Mike James had 30 points, eight assists and seven rebounds against his former team Friday, and the Toronto Raptors won their season-high fifth straight with a 112-92 rout of the Houston Rockets.
Chris Bosh added 22 points and 16 rebounds and rookie Charlie Villanueva had 21 points for the Raptors, who are on their longest winning streak since winning five straight in December 2003.
James, acquired from Houston in a trade for Rafer Alston in October, stepped up his game after Houston forward Juwan Howard was ejected for shoving him in the face with the basketball.
Alston had just two points and seven assists in 35 minutes.
Tracy McGrady scored 37 points -- surpassing 30 for the fifth game in a row -- but the Rockets have lost six of eight.
Nets 113, Magic 106
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Jason Kidd had 16 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his 69th career triple-double, and New Jersey beat Orlando for its ninth straight victory.
Vince Carter scored 31 points, going 14-of-15 from the free throw line, to lead six Nets players in double figures. Richard Jefferson added 15 points, Nenad Krstic had 14, and reserves Clifford Robinson and Jacque Vaughn each scored 10.
Dwight Howard paced the Magic with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Grant Hill scored 14 points, all in the first half, but played only two minutes in the second half before re-aggravating his strained groin.
Jameer Nelson had 18 points and Hedo Turkoglu 14 for the Magic, who have lost three straight following a three-game winning streak.
Hornets 90, Trail Blazers 80
At Oklahoma, City, Kirk Snyder scored a career-high 22 points and David West added 19 points and 13 rebounds as New Orleans recovered from the loss of point guard Chris Paul to beat Portland.
Paul grabbed his right thumb and walked to the bench after a basket by Portland's Juan Dixon that cut the Blazers' deficit to 53-41 just 36 seconds into the second half. Paul is expected to miss at least two weeks with a torn ligament in his right thumb.
Dixon, who had a season-high 28 points in Portland's first game against New Orleans this season, led the Blazers with 27 points. Patterson and Jarrett Jack each scored 12.
Knicks 113, Wizards 92
At New York, rookie Channing Frye matched his season high with 30 points, including 11 during a decisive 15-4 run in the third quarter, and New York beat Washington.
Stephon Marbury had 16 points and 11 assists, and Nate Robinson added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists as New York won consecutive games for just the second time this season -- the first time at home.
Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison scored 22 points apiece to lead Washington, which has lost four straight since a three-game winning streak. Caron Butler added 16 points for the Wizards.
Hawks 103, Celtics 98
At Boston, Al Harrington had 28 points and eight rebounds, and Atlanta beat Boston to snap a four-game losing streak.
Joe Johnson, who finished with 20 points, hit a jumper with 1:12 left to give Atlanta a 100-98 lead. Johnson then blocked a Paul Pierce layup the next time down the floor and made a key free throw with 19.2 seconds left to secure the win for the Hawks.
Pierce missed a potential game-tying 3-point attempt with 14.9 second remaining as Boston's three-game home winning streak came to an end.
Tyronn Lue scored 15 and Josh Smith added 11 for Atlanta.
Pistons 97, SuperSonics 85
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince each scored 21 points, leading Detroit over Seattle for its 11th victory in 12 games.
Detroit is an NBA-best 26-4, a record that trails the league's best 30-game mark by one win. Five teams started 27-3, including the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who won a league-record 72 games.
Rashard Lewis scored 27, Ray Allen had 22 points and Johan Petro added 10 in Bob Hill's second game as SuperSonics coach.
Hill was involved in an unusual play when it was ruled he bumped into Detroit's Richard Hamilton on a 3-point attempt. After Hamilton missed the shot, official Bob Delaney ruled that the shot was good because Hill interfered with the shot. Hill tore off his jacket in protest and stomped on the sideline, a tirade that drew a technical.
Bulls 105, Bucks 91
At Milwaukee, Chris Duhon scored 13 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, and Chicago snapped its eight-game losing streak by beating Milwaukee.
The Bulls put seven players in double figures against the Bucks, who never found their rhythm despite 25 points from Michael Redd.
