Harris scores 42, Nets beat Bulls 111-99

The AP reports: Devin Harris scored 19 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter and carried the New Jersey Nets for the second straight game in a 111-99 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night… Reserve Bobby Simmons added 18 points and rookie Brook Lopez had 13. Vince Carter had 11 points and nine rebounds. The Nets set a franchise record hitting all 25 of their free throws. Their previous best was 23-of-23 in 1999, also against the Bulls. Ben Gordon had 17 points and recently acquired John Salmons added 15 points to lead the Bulls, who were a woeful 7-for-25 from the field in the final quarter, including one of their first 11.

Howard 20/20 game, Magic beat Knicks 114-109

The AP reports: Dwight Howard had 24 points and 21 rebounds in his 20th career 20-20 game, and the Orlando Magic held on to beat the Knicks 114-109 on Wednesday night. Hedo Turkoglu scored 33 points to lead the Magic, who bounced back from a 120-102 loss in Chicago on Tuesday, their worst defensive performance of the season. Orlando was in control most of the way before the Knicks used some clutch 3-point shooting to pull within two in the final 30 seconds… Wilson Chandler had 27 and Al Harrington finished with 26. David Lee had 10 points and 10 rebounds to remain tied with Howard for the NBA lead with 46 double-doubles, though D’Antoni admitted Lee wasn’t sharp. Larry Hughes was 1-of-6 from the field, falling to 4-for-22 since the Knicks acquired him from Chicago at the trade deadline.

Huge Iguodala game, 76ers beat Wizards 106-98

The AP reports: Andre Iguodala had 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds Wednesday night as the 76ers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 106-98 win over the Washington Wizards… Andre Miller scored 17 points, Louis Williams had 16 points, Willie Green chipped in 12, and Samuel Dalembert finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds as the 76ers improved to .500 on the season… Caron Butler scored 17, Jamison had 16, and Dominic McGuire picked up 14 points and matched his career-high with 14 rebounds for the Wizards, who were hurt by 21 turnovers, including nine in the third quarter.

Pacers top Grizzlies 104-99

The AP reports: Indiana point guard T.J. Ford expected to carry a lighter load than usual against the Memphis Grizzlies. He ended up doing some heavy lifting. Ford, whose availability was a game-time decision because of the flu, scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Pacers beat the Grizzlies 104-99 on Wednesday night… Brandon Rush and Marquis Daniels each scored 14 points and Troy Murphy had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers. Memphis’ Rudy Gay missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds that would have tied the score. Marc Gasol had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and rookie O.J. Mayo added 21 points for Memphis, which lost its sixth straight.

Mavericks notes after beating Bucks

Wednesday night in Dallas the Mavericks beat the Milwaukee Bucks 116-96. Here are Mavs team notes:

TONIGHT’S KEY RUN: Milwaukee  led 15-7 with 6:15 to go in the 1st quarter. The Mavericks then went on a 58-26 run through the end of the 1st half to take a 65-41 lead into the locker room. During the run, Dallas shot 67.9% (19-28 FGs) from the field while Milwaukee shot 29.4% (10-34 FGs). Dallas made their last 7 FGAs of the 1st half.

MORE NOTES:

Charlie Villanueva scored 19 of MIL’s 23 1st quarter points. He went 8-12 from the field while the rest of the team went 0-12 from the field in the period.
Villanueva’s 19 points were the most in a quarter by an opposing player this season (Paul Pierce 18 vs. BOS, 2/12). He finished the game with 25 points (10-22 FGs, 1-4 3FGs, 4-4 FTs).

Dallas scored 21 fast break points in the 1st half (to MIL’s 4). Dallas averages 15.5 FB ppg (ranks 5th in the NBA). The Mavs finished the game with 30 FB points.

