Joe Johnson scored 28 points, Al Harrington had 20 and the Atlanta Hawks rallied in the second half to upset the Indiana Pacers 104-94 in the NBA on Monday.
The Hawks trailed 56-48 at halftime, and the Pacers twice stretched the lead to 11 in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
But Atlanta, with the league's worst record and coming off two straight blowout losses at home, surged in front before the period was over. Tyronn Lue provided the unlikely spark, coming back after missing four games with a sore back. He had 15 points and seven assists.
PHOTO: AP
"We made shots, we milked plays and we just didn't crack," Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said, "which was really nice to see.
"When we were struggling, [Lue] really held us together with his leadership and running our offense for us. I didn't really come in the game thinking I was going to play him 30 minutes, but he had it going. He was orchestrating and creating an offense, so I was content to leave him in there," Woodson said.
Jermaine O'Neal led the Pacers with 24 points, and Stephen Jackson added 21.
Celtics 91, Hornets 78
At Boston, Ricky Davis scored 17 of his 32 points in the third quarter to help Boston past New Orleans.
Raef LaFrentz added 18 points and Paul Pierce had 16 and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who have won six of their last eight home games.
David West led the Hornets with 21 points, 19 coming in the first half. J.R. Smith added 16 points and was the only other New Orleans player in double figures.
Rockets 97, Bucks 80
At Milwaukee, Tracy McGrady scored 41 points, including 14 straight in the fourth quarter, to lead Houston.
Andrew Bogut, who finished with 10 points for the Bucks, hit a short basket to make it 76-75 just over a minute into the fourth before McGrady took over with his personal 14-0 run.
McGrady hit a pair of 3-pointers, a driving 10-footer, a turnaround fadeaway and two jump shots to give the Rockets a 90-75 lead with 5:21 left.
Nuggets 107, Raptors 101
At Denver, 81 points it was not. Carmelo Anthony's 37 were enough to lead Denver to its sixth consecutive win.
Toronto was still smarting a day after surrendering Kobe Bryant's 81 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. But after watching the film in the morning, Toronto put its embarrassment behind and gave the Nuggets a good game.
Kenyon Martin added 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Nuggets improved to 10-2 this month. Their winning streak is their longest since winning 10 straight in March and April of last season.
Mike James led Toronto with 22 points, Jalen Rose had 21 and Chris Bosh scored 18.
Jazz 89, Nets 78
At Salt Lake City, Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points and 13 rebounds to help Utah overcome Jason Kidd's triple-double.
Kidd posted his league-leading third triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the 70th of his career. However, Kidd missed 12 of his 15 field goal attempts. Mehmet Okur scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Jazz.
Richard Jefferson had 32 points, but New Jersey shot a season-low 33 percent, including 2-for-21 from 3-point range.
Clippers 96, Warriors 93
At Oakland, California, Elton Brand had 28 points and nine rebounds, Sam Cassell scored the final four points on free throws and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second half.
Cassell scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, hitting the go-ahead free throws with 1:10 to play. He added two more with 0.9 seconds left after Baron Davis botched Golden State's last chance to avoid an embarrassing collapse.
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