It was the fourth straight road victory for Minnesota, which got 21 points from Latrell Sprewell and 16 from Gary Trent. The Timberwolves have beaten Washington five consecutive times.
"It's tougher to win on the road, so maybe you have a little bit better concentration," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "When we do get back home, we have to take care of things. We'll start playing better at home."
PHOTO: AFP
Larry Hughes led the Wizards with 16 and Christian Laettner added 14. Washington has dropped three straight and seven of its past eight.
PHOTO: AP
Washington got within 84-81 on Laettner's basket early in the fourth quarter before the Timberwolves pulled away with a 14-2 run.
Nuggets 86, 76ers 77
In Philadelphia, Andre Miller had 23 points, and Marcus Camby had 16 points and 17 rebounds as Denver downed Philadelphia.
Each of Denver's starters scored in double figures as the vastly improved Nuggets snapped a two-game losing skid.
Kenny Thomas had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Eric Snow had 14 points and 11 assists for the Sixers, who had won three straight.
Allen Iverson, back after missing one game with a knee injury, missed 16 of 22 shots and finished with 18 points. Glenn Robinson, who had missed the last 15 games with a sprained left ankle, had six points.
The Nuggets (14-8) are off to their best start since the 1989-90 season.
Celtics 114, Raptors 111
In Boston, Paul Pierce had 33 points and 11 rebounds, leading Boston to its fourth straight win and snapping Toronto's five-game winning streak.
Vince Carter, who scored 35, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied it. The loss was the Raptors' first since their six-player trade with Chicago. Toronto surrendered 100 points for the first time in 23 games.
The Celtics, who didn't crack the century mark until the 15th game of the season, have now scored 100 or better in their last five games.
Pacers 103, Hawks 92
In Indianapolis, Fred Jones took over after Al Harrington left with an injury, scoring a career-high 18 points in Indiana's win over Atlanta.
Harrington had a strong first half before leaving with a bruised right cheekbone, scoring nine points on 4-of-4 shooting with three assists as the Pacers built a 52-35 lead.
Jason Terry had 18 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Hawks, who lost their sixth straight road game.
Heat 91, Grizzlies 88
In Miami, Lamar Odom scored a season-high 29 points as Miami held off a rally to prevent the Memphis from setting a franchise record for consecutive wins.
Odom also had 14 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 14 and Brian Grant had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which has won six of eight home games. Rafer Alston added 11 points and a season-high seven assists.
Pau Gasol scored 19 points and Earl Watson 16 for Memphis, which trailed by 16 at halftime and by nine after three quarters.
SuperSonics 93, Pistons 72
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Rashard Lewis scored 33 points to lead Seattle over the slumping Detroit, whose only consolation was Darko Milicic scoring his first NBA points.
Seattle also got 19 from Ronald Murray and 18 from Brent Barry.
Detroit, which has lost four straight games after a 14-6 start, got 14 points and 11 rebounds from Ben Wallace and 12 points from Chauncey Billups.
Nets 99, Magic 95
In Orlando, Florida, Kerry Kittles snapped out of a slump to score 22 points, including three 3-pointers in the final four minutes, to lead New Jersey past Orlando for its fourth straight victory.
Richard Jefferson added 19 points while Kenyon Martin had 16 points and 15 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Jason Kidd scored eight points on season-worst 1-for-10 shooting with a season-high 15 assists and eight rebounds.
Orlando, which had a modest two-game winning streak after 19 straight losses, got 20 points and a season-best six assists from Juwan Howard. Tracy McGrady shook off an early foot injury to add 20 points and nine rebounds, and Drew Gooden had 19 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.
Bucks 109, Bulls 95
In Milwaukee, Michael Redd scored 30 points and Damon Jones added a season-high 22 to help Milwaukee send Chicago to its fourth consecutive loss.
Milwaukee, the Eastern Conference's highest scoring team, blew a 16-point first-half lead, but used a late 16-2 run to drop the Bulls to 1-4 since Scott Skiles became coach Dec. 1. The Bucks matched their season high in points.
With the score tied at 87-87, Dan Gadzuric scored on a rebound to give Milwaukee the lead for good with 5:29 remaining. Desmond Mason had 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Bucks.
Marcus Fizer scored a season-high 19 points for Chicago.
Kings 100, Jazz 93
In Salt Lake City, Mike Bibby scored 25 points and Peja Stojakovic added 24 as Sacramento won for the eighth straight time in Utah.
Stojakovic scored 13 of his points in the last five minutes, including seven straight free throws in the final 2:37 to help the Kings prevail in their first game after a franchise-record eight-game homestand.
Raja Bell led the Jazz with 17 points off the bench, including six in a 1:37 span of the fourth quarter to give the Jazz an 87-86 lead with 2:56 remaining. The Jazz managed only two baskets the rest of the way, both in the final 25 seconds.
Hornets 96, Warriors 85
In Oakland, California, Baron Davis had 27 points and 12 assists and David Wesley added 23 points as New Orleans beat Golden State for its fourth straight win.
P.J. Brown added 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Hornets, who have won the first two games of their four-game West Coast road trip.
Golden State lost at home to an Eastern Conference team for the first time in six games this season.
Mavericks 110, Lakers 93
In Los Angeles, Dirk Nowitzki and Antoine Walker scored 27 points each, and Steve Nash added 23 as Dallas ended a 26-game losing streak on Los Angeles' home court.
The defeat was the Lakers' first at Staples Center this season after 12 victories and snapped their regular-season home winning streak at 27 games.
Dallas' Josh Howard had 17 points and 13 rebounds starting in place of injured guard Michael Finley, who sprained his right big toe in a one-point loss to the Clippers on Wednesday.
Chicago Bulls forward Scottie Pippen is expected to miss at least six weeks after surgery on his left knee revealed a torn meniscus.
Pippen has been limited to 12 games due to swelling and pain in the knee, having it drained three times. He underwent surgery Friday.
"He had a lot of loose bodies floating around, and a small medial meniscus tear which was trimmed up," Bulls trainer Fred Tedeschi said. "Probably in six weeks we'll decide about resumption of basketball. The tear sort of explains his recent symptoms. He had trouble straightening out his leg."
The 38-year-old Pippen missed 17 games last season because of arthroscopic surgery on the same knee. He returned for Portland's final two regular-season games and the playoff series opener. He missed three games in the playoffs because of swelling in the knee, but returned for the final three games in the Trail Blazers' first-round loss to Dallas.
Pippen raised the possibility of retiring earlier in the week, saying "I question myself whether or not I can play another year. Or this year."
However, general manager John Paxson said Pippen hasn't discussed retiring with him. He expects Pippen to return if the recovery goes well.
A seven-time All-Star, Pippen signed a two-year, US$10 million contract with Chicago last summer.
He is averaging 7.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.25 steals in 22.3 minutes this season.
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