The AP reports: The Bulls their third straight on a Western trip, beating the Phoenix Suns 122-111 Saturday night. Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose each scored 26 points for Chicago, which never trailed and fended off several Phoenix rallies… Leandro Barbosa led the Suns with a season-high 32 points. Grant Hill scored 19, Shaquille O’Neal 18, Steve Nash had 15 points and 10 assists, and Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson each scored 12. Luol Deng added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, Kirk Hinrich had 15 points, and Andres Nocioni and Thabo Sefalosha 11 apiece.
Yao, Artest lift Rockets past Golden State 110-93
The AP reports: Yao Ming had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Ron Artest scored 27 and the Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 110-93 Saturday night. Aaron Brooks had 22 points and nine assists, both career highs, and Carl Landry added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who played without Tracy McGrady after he sprained his left ankle in practice on Friday. Corey Maggette scored 17 and Stephen Jackson added 16 for the Warriors, who’ve lost nine of their last 10 road games.
Paul scores 38, but Spurs beat Hornets
The AP reports: Chris Paul was mad. He threw his hands down, screamed at the referee and was summarily punished with a technical foul. He wasn’t winning this argument. Nor would his 38 points be enough to win the game. Tony Parker instead prevailed in a clash of All-Star point guards, scoring 25 points and stretching San Antonio’s lead in the Southwest Division over Paul and the New Orleans Hornets in a 106-93 win Saturday night… Michael Finley made four 3-pointers on his way to 20 points, and Tim Duncan scored 12 points against West in another matchup of All-Stars. Manu Ginobili also had 22 points, including a poster-worthy dunk over David Armstrong that made the home crowd erupt. After all, the emphatic jam isn’t what Spurs fans are used to seeing.
Villanueva has 27 to lead Bucks past Hawks 110-107
The AP reports: Charlie Villanueva scored 27 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had a season-high six assists to help the Milwaukee Bucks edge the Atlanta Hawks 110-107 Saturday night… Richard Jefferson and Ramon Sessions each had 20 for the Bucks who won their fourth in a row over the Hawks at home. Villanueva was 8-of-15 from the floor, including four-of-seven from 3-point range, in 42 minutes… Mike Bibby led Atlanta with 24 points and Joe Johnson, picked as a reserve to the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the third consecutive season, scored 22, including the 10,000th of his career. But the Hawks failed to snap a three-game losing streak in Milwaukee. Josh Smith scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Flip Murray came scored 18.
Jamison’s 25 lift Wizards over Clippers 106-94
The AP reports: Antawn Jamison had 25 points and 12 rebounds, Nick Young added 22 and rookie JaVale McGee tied his career high with 18… The Clippers cut a 13-point to lead to two when Ricky Davis hit a 3-pointer with a minute to play in the third. Gordon had 13 points in the quarter, but Young hit two free throws to start the Wizards on an 11-0 run that gave them an 88-75 lead with 9:13 to play. Eric Gordon led Los Angeles with 25 points. Caron Butler added 16 points and had 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Wizards.
Bryant, Gasol help Lakers cruise past Grizzlies
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored 25 points, Gasol had 24 points and eight rebounds and the Lakers beat Memphis 115-98 on Saturday night, extending the Grizzlies’ losing streak to 12 games. The win was tempered by the uncertain status of Lakers center Andrew Bynum, who left the game in the first quarter with a sprained right knee. X-rays were negative and further tests will be done Sunday in New York where the Lakers face the Knicks the following day… Rudy Gay had 23 points, while O.J. Mayo scored 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field for the Grizzlies, losers of 20 of their last 22. Mike Conley finished with 13 points and seven assists, and Marc Gasol also scored 13 points.
Mavericks shoot past Heat with ease, 111-96
The AP reports: Once again, with no championship at stake, the Miami Heat simply couldn’t beat the Dallas Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points on 12-for-14 shooting, Jason Terry scored 20 and Jason Kidd finished with 11 assists as the Mavericks beat the Heat for the ninth straight time in the regular season, 111-96 on Saturday night… Dwyane Wade scored 30 points for Miami, which lost for the second straight night. .. Michael Beasley finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, which also got 17 points from Mario Chalmers and 10 from Udonis Haslem. Josh Howard finished with 15, while Jose Barea and Brandon Bass each added 11 for the Mavericks.
Lopez leads Nets past fading 76ers
The AP reports: Vince Carter was out, a sprained ankle forcing him to New Jersey’s bench. What he saw was one grim collapse for the 76ers and an improbable win for the resilient Nets. Brook Lopez had 24 points and 17 rebounds and his two-handed dunk with 16.8 seconds left gave New Jersey the lead and helped the Nets take advantage of Philadelphia’s fourth-quarter meltdown to stun the 76ers 85-83 on Saturday night… Devin Harris scored 17 points and the Nets won for only the second time in 10 games… Andre Miller finished with 19 points and Andre Iguodala had 18.
Harrington’s 31 points leads Knicks past Pacers
The AP reports: Al Harrington felt right at home. The former Indiana Pacers forward put up 31 points and eight rebounds against his old team, helping the surging New York Knicks to a 122-113 victory over the Pacers on Saturday night… David Lee finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds, reserve Wilson Chandler had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Quentin Richardson scored 15 for the Knicks, who have won three straight and six of seven. New York (21-25) moved within two games of matching its win total from last season… T.J. Ford had a career-high 36 points, Danny Granger scored 19 and Mike Dunleavy and Stephen Graham each chipped in 14 for the Pacers. Indiana had its seven-game home winning streak snapped.
League denies exception for Mobley
The Bergen Record (Steve Adamek) reports (via blog): The Knicks’ appeal to get a disabled player salary-cap exception for Cuttino Mobley, which would not only have given them a nearly $4.5 million cap slot immediately to use either in a deal or to sign another player, but get his salary (for this season and next) off their cap and enable them to take him off their roster, was denied by the NBA late Friday, team president Donnie Walsh said Saturday morning. The league, Walsh said, essentially determined that Mobley’s heart condition, which forced him to retire shortly after the Knicks acquired him from the Clippers on Nov. 21, but with which he had played before that this season, was a pre-existing condition.