The AP reports: Regardless of the source—or sources—of inspiration, Nowitzki gave a brilliant performance Saturday night, making 16 of 20 shots and scoring 39 points to carry the Mavericks to a 115-108 victory over the Jazz… He was 7-of-8 in the second half. He also was emotional all night, punctuating his toughest shots with screams or fist pumps… Kidd had 11 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds, Jason Terry added 22 points and Brandon Bass scored a season-high 17 to keep the Mavericks from matching their longest losing skid of the season… Deron Williams had 30 points and nine assists before fouling out in the last minute, and Mehmet Okur had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Utah.
Turkoglu scores 31 points in Magic’s win over Nuggets
The AP reports: The Orlando Magic believe in themselves. After a dominant road trip, the rest of the NBA is believing in them, too. Hedo Turkoglu scored 31 points, Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis had 23 each and the Orlando Magic completed a perfect four-game West Coast trip with a 106-88 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night… Dwight Howard had 14 points and 20 rebounds to help the Magic win their seventh straight and ninth in 10 games. It was Howard’s second straight 20-rebound game… Linas Kleiza, who had a season-high 26 points, led the Nuggets with seven points in the third.
Perfect Yao leads Rockets past Heat
The AP reports: Yao Ming wasn’t counting his shots Saturday night, but he knew how easily they were coming. Yao set a Houston record by going 12-for-12 from the field, and finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the Rockets’ 93-86 victory over the Miami Heat. Yao’s perfect shooting night eclipsed Joe Meriweather’s 10-for-10 game against Atlanta in 1976. Yao’s only miss came at the free-throw line, where he was 2-for-3… Rafer Alston added a season-high 22 points to help the Rockets improve to 2-1 since Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest were shelved to recover from injuries… Dwyane Wade shook off a bad first half to score 29 points for Miami.
Parker leads Spurs past Bulls
The AP reports: Tony Parker had 20 points and eight assists to lead the Spurs to a 92-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. Tim Duncan added 18 points and 14 rebounds to help the Spurs bounce back after their worst loss of season, a 109-87 setback in Philadelphia on Friday night… Manu Ginobili had 21 points, scoring the final nine points of the game for the Spurs in the last 1:04. San Antonio has won 11 of its last 14 games. Andres Nocioni had 17 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for Chicago.
76ers win 7th straight, beat Knicks
The AP reports: Two buzzer-beaters one night. Another one Saturday on something resembling an alley-oop 3-pointer. Andre Iguodala is on a roll, and so are his Philadelphia 76ers. Iguodala had 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and the 76ers returned to .500 for the first time in nearly two months with their seventh straight victory, 107-97 over the New York Knicks… Andre Miller added 27 points and eight assists for the 76ers, making a pair of baskets in a 10-0 burst after the Knicks had closed within one with 5 minutes remaining. Lou Williams scored 15 points to help Philadelphia beat New York for the 11th time in the last 13 meetings… Al Harrington scored 26 points for the Knicks, who welcomed back Danilo Gallinari after a 2 1/2 month absence while losing for the second time in two nights. Quentin Richardson added 19, and Wilson Chandler had 17.
Paul leads Hornets past slumping Pistons
The AP reports: Chris Paul had 23 points and 14 assists to help the New Orleans Hornets hand the Detroit Pistons their fifth straight loss, 91-85 on Saturday night… David West added 20 points for the Hornets, who had six players in double figures. Tyson Chandler finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, winning the praise of New Orleans coach Byron Scott… Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 20 points, but couldn’t keep the Pistons from their longest losing streak since just before they acquired Rasheed Wallace in 2004.
Wallace helps Bobcats beat Blazers in OT, 102-97
The AP reports: Sure, the game went into overtime and there were several key late plays in the Charlotte Bobcats’ third straight victory. But all anybody wanted to talk about after the Bobcats’ 102-97 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night was the dunk. The alley-oop, one-handed jam by Gerald Wallace over 7-footer Greg Oden in the fourth quarter that had fans gasping and players craning their necks for a glimpse of the replay… It was part a monster night from Wallace, who had 31 points and 16 rebounds to lead the new-look Bobcats… Emeka Okafor added 22 points and 11 rebounds, outplaying the foul-plagued Oden as the Bobcats used tough defense over the final minute to secure their longest winning streak since March. LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points, and Brandon Roy added 17 but shot poorly from the field and the line for the Blazers, who finished 2-2 on their East Coast trip.
Allen’s 25 leads Celtics to 105-85 rout of Nets
The AP reports: Ray Allen scored 25 points to lead the Celtics to a 105-85 win on Saturday afternoon. The Celtics put the game away in the opening quarter, taking an 18-2 lead behind nine points from Allen. Boston had beaten New Jersey by 32 points at home on Wednesday… Devin Harris and Vince Carter, the Nets leading scorers, had front row seats for the entire second half to watch the Celtics road show as New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank benched his two stars… Paul Pierce and Eddie House both had 13 points for the Celtics, while Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe each had 12. Rajon Rondo came close to a triple double with eight points, nine rebounds and 14 assists… Brook Lopez led New Jersey with 28 points and Jarvis Hayes added 15 for the Nets, who dropped their third straight game. Harris had seven points and Carter finished with five.
Luther Head out one week
Houston Rockets guard Luther Head is expected to miss one week due to a sore right foot. Head also sat out Tuesday’s game with the L.A. Lakers (1/13/09).
For the season, Head only playing 14.6 minutes per game and averaging 4.8 points and 1.6 assists on 38.6% shooting.
Myles Brand has cancer
The AP reports: NCAA president Myles Brand is being treated for pancreatic cancer, and he says the long-term prognosis is “not good.” Brand issued a statement on Saturday, the last day of the NCAA Convention. Brand was not able to attend the convention because of his condition.
USA Today reports: Brand, 66, who has led the Indianapolis-based governing body since January 2003, informed its top-level Executive Committee of the details of his illness on the final day of the associatioin’s annual convention outside Washington, D.C. He didn’t attend the four-day gathering.