The last time the Bulls won in Milwaukee was 14 games ago in 1998, when Michael Jordan had 30 points in the midst of a 13-game winning streak during the final year of the Bulls dynasty.
Kirk Hinrich added 18 points for Chicago. Andres Nocioni had 17, Luol Deng, Othella Harrington and Darius Songaila all added 13, and Ben Gordon scored 10.
Spurs 83, Timberwolves 77
At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 23 points and San Antonio reversed its poor foul shooting in the final quarter to beat Minnesota.
The Spurs were 4-for-11 at the line in the first three quarters, but shot 7-for-8 in the final period. Manu Ginobili made all four of his free throws in the final 25 seconds and finished with 21 points.
Kevin Garnett finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds, but picked up his fifth foul late in the third. He sat out until 8:42 of the fourth, but managed to score only two points on free throws in the quarter.
Bruce Bowen scored a season-high 14 points for San Antonio, and Tim Duncan had 12 points on 5-for-19 shooting and 14 rebounds.
Marko Jaric had 16 points, and Wally Szczerbiak added 15 for the Timberwolves.
Grizzlies 87, Jazz 65
At Memphis, Tennessee, Pau Gasol scored 27 points and matched his career high with 18 rebounds to help Memphis beat Utah, snapping the Jazz's five-game winning streak.
Gasol also had seven assists and four blocks as Memphis won its fifth straight. Eddie Jones, Bobby Jackson and Mike Miller had 13 points apiece, while Shane Batter scored 12 before fouling out midway through the fourth.
Andrei Kirilenko led Utah with 20 points, and Devin Brown added 10.
Suns 111, Heat 93
At Phoenix, Steve Nash dished out 12 assists in a 47-point first quarter for Phoenix, and the Suns raced past depleted Miami.
Nash broke the franchise record and tied for second-most assists in a quarter in NBA history. Last season's league Most Valuable Player finished with 19 assists and 11 points in Phoenix's sixth victory in seven games.
The Suns tied a team record with 17 assists -- on 18 baskets -- in the first quarter. The 47 points were most in a quarter in the NBA this season.
Miami was without Dwyane Wade and Jason Williams. Wade felt soreness during warmups and was a late scratch with a bruised left shin. Williams had right knee tendinitis.
Lakers 119, 76ers 93
At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant returned from a two-game suspension to hit all seven of his 3-point shots and score 48 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers ended a five-game losing streak with a victory over Philadelphia.
Second in the league in scoring behind Philadelphia's Allen Iverson going into the game, Bryant moved a fraction in front after Iverson scored 31 points. Bryant raised his average to 33.166 a game to Iverson's 33.090.
The Lakers' victory kept Phil Jackson from reaching a personal low -- he hasn't lost more than five in a row in his 15 seasons as an NBA coach.
Smush Parker had a career-high 24 points for Los Angeles, and Lamar Odom had a career-high 12 assists to go with eight points and seven rebounds.
Mavericks 114, Nuggets 112
At Denver, Devin Harris made an incredibly easy layup with 2.2 seconds left in overtime to lift Dallas over Denver.
Greg Buckner's desperation shot at the buzzer fell way short and the Nuggets finished their homestand at 2-4.
It was hardly the way anyone would have expected this hard-fought game to end, especially with the way Denver stayed alive -- first on Carmelo Anthony's buzzer-beating 3-pointer in regulation to tie it at 100, then on Kenyon Martin's tip-in off a desperation missed free throw to make it 112-all with 3.6 seconds left in the overtime.
Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry led the Mavs with 27 points apiece.
Kings 118, Clippers 114
At Sacramento, California, Mike Bibby clobbered the Clippers again with 11 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and Brad Miller had 26 points and a huge defensive play in the final seconds of Sacramento's 11th straight victory over Los Angeles.
Peja Stojakovic had 19 points and a season-high 13 rebounds, hitting two free throws with 3.4 seconds to play in the last-place Kings' third victory in nine games.
Sam Cassell scored 28 points but missed the potential go-ahead 3-pointer, and Chris Kaman had a career-high 25 points and 13 rebounds in the Clippers' eighth loss in 11 games.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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