Richard Hamilton scored six of his 19 points in overtime on Wednesday as the Detroit Pistons held off the Toronto Raptors 90-86.
Rasheed Wallace added 16 points, while Ben Wallace had 15 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks for the Pistons, blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead, but recovered to win their third straight.
PHOTO: AP
"He had a tough day today with what happened with his brother, but he was huge down the stretch," Pistons coach Larry Brown said of Wallace. "He made every defensive play and every hustle play when we needed them."
Toronto lost Vince Carter to a strained left Achilles' tendon in the opening minute of the second half. Carter was driving along the baseline when he pulled up and fell near Pistons owner Bill Davidson's seat. He was helped to the locker room and didn't return.
Carter's status for Toronto's game against Denver on Friday night was not immediately known.
"Our guys wanted it, but Detroit did what they do best," Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said. "Games like this happen sometimes. We had a chance."
The game was played a few hours after five Indiana Pacers and seven fans were charged in the melee that broke out at the end of a nationally televised game at Detroit on Nov. 19, one of the worst brawls in US sports history.
Donyell Marshall scored 22 points to lead the Raptors.
Timberwolves 119, 76ers 84
In Philadelphia, Eddie Griffin scored a career-high 27 points and Latrell Sprewell had 24 in his return from a one-game suspension for Minnesota.
Kevin Garnett added 19 points for the Timberwolves, who have won six of seven.
Sprewell returned to the lineup after being suspended by the NBA for yelling a sexual vulgarity at a fan in Los Angeles on Saturday night. He shot 9-of-14.
Nuggets 111, Wizards 105
In Washington, Andre Miller had a season-high 34 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to lead Denver past Washington.
Carmelo Anthony added 23 points and Marcus Camby 16 points and nine rebounds as the Nuggets won the first of seven road games in 11 days, their longest trip since the 1987-88 season.
Gilbert Arenas led Washington with 28 points, and Antawn Jamison added 27 points and 11 rebounds as the Wizards' four-game home winning streak ended.
Grizzlies 97, Hawks 89
In Atlanta, Pau Gasol scored 24 points to lead Memphis over the Atlanta, the Grizzlies' third win in four games under new coach Mike Fratello.
Mike Miller and Stromile Swift added 13 points, and Lorenzen Wright and Earl Watson each had 11 for the Grizzlies. Antoine Walker scored 31 points for the Hawks, who snapped a nine-game losing streak Monday night. They kept it close despite missing their first 12 shots and falling behind by 11 points early.
Heat 101, Bucks 96
In Milwaukee, Shaquille O'Neal scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as Miami downed Milwaukee.
O'Neal played just 21 minutes because of foul trouble, but made his presence felt down the stretch despite picking up his fifth foul with 8:23 left.
Udonis Haslem made all 12 of his free throws to finish with 20 points for Miami, which improved to 11-2 against the Eastern Conference. Dwyane Wade had 17 points and 10 assists, and Eddie Jones also scored 17 points.
Desmond Mason led Milwaukee with 19 points.
Knicks 86, Hornets 79
In New Orleans, Stephon Marbury had 22 points and nine assists to help New York end a three-game losing streak and drop New Orleans to 0-9 at home.
After shooting 2-of-12 in the Knicks' loss Tuesday night in Memphis, Marbury started 1-for-6 but made five of his next 11 shots, including four 3-pointers. His last basket, a driving scoop shot with about two minutes to go, stopped a 6-0 Hornets run that trimmed New York's lead -- once as large as 24 -- to 10.
Kurt Thomas scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, while Nazr Mohammed made his first five shots, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, to carry the Knicks to an early double-digit lead. Mohammed also had nine rebounds, while Tim Thomas scored 11 points.
SuperSonics 102, Spurs 96
In San Antonio, Ray Allen scored 29 points, including a pair of 3-pointers late in the game, as Seattle ended San Antonio's 21-game home winning streak.
The game was a matchup of the NBA's leading teams: San Antonio came in at 16-3 and riding an eight-game streak, while the SuperSonics were 15-3 and had won six of their last seven.
The SuperSonics, off to a surprisingly strong start this season, have beaten the Spurs twice in as many meetings. Both times, Seattle has scored more than 100 points, the only two times this season San Antonio has allowed that many.
Bulls 113, Cavaliers 85
In Chicago, Eddy Curry scored 20 points and rookie Ben Gordon added 21 to lead Chicago to a lopsided victory over Cleveland.
Tyson Chandler added 15 points and nine rebounds for Chicago, which snapped a three-game losing streak and ended Cleveland's three-game winning streak.
LeBron James scored 19 points on 5-of-15 shooting, and Cleveland shot just 36.3 percent overall.
Playing their second game in as many nights, the Cavaliers were never in the game. They trailed by double-digits the entire second half and the Bulls' reserves outscored Cleveland's 58-26.
Magic 106, Jazz 100
In Salt Lake City, Cuttino Mobley scored 26 points and hit a clutch 3-pointer in the final minute and Orlando extended Utah's losing streak to six games.
Steve Francis added 20 points and Grant Hill 18 for the Magic, who took command in the third quarter by making six of seven 3-pointers and held off the Jazz down the stretch for Orlando's first season sweep of Utah.
Suns 113, Lakers 110
In Los Angeles, Quentin Richard-son's 3-pointer with 6.9 seconds remaining capped a 21-point effort and overshadowed Kobe Bryant's second triple-double in as many games as Phoenix edged Los Angeles.
Joe Johnson had 25 points, and Amare Stoudemire had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who improved to 16-3, tying Seattle for the NBA's best record and equaling the best start in franchise history.
Bryant had 20 points, tied a season high with 11 assists and grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds en route to his 12th career triple-double, third this season and second in two meetings with Phoenix. The Lakers are 29-8 when Bryant reaches double digits in assists, including 3-3 this season. This was his fourth straight game with at least 10.
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