Brandon Bass recorded his 4th double-double of the season with 18 points (5-8 FGs, 8-8 FTs) and season-high tying 11 rebounds (8DR) in 30 minutes.
Josh Howard scored a game-high 27 points (10-16 FGs, 4-6 3FGs, 3-4 FTs) with 7 rebounds, season-high 5 steals and season-high tying 3 blocks in 35 minutes. Howard now has 5 25-point games for the season (his last was 29 at LAC, 12/28).

Over their last 9 wins, the Mavericks are shooting 53.3% (390-732 FGs) from the field. Tonight, they outshot the Bucks 53.4% (39-73 FGs) to 42.0% (37-88 FGs).

Dallas committed a season-high 25 turnovers resulting in 29 MIL points (previous high was 22 vs. LAL (11/11)).

The Mavericks recorded their 6th 20+ point victory of the season, winning by 20 points tonight. Dallas last 2 wins have come by an average of 20.5 points.

MIL came down with an opponent season-low 25 rebounds (18 DR). The Mavericks are now 12-0 when outrebounding the opposition by at least 10 (51-25 tonight).

Dallas is 15-3 when shooting 50% FG and 11-1 when scoring 110+ points.

Tonight’s attendance was 19,558 fans (19,200 capacity). The Mavs have sold out 304 consecutive regular season games at AAC and 362 games including the pre and postseasons. Dallas currently owns the longest running sellout streak in the NBA. The Sacramento Kings previously held the streak.

Michael Jordan girlfriend

The Chicago Tribune reports on Michael Jordan and his girlfriend: Michael Jordan has taken a 30-year mortgage and is playing house in modest suburban Miami with his reported new paramour, Cuban model Yvette Prieto. According to Miami-Dade County records, Prieto, 30, and Jordan, 46, co-own a three-bedroom home that property-appraisal records list as having three bedrooms and 5,500 square feet. None of the neighbors called by the Palm Beach Post realized that the six-time NBA champion is on the deed of the two-story villa. Said the sexy-voiced Prieto: “I can’t talk about the house just yet. Sorry.”

Vlade Divac new president of Serbia basketball Olympic committee

Fiba.com reports: Serbia basketball great Vlade Divac on Tuesday became the new president of the country’s Olympic Committee (OKS). Divac, who won numerous medals with the former Yugoslavia in international competition and also enjoyed a long career in the NBA, was confirmed as the new president at the General Assembly of OKS just minutes after his rival, former president Ivan Curkovic, decided to step out of the race. Curkovic explained that his sudden move was made “due to political pressure” that he was under, and “to secure legality of the election” since delegates previously had decided not to vote secretly for the president, which is a requirement under current OKS statutes if there is more than one candidate.

Kevin McHale may keep coaching Wolves

The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Don Seeholzer) reports: Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor strongly indicated today during a telephone interview that he would like to see Kevin McHale remain as coach and doesn’t see him returning to his former role as vice president of basketball operations. “I think we’re beyond that,” Taylor said. “I think Kevin has taken over coaching. I don’t think he’s making a decision of going back to that or not. I think the decision that he will make is, he said he’d commit with this team to coach them (this season). I think that’s the direction that he’s chosen, I’ve chosen, and I think that’s the direction that we’re looking at. I anticipate that he will be here in coaching.”

Dwight Howard mocks Anthony Johnson

Wednesday night in New York the Orlando Magic are visiting the Knicks and superstar center Dwight Howard is full of energy.

In Orlando’s locker room before the game, Howard was loudly mocking Anthony Johnson. Specifically, his age. Dwight kept yelling how AJ is the oldest player in the NBA.

Johnson (born October 2, 1974), while this was going on, was eating pizza, using the locker room seat as a table, with his back to Howard.

“He saw the real Joe Louis fight!” declared Howard.

“You’re going to make me come over there,” threatened Johnson, still sitting down eating with his back turned to Howard and everyone else. “Don’t make me come over there.”

“Oldest player in the league! Oldest player in the league!” responded a non-fearful Howard.

This was all in fun, of course. Though, I didn’t see Johnson laughing. He probably was, on the inside. Hopefully.

Dwight’s pumped. Let’s see how he performs in MSG this evening.