hitting 7-of-14 from the floor and all four foul shots along with 10 rebounds. Howard was 9-of-12, going 6-of-7 on free throws and grabbed 14 rebounds.