Michael Finley scored a career-high 42 points Wednesday as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Detroit Pistons 102-82 to move within one victory of making NBA history.
With a record of 14-0, the Mavericks will be looking to match the best start in NBA history -- 15-0 by Washington in 1948-49 and Houston in 1993-94 -- when they were to play at Indiana last night.
Dirk Nowitzki added 22 points and 15 rebounds for Dallas.
Ben Wallace grabbed a season-high 24 rebounds for Washington, and Richard Hamilton had 19 points.
Magic 112, Lakers 102
In Orlando, Florida, Tracy Mc-Grady had 38 points and nine assists, and Mike Miller added 22 points as Orlando broke a seven-game losing streak against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Darrell Armstrong, coming off the bench for the first time this season, scored 14 points -- 11 in the fourth quarter. Orlando's reserves outscored Los Angeles' 24-7.
Starting in a point forward role was Grant Hill, who had nine points, 10 rebounds and four assists despite sitting out the fourth quarter because of pain in his surgically repaired left ankle. He missed the previous two games and most of a third with tendinitis in that ankle.
Kobe Bryant had 38 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who lost their seventh straight road game while allowing the most points by an opponent this season.
Shaquille O'Neal had 28 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes, his most in four games since returning from toe surgery last week.
Knicks 87, Raptors 81
In Toronto, Allan Houston scored 30 points and Lee Nailon had 10 of his 15 in the fourth quarter as New York won its first road game of the season to spoil Vince Carter's return to the Toronto lineup.
Kurt Thomas added 18 points for the Knicks, who improved to 1-4 on the road and 3-10 overall.
Carter scored 16 points in his first game after missing 10 with a strained quadriceps tendon in his left knee. Carter went 7-for-14 from the field in 24 minutes for the Raptors, who have lost six consecutive games.
The Knicks, who have won just two of their last eight made 11 of their 12 free throws down the stretch.
76ers 83, Heat 74
In Philadelphia, Allen Iverson scored 13 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to lead Philadelphia over Miami for its fifth straight victory.
Eric Snow scored 13 points and Keith Van Horn added 12 for the Atlantic Division-leading Sixers, who improved to 9-0 at home and 12-4 overall.
Brian Grant had 17 points and 18 rebounds, and Eddie Jones added 16 points for Miami, which has lost nine of 11.
Celtics 92, Bulls 82
In Boston, Paul Pierce scored 30 points, and Tony Battie had 16 points and nine rebounds as Boston beat Chicago for its fourth straight win.
Pierce, who also had nine rebounds and six assists, has led the way for Boston during its winning streak by averaging 29 points and 11 rebounds in that stretch. The Celtics have won 10 of 12.
Grizzlies 117, SuperSonics 99
In Memphis, Tennessee, Jason Williams scored a season-high 28 points and had six assists as Memphis beat Seattle for its second straight win.
The Grizzlies, who lost 13 consecutive games to open the season, shot 59.3 percent from the field and had six players in double figures, including 23 by rookie Drew Gooden on 10-of-14 shooting from the field.
Bucks 112, Cavaliers 80
In Milwaukee, Sam Cassell scored 30 points as Milwaukee sent Cleveland to its 12th consecutive loss.
Michael Redd added a season-high 25 points for the Bucks, who played without starters Ray Allen (sprained right ankle) and Anthony Mason (strained left hamstring).
Timberwolves 90, Kings 74
Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett had 20 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the season as the Minnesota snapped Sacramento's six-game winning streak.
Gary Trent added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Rasho Nesterovic had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves, who won for the fourth time in five games. The win was also Minnesota's second in nine games against teams with winning records.
Spurs 99, Nuggets 68
In San Antonio, Stephen Jackson scored 22 points to lead San Antonio over Denver, which set an NBA record by scoring just three points in the first quarter.
Denver missed 14 consecutive shots after taking a 2-0 lead and trailed 21-3 after one period. The three points broke the previous first-quarter record of four scored by Sacramento on Feb. 4, 1987, against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hornets 106, Hawks 94
In New Orleans, Baron Davis had 16 points and 11 assists as New Orleans beat Atlanta to remain unbeaten at home.
David Wesley and Jamal Mashburn each added 16 points as seven Hornets, including all five starters, scored in double figures and New Orleans improved to 9-0 at home.
Suns 82, Nets 75
In Phoenix, Shawn Marion had 22 points, scoring the last two from the foul line after rebounding the miss of Jason Kidd's desperation 3-pointer, as Phoenix beat New Jersey.
The Nets made only three field goals in the fourth quarter, one reason they were unable to hold the two one-point leads they had in the period.
Rockets 91, Warriors 84
In Oakland, California, Kelvin Cato scored a season-high 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Houston defeated Golden State.
Yao Ming, Houston's 2.23m first-round draft pick from China, added 14 points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes as the Rockets won their 14th straight on the Warriors' home court. Glen Rice had 15 points and Steve Francis added 14.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but