Kareem Rush scored a career-high 35 points and rookie Raymond Felton added 18 points and 10 assists in his first career start to help the Charlotte Bobcats snap a five-game losing streak with a 122-90 victory on Wednesday night over the Indiana Pacers.
It was the both the most points scored and the largest margin of victory for the second-year Bobcats.
Emeka Okafor added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Bobcats, who shot 53 percent. Charlotte dominated despite being without leading scorer Gerald Wallace, who had a wrist injury, and Brevin Knight, who was a late scratch with tendinitis in his left knee.
PHOTO: AP
Ron Artest scored 27 points and Stephen Jackson added 18 for the Pacers, who committed 26 turnovers in their second straight loss.
SuperSonics 113, Celtics 100
At Boston, Ray Allen scored 32 points to lift Seattle over the Celtics.
Luke Ridnour added 15 points and 13 assists for Seattle, which snapped a six-game losing streak in Boston. The Sonics, who were playing their sixth game in eight days, closed out a six-game road trip with their first regulation win of the season. Seattle's previous two victories were against Minnesota and Toronto in overtime.
After a pair of free throws by Justin Reed cut the Sonics lead to 96-85 with 7:29 remaining, Allen hit a pair of jumpers to extend the lead back to 15. Allen finished 12-of-17 from the field.
76ers 121, Raptors 115
At Toronto, Allen Iverson scored a season-high 42 points to lead Philadelphia to its sixth straight win, beating the winless Raptors.
Andre Iguodala had a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers, who also beat Toronto on Tuesday night.
Mike James had a career-high 38 points for the Raptors, who fell to 0-8 for the first time in their 11-year history.
Toronto coach Sam Mitchell showed his frustration in the second half by throwing his clipboard into the scorer's table -- smashing it into pieces.
Nuggets 91, Hornets 81
At Oklahoma City, Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 31 points and keyed a decisive 13-point run in the fourth quarter to help Denver beat the New Orleans Hornets.
The Hornets cut into a nine-point deficit with a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter, but Anthony scored seven points as Denver pulled away with a 13-0 surge to go up 84-69.
New Orleans closed to 86-79 before Anthony put the game away with a two-handed jam with 1:10 left.
Grizzlies 115, Suns 103
At Phoenix, Damon Stoudamire scored 12 of his 26 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter and Memphis won its third in a row.
Mike Miller, questionable before the game because of a bruised right knee, added 24 for the Grizzlies, who were swept by Phoenix in the first round of last season's playoffs.
Miller, injured in the fourth quarter of Memphis' victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night, scored 16 in the first half and finished 9-for-14 shooting, mostly from outside.
Phoenix fell to 1-4 at home, 1-3 on its five-game home stand.
Lakers 97, Knicks 92
At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 42 points and the Lakers defeated New York, snapping a three-game losing skid.
Channing Frye led the Knicks with 21 points, the second time the rookie has done so in three nights. Eddy Curry added 17 points. Stephon Marbury was held to a season-low four points -- 12 below his average, and had 10 assists.
The latest meeting between two of the NBA's greatest coaches was hardly vintage. Both of their clubs are struggling to regain elite status, something that once was a given.
Phil Jackson improved to 26-13 in head-to-head games against Larry Brown, whose Philadelphia team lost to Jackson's Lakers in the 2001 NBA Finals. Brown's Detroit Pistons eliminated the Lakers in last year's Finals.
Trail Blazers 96, Bulls 93
At Portland, Oregon, Zach Randolph had 22 points and 10 rebounds and the Trail Blazers withstood a fourth-quarter challenge by Chicago.
The Blazers, who led by as many as nine points in the second half, got hit midway through the fourth quarter when starting point guard Sebastian Telfair rolled his right ankle while turning to pass to Theo Ratliff. Telfair had to be helped off the court.
As a team, Portland seemed stunned by the injury, and the Bulls pulled within 88-87 on Michael Sweetney's turnaround jumper. Chicago took over an 89-88 lead on Luol Deng's dunk.
After a timeout, Telfair reappeared to loud cheers from the sparse weeknight crowd and the Blazers regained some of their energy.
Juan Dixon finished with 16 points for Portland, which has won three of four at the Rose Garden.
Sweetney had 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead Chicago.
Bucks 90, Warriors 87
At Oakland, California, Michael Redd scored 27 points to help Milwaukee end a 17-game road losing streak against the Western Conference with a victory over Golden State.
Bobby Simmons had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who also ended a three-game losing streak to Golden State and survived a late comeback attempt by the Warriors in the final seconds.
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