Vince Carter scored 32 points and Richard Jefferson added 18 to lead the New Jersey Nets over the Orlando Magic 96-85 on Wednesday night.
It was New Jersey's fourth consecutive win and Orlando's third consecutive loss. New Jersey is now over .500 (13-12) with the victory, its first on a three-game road trip.
Jameer Nelson scored seven points in a 13-2 Magic run that gave them a 77-76 lead with 8:25 left in the fourth quarter. But Carter made two free throws and threw down an alley-oop from Jason Kidd that gave the Nets an 81-77 lead. The Magic wouldn't seriously threaten with 6:28 left.
PHOTO: AP
Carter also had a spectacular reverse dunk off an alley-oop from Kidd in the first quarter.
Grant Hill, in his fourth game back from surgery on Oct. 31, had 16 points, as did Steve Francis. Dwight Howard added 14 points, 15 rebounds for the Magic.
76ers 111, Warriors 100
At Philadelphia, Allen Iverson scored 38 points, Chris Webber added 27 and streaking Philadelphia won for the sixth time in seven games, beating Golden State.
With the Sixers seemingly headed toward another typical tight, frantic fourth, they instead pulled away from the Warriors with an 11-2 run to open the quarter and actually kept their double-digit lead for most of the rest of the game.
The Sixers open a seven-game road trip tonight at Atlanta. They won't return home until Jan. 9 against Seattle.
Pacers 97, Clippers 75
At Indianapolis, Stephen Jackson scored 24 points and Jamaal Tinsley had 17 points and eight assists to help Indiana beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Pacers held the Clippers to 37 percent shooting from the field to sweep the season series. Indiana defeated the Clippers 97-92 on Nov. 27 at the Staples Center.
Elton Brand led the Clippers with 29 points and 12 rebounds. He shot 11-for-20 from the field, but the rest of the team shot 22-for-69.
The Pacers countered Brand's dominance with balance. Rookie Danny Granger had a career-high 16 points and added seven rebounds and Jermaine O'Neal had 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Pacers shot 51 percent from the field.
The Clippers have lost five of their last six after starting the season 14-5.
Spurs 109, Knicks 96
At New York, Michael Finley scored 19 points and San Antonio shot 56 percent in their victory over the Knicks, who have lost seven consecutive games.
Tony Parker added 18 points and 10 assists as the Spurs' starting guards combined to make 15 of 22 shots against the Knicks' dismal perimeter defense.
Finley was 8-of-12 in another start in place of Manu Ginobili, and Parker was 7-for-10.
San Antonio was shooting 63 percent after three quarters and was easily on its way to bettering its season high of 56.3 percent against Boston on Nov. 11 before its reserves were only 8-of-21 in the final 12 minutes.
Tim Duncan played only 22 minutes and scored 13 points.
Celtics 101, Jazz 89
At Boston, Paul Pierce scored 30 points and Ricky Davis added 20 to help Boston beat the Utah Jazz.
Mehmet Okur led the Jazz with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Matt Harpring added 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Delonte West, who returned to the Celtics lineup after missing a game with a concussion scored 15 points and had five assists. Mark Blount scored 14 and Al Jefferson had 10 points.
The Celtics made 37 of their 45 free throw attempts and forced 20 Utah turnovers.
Timberwolves 88, Hornets 69
At Minneapolis, Wally Szczerbiak scored 21 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves ended a four-game losing streak with a win over the New Orleans Hornets.
Kevin Garnett had 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for Northwest Division-leading Minnesota, whose skid was its longest since dropping six consecutive games from Jan. 30 to Feb. 8 last season.
Szczerbiak has been the Wolves' leading scorer in eight of their 10 games this month. He has scored at least 20 points in each of his last six games, the longest streak of his career.
Rookie Chris Paul scored 15 points and David West added 11 for New Orleans, which had a season low in points and shot just 33 percent from the field.
Minnesota set season bests for points allowed in a game and the first half (30).
Other games
At Memphis, Tennessee, Pau Gasol scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to give the Memphis Grizzlies a 89-79 win over the past Portland Trail Blazers.
At Houston, Morris Peterson scored 18 points and shut down Tracy McGrady to lead Toronto over injury-depleted Houston, taking the Raptors to a 94-81 win over the Rockets.
At Denver, Gilbert Arenas scored 36 points to help the Washington Wizards snap a three-game losing streak with a 116-110 win over the beat-up Denver Nuggets.
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