Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 40 points, including a pair of game-sealing free throws with 14 seconds left, to help the Denver Nuggets beat Miami 100-92 on Friday, sending the Heat to their fourth straight loss.
Anthony was 13-of-30 from the field and 13-of-14 from the foul line, finishing one point shy of his career high. Marcus Camby had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets, who opened a six-game road trip.
Dwyane Wade had a season-high 37 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who led by three points with 2:35 remaining but missed their final five shots and lost to the Nuggets for the second time in less than a week. Denver won 101-99 on its home floor last Saturday night.
PHOTO: AFP
Antoine Walker added 17 points for Miami, which got 13 from Gary Payton -- the 1,000th double-digit scoring effort of his career, most among active NBA players.
Nets 109, Cavaliers 100
At Cleveland, Vince Carter scored a season-high 38 points and Richard Jefferson added 18, including nine in the final 5:07, as New Jersey won its fourth straight road game by beating Cleveland.
PHOTO: AP
LeBron James scored 32 points and became the first Cleveland player to score 30 or more points in four straight games since 1981, but it wasn't enough as the Cavaliers dropped to 7-2 at home.
Carter, who scored 26 in the first half, added 11 rebounds and six assists. Nenad Krstic and Jason Kidd had 16 points apiece for New Jersey, which let a 10-point lead slip away before getting it together in the final minutes.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 22 points and Donyell Marshall 16 for the Cavs.
Mavericks 90, Grizzlies 83
At Memphis, Tennessee, Dirk Nowitzki matched his season high with 35 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Dallas snapped Memphis' six-game winning streak.
Marquis Daniels scored 18 points and added six assists for the Mavericks, while Keith Van Horn finished with 13 points. Devin Harris added 10 points and eight assists.
Mike Miller led Memphis with 19 points, Shane Battier scored 17 and Stoudamire finished with 15. Leading scorer Pau Gasol had 13 but was 5-of-13 from the field.
76ers 119, Bobcats 115
At Philadelphia, Allen Iverson scored 43 points and Kyle Korver tied a career high with 26, helping Philadelphia beat Charlotte and end a four-game losing streak.
Andre Iguodala added 20 points and the starters had all but six points for Philadelphia, which won for just the third time in 11 games. Iverson finished 15-of-32 to record the 64th 40-point game in his 10-year career.
Emeka Okafor and Kareem Rush each scored 15 points for Charlotte, which has lost six in a row. The Bobcats are 1-11 on the road this season and 5-15 overall.
Spurs 101, Celtics 89
At San Antonio, Tim Duncan scored 20 points and remained unbeaten against Boston in his career as San Antonio won its sixth straight game.
The victory was San Antonio's 17th in a row over Boston dating to January 1997, five months before Duncan was drafted by the Spurs.
Tony Parker had 16 points and Ginobili 14 for San Antonio. Duncan added 10 rebounds.
Paul Pierce, defended by Bruce Bowen, finished with 24 points for Boston. He was limited to 10 points in the first half on 3-for-9 shooting. Ricky Davis and Mark Blount each contributed 19 points for the Celtics.
Lakers 93, Bulls 80
At Chicago, Kobe Bryant scored 23 points, Lamar Odom added 19, and Los Angeles beat Chicago for its fourth straight victory.
Bryant, who scored five points in the first half, shot 9-for-21 and finished with eight assists and nine rebounds. Brian Cook scored 16, shooting 8-of-11, and Smush Parker finished with 13 points, 11 in the first quarter.
On a night when they retired Scottie Pippen's number 33, the Bulls were flat early on. They tied the game in the third quarter but could not pull ahead.
Kirk Hinrich finished with 26 points and seven assists after missing Wednesday's victory at Orlando with a concussion. Michael Sweetney added 22 points and 12 rebounds.
SuperSonics 106, Jazz 90
At Salt Lake City, Rashard Lewis scored 26 points and Reggie Evans grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds to lead Seattle past Utah.
The Sonics' win was marred by forward Danny Fortson's ejection in the fourth quarter, when he had to be restrained by teammate Ray Allen, coach Bob Weiss and assistant Jack Sikma after receiving his second technical foul of the game.
Allen added 19 points and six assists and Vladimir Radmanovic had 17 points for the Sonics, who have won five of six.
Andrei Kirilenko had 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to lead the Jazz, just 3-8 in the Delta Center this season.
Pistons 106, Warriors 103
At Oakland, California, Rasheed Wallace scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, Chauncey Billups had 29 points and the go-ahead basket, and Detroit beat Golden State for its fifth straight victory.
Richard Hamilton had 22 points and six assists and Detroit improved the best start in franchise history to 14-2, surpassing the 13-3 start of the 1990-1991 squad.
Jason Richardson scored 36 points and Baron Davis had 14 points and 12 assists for the Warriors.
Suns 85, Knicks 81
At Phoenix, Steve Nash scored 19 points, Raja Bell had 17 and Phoenix held off New York for its ninth consecutive victory, the most by an NBA team this season.
The win, Phoenix's eighth in a row at home, lifted the Suns into a tie with the Clippers for first place in the Pacific Division, setting up a showdown between the teams Saturday at Los Angeles.
Reserve Eddie House added 15 points for the Suns, Shawn Marion scored 14 and Boris Diaw had 10, while Kurt Thomas grabbed 12 rebounds. Phoenix beat New York for the fourth straight time.
Ex-Suns guard Stephon Marbury topped the Knicks with 28 points, rookie Nate Robinson had 14 and Eddy Curry scored 11.
Trail Blazers 98, Hornets 95
At Portland, Oregon, reserve Juan Dixon scored a season-high 28 points and rookie Martell Webster made a go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime, leading Portland over New Orleans.
Ruben Patterson added a fadeaway jumper with 10.5 seconds left for the Blazers, who snapped a six-game losing streak.
Speedy Claxton scored 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Chris Paul had 21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Hornets, whose four-game losing streak is their longest of the season.
Viktor Khryapa had 16 points and Joel Przybilla had 11 points and 19 rebounds for Portland. Patterson added 12 points.
Notebook
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's father, Ferdinand L. Alcindor, died Friday from organ failure after a long bout with senile dementia. He was 86.
Alcindor died at Coney Island Hospital, the Los Angeles Lakers said in a statement. Abdul-Jabbar is a special assistant coach with the team.
"Our deepest condolences and sympathy go out to Kareem and his entire family," Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss said in a statement. "Al Alcindor will be remembered mostly by Lakers fans for the fact that he and Kareem's mother, Cora, raised Kareem into a fine man who became one of the greatest players in Lakers' history.
"However, he should also be remembered as a man of great character, intelligence and integrity."
Born in Brooklyn, Alcindor attended the Juilliard School before serving in the Army from 1941-1945. A longtime member of the New York police department, Alcindor also was a musician. He performed at the 1962 Democratic National Convention.
His son, Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr., was born in 1947 and was known as Lew Alcindor before changing his name in 1971. Abdul-Jabbar went on to become the National Basketball Associations career scoring leader and a Basketball Hall of Famer.
Abdul-Jabbar spent 14 of his 20 NBA seasons with the Lakers, leading them to five NBA titles. He rejoined the organization this season as a special assistant on Phil Jackson's staff, working with the team's big men.
Besides his son, Alcindor also is survived by Abdul-Jabbar's three sons and two daughters.
SHAQ A COP
Professional basketball player Shaquille O'Neal is now a Miami Beach reserve police officer.
O'Neal was sworn in Thursday, with the Miami Heat center choosing to skip a public event in favor of a quiet, no-frills ceremony.
"Officer O'Neal is very considerate toward the other officers, and he was afraid if he was there he would have taken away from that moment for other officers," department spokesman Robert Hernandez said. "This is a very special time for them and their families."
The former Laker was a reserve officer in Los Angeles before moving to South Florida. He spent the past year training as a Miami Beach police reserve officer and can now add the US$1-a-year salary to his US$100 million, five-year contract with the Heat.
The 2.16m player will be able to carry a gun, wear a badge and make arrests, but with his celebrity status, he most likely will not walk a beat or go undercover. He will work as time permits in the volunteer position.
O'Neal has said he is most interested in working with the special victims detective unit to help stop crimes against children.
"He made it clear when he decided to come to Miami Beach that he didn't want to just be a poster boy for photo ops, he wanted to get down and dirty and do the job," Hernandez said. "He's here to conduct investigations and to make arrests."
And in September he did just that. After seeing a man throw a bottle and yell anti-gay slurs at a passer-by, O'Neal trailed the man and helped an officer arrest him as a hate-crime suspect.
FINE IS NOT FINE
The NBA players' union filed a grievance on behalf of 13 players who were fined US$10,000 each for wearing their shorts too low.
The rule calls for shorts to be 2.5CM above the knee.
Fines were handed out to New York's Nate Robinson and Stephon Marbury; Philadelphia's John Salmons, Kyle Korver, Allen Iverson and Kevin Ollie; Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal, Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley; Denver's Voshon Lenard, DerMarr Johnson and Andre Miller, and New Jersey's Jeff McInnis.
The grievance was filed late Tuesday night, NBPA spokesman Dan Wasserman said Friday. ESPN.com reported on its Web site Thursday that teams were fined US$50,000 for each violation.
The shorts rule is not part of the collective bargaining agreement, Wasserman said.
"The rule has been on the books a number of years and only been enforced sporadically at best, to our knowledge," Wasserman said. "We think this exceeds what is reasonable in governing the conduct of players on the court."
NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league is closely monitoring the length of shorts this year.
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