Richard Jefferson matched his career-high with 27 points as the New Jersey Nets beat the Boston Celtics for the second time in six days, 87-74 on Tuesday.
Boston missed a chance to move one game behind first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic Division. Philadelphia is in second place.
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 23 points before spraining his left ankle in the final seven seconds of the third quarter. The injury did not appear serious, and with the Nets holding a big lead, Pierce spent the rest of the game on the bench.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Nets have won just four of their last 12 games, with two of the victories coming against the Celtics.
Pistons 94, Wizards 90, OT
In Washington, Richard Hamilton damaged his former team's playoff prospects by scoring six of his 16 points in overtime as Detroit beat Washington.
Hamilton, who shot just 4-of-12 in regulation, was 3-of-5 in the extra period, including three straight jumpers that gave the Pistons a four-point lead.
Jerry Stackhouse scored 28 points and Michael Jordan had 23 for the Wizards, who fell back into a tie with Milwaukee for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. They now leave for a six-game West Coast road trip.
76ers 103, Heat 83
In Miami, Allen Iverson scored 32 points as Philadelphia improved to 15-2 since the All-Star break and kept pace with the Nets in the Atlantic Division with a win over Miami.
Timberwolves 96, Grizzlies 80
In Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett made eight consecutive field goals in the second half and finished with 29 points and 19 rebounds as Minnesota ended Memphis' six-game winning streak.
Garnett, who shot just 5-for-15 in first half, was 9-of-11 in the second half as the Wolves beat the Grizzlies for the eighth consecutive time. It was Garnett's 18th consecutive double-double and his NBA-best 59th of the season.
Bulls 103, Hawks 78
In Chicago, Jalen Rose broke out of his scoring slump with 31 points as Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Atlanta.
Mavericks 114, Cavaliers 93
In Dallas, Steve Nash came back after a one-point first half and scored 18 during a third-quarter surge as the Dallas Mavericks shook off a lethargic start to win their third straight game.
Dallas improved its league-best record to 51-16, moving within six victories of matching last season's franchise-best total with 15 games remaining.
Knicks 105, Spurs 97
In San Antonio, Allan Houston scored 36 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, as New York snapped San Antonio's six-game winning streak.
Houston was coming off a 50-point performance in his last game, a victory over the Bucks that kept the Knicks in the playoff picture. He made six 3-pointers to help New York move within two games of Milwaukee and Washington for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
Latrell Sprewell added 17, Michael Doleac had 14 and Kurt Thomas 13 for the Knicks, who outscored the Spurs 36-19 in the final quarter.
Jazz 91, Nuggets 82
In Salt Lake City, Matt Harpring scored 22 points and Karl Malone added 18 while collecting his 5,000th career assist in Utah's win over Denver.
Harpring shot 9-of-11, making three 3-pointers, as Utah led by double digits for almost all of the final three quarters. It was Utah's first game at home after a five-game road trip.
Malone, who was one rebound short of his first triple-double since 1999 the last time he played Denver, sat the last 10:20 but still finished with nine assists, six rebounds and five steals.
Kings 117, Warriors 91
In Sacramento, California, Scot Pollard had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Peja Stojakovic scored 20 points to lead seven Kings in double figures as Sacramento beat Golden State for the 14th consecutive time.
SuperSonics 100, Rockets 94
In Seattle, Rashard Lewis scored 25 points and Ray Allen had 23 to lead Seattle over Houston, who were without coach Rudy Tomjanovich for the first time in 11 years. Assistant coach Larry Smith coached in his place.
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
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Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier