The NBA's longest losing streak and second-longest winning streak came to unlikely ends Saturday when the Atlanta Hawks beat San Antonio 94-84 to deny the Spurs their best 20-game start in franchise history.
The Hawks snapped their seven-game losing streak, winning for only the third time this season and the first time since Nov. 25.
The Spurs saw their six-game winning streak end.
PHOTO: AP
The defending NBA champion Spurs (16-4) were denied their first 17-3 start. They also were 16-4 after 20 games last season.
Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 22 points, and Zaza Pachulia added 19 points and 14 rebounds. Tony Parker led San Antonio with 20 points.
Bulls 118, Wizards 111
At Washington, Chris Duhon scored all of his 24 points in the second half, Kirk Hinrich had 22 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds as Chicago rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Washington.
The Bulls ended the game with a 16-0 run after trailing by nine with 3 minutes to play, ending an 11-game losing streak at the MCI Center that included three games in the first round of last season's playoffs.
Luol Deng, making his first start of the season for Chicago, had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Darius Songalia scored eight of his season-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Gilbert Arenas had 42 points for the Wizards, but committed nine turnovers.
Magic 94, Nuggets 83
At Orlando, Florida, DeShawn Stevenson scored 18 points, including several key run-sparking jumpers, and Dwight Howard had 17 points and 14 rebounds as Orlando downed Denver.
Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 23 points.
With its 13th straight home victory over the Nuggets, Orlando snapped a five-game losing streak and ended Denver's winning streak at three games.
76ers 107, Nets 95
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, NBA scoring leader Allen Iverson had 42 points and 12 assists and Kyle Korver added 25 points on 10-for-11 shooting for Philadelphia.
The 76ers shot 57 percent (41-for-72) to win their second game in a row after losing four straight. Iverson was 15-of-28 from the field.
Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson each scored 26 points for New Jersey.
Timberwolves 95, Lakers 82
At Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett scored a season-high 30 points, Wally Szczerbiak added 25 and Minnesota beat the Los Angeles Lakers for its fifth straight win.
Trenton Hassell scored 13 points and played tight defense on Kobe Bryant, who surpassed his average with 35 points and shot 11-for-20 from the floor but never sustained any dominance -- save for an eye-popping, up-and-under reverse layup that brought the Lakers to 84-77 with 3 1/2 minutes left.
Raptors 111, Bobcats 103
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Chris Bosh had 30 points and 11 rebounds and Toronto handed the Charlotte its seventh straight los.
Mike James added 22 points and Charlie Villanueva had 19 points and nine rebounds for Toronto, which ended a two-game losing streak and won for the only the fourth time in 21 games this season. Brevin Knight had 20 points and 12 assists for Charlotte.
Pacers 80, Grizzlies 66
At Indianapolis, Jermaine O'Neal had 20 points and 14 rebounds, Stephen Jackson added 16 points and Jeff Foster gave Indiana a lift with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Shane Battier led Memphis with 13 points.
Bucks 111, Cavaliers 106
At Milwaukee, LeBron James scored an NBA season-high 52 points for Cleveland, but T.J. Ford tied his career high with 24 and Michael Redd added 23 for Milwaukee.
The 20-year-old James was 19-for-29 from the floor, including 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range, and 9-for-10 from the line. He fell four points short of his career high of 56 set in a loss at Toronto on March 20.
Kobe Bryant had the previous NBA high this season of 46 points for the Los Angeles Lakers in an overtime game against New Jersey on Nov. 27.
Kings 123, SuperSonics 104
At Seattle, Bonzi Wells scored a season-high 31 and Peja Stojakovic broke out a shooting slump with 23 to help Sacramento down Seattle and snap a five-game losing streak.
Sacramento overwhelmed Seattle with a 30-13 third quarter and broke its longest losing streak since the 1997-1998 season when the Kings dropped 12 straight.
Wells made 13 of 22 shots -- seven of 10 in the second half -- and had eight rebounds. Mike Bibby scored 24 points, Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 17 and Brad Miller had 15 for the Kings. Ray Allen led Seattle with 24 points.
Clippers 101, Suns 91
At Los Angeles, Elton Brand scored 15 of his 27 points in the third quarter and had 13 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Clippers over Phoenix.
With the victory, Los Angeles snapped a first-place tie between the Pacific Division rivals and ended the Suns' nine-game winning streak.
Brand also had a season-high six assists and was 11-for-12 from the line. Cuttino Mobley added 25 points and Sam Cassell scored six of his 24 points in the final minute.
Shawn Marion scored 20 points for Phoenix and Kurt Thomas had 13 points and 17 rebounds. Steve Nash added 16 points and 11 assists.
Mavericks 103, Celtics 94
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and nine rebounds, Devin Harris added 19 points and Dallas stretched its winning streak to five games.
Adrian Griffin added 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Marquis Daniels had 15 points for the Mavericks, who've won 12 of the last 14 meetings with the Celtics.
Paul Pierce led Boston with 28 points.
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