Jason Richardson scored 24 points to lead the Golden State Warriors over New York 83-81 on Sunday, keeping Larry Brown and the Knicks winless in the nearly week-old National Basketball Association season.
Golden State guard Baron Davis returned to the starting lineup after missing Friday's loss to Utah with a strained hamstring. He had 16 points and nine assists. Troy Murphy added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors (2-1).
Stephon Marbury led New York (0-3) with 15 points and six assists. Channing Frye added 12 points and Eddy Curry and Trevor Ariza each had 11.
With Golden State trailing 74-73 with 5:46 left in the game, Richardson hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Warriors the lead for good. Davis added a layup to give Golden State a 78-74 lead. He and Richardson combined to hit five of eight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Kings 118, Suns 117
In Phoenix, Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored Sacramento's final six points and sealed the victory with a blocked shot in the final seconds as the Kings beat the Suns.
Abdur-Rahim broke a 114-114 tie when he made an 8-footer in the lane with 30 seconds left. Leandro Barbosa answered with a 3-pointer to put the Suns up 117-116. Abdur-Rahim then hit two free throws with 13.3 seconds left for the final margin.
He also blocked a layup by Boris Diaw -- Phoenix's last good attempt to pull out the win. With 0.7 seconds left, Jim Jackson inbounded the ball to Brian Grant, but his 16-footer from the side was short, denying coach Mike D'Antoni his 100th victory.
Peja Stojakovic had 33 points to lead the Kings (1-2). Abdur-Rahim had 23 and 12 rebounds and Brad Miller added 17 and 10. Mike Bibby had his best game of the young season with 19 points and Bonzi Wells scored 16.
Barbosa led eight double-figure scorers for the Suns (2-2) with 23. Steve Nash had 18 points and 13 assists, and Shawn Marion had 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Lakers 112, Nuggets 92
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 12 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter and the Lakers pulled away to beat Denver.
The game was a rematch of the season-opener four days earlier in Denver, which the Lakers won 99-97 on Bryant's 20-foot jumper with 0.6 seconds remaining in overtime. Bryant scored 33 points in that game and 39 in a 122-112 loss to Phoenix 24 the following night.
Lamar Odom added 20 and eight rebounds for the Lakers on his 26th birthday. Chris Mihm had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Bryant also had eight rebounds and five assists.
Carmelo Anthony led Denver (1-3) with 21 points and six rebounds. Andre Miller added 20 points and six assists and Kenyon Martin scored 17 points for the Nuggets.
The Lakers shot 51.2 percent and outrebounded the Nuggets 46-32.
Mihm, who totaled 10 points and three rebounds in the season's first two games, had 12 points and seven rebounds in the first period to help the Lakers (2-1) take a 34-20 lead.
When few were listening back in training camp, Lakers forward Lamar Odom quietly predicted the Clippers would be one of the NBA's surprise teams this season.
Odom wasn't asking to forget all about the Clippers' history as second citizens in Los Angeles. Instead, he was looking at a roster upgraded with the likes of Cuttino Mobley and Sam Cassell this summer.
"They've got talented guys and they added two veterans to their team," said Odom, who played four seasons with the Clippers and remains close with forward Elton Brand.
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