Mike Bibby and Brad Miller made the wait for Ron Artest a little easier for the Sacramento Kings.
Bibby scored eight of his 35 points in overtime and added 10 assists, and Miller had 25 points and 15 rebounds to lead the short-handed Kings over the New York Knicks 106-102 on Wednesday night.
Sacramento acquired the volatile Artest from the Indiana Pacers for Peja Stojakovic in a trade shortly before the game. The Kings hope Artest, a superb all-round player who is one of the league's best defenders, will join them in time for their game at Boston tonight.
PHOTO: EPA
Stephon Marbury scored 22 points in his return to the lineup after missing three straight games with a sprained left shoulder for the Knicks, who lost their sixth consecutive game.
Pistons 106, Bucks 102, OT
Chauncey Billups scored 11 points in overtime to help the Detroit Pistons win their ninth consecutive game at Auburn Hills, Michigan.
The win gave the Pistons (35-5) the fourth-best 40-game record in league history. The Chicago Bulls (1995-'96), Philadelphia 76ers (1966-'67) and Los Angeles Lakers (1971-'72) all started 37-3. No team has started 36-4, and the Bulls went 35-5 in both 1991-'92 and 1996-'97.
The Pistons had to overcome a 41 points from Michael Redd, including 31 in the second half.
Cavaliers 106, Hawks 97
At Atlanta, LeBron James had 38 points, nine rebounds and six assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their third consecutive game.
The Cavaliers were winning 94-93 with 3:17 left before closing the game on a 12-4 run. Donyell Marshall, who finished with 19 points, started the run with a 3-pointer and then put the game away hitting another 3 with 58.1 seconds left that made the score 104-95.
Joe Johnson scored 24 points and Al Harrington added 22 for the Hawks, who have lost seven of their last nine.
Bulls 104, Raptors 88
At Toronto, Chris Duhon scored 26 points and Chicago beat the Raptors for the 12th straight game.
Darius Songaila had 19 points and three other players reached double figures for the Bulls, who haven't lost to Toronto since Dec. 6, 2002.
Chicago has won three of four overall.
Wizards 89, Celtics 87
At Boston, Gilbert Arenas hit two free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining to lift Washington.
In their only other matchup this season, Arenas drew a foul with three seconds remaining and hit two free throws to give the Wizards a 103-102 victory over the Celtics on Jan. 7.
Antawn Jamison scored 16 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and Brendan Haywood scored a season-high 21 for Washington, which has now won six of its last eight.
Paul Pierce scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Celtics.
Spurs 84, Hornets 68
At Oklahoma City, Tim Duncan scored 17 points and the San Antonio Spurs handed New Orleans its worst defeat in Oklahoma City.
The Hornets' sputtering offense set a season low in scoring for the second consecutive game and gave the standing-room only crowd of 19,289 little to cheer about.
Tony Parker had 14 points for the Spurs and Nick Van Exel added 13, including a season-high four 3-pointers, as the Spurs pulled away to a 15-point first-half lead.
David West and Rasual Butler each scored 15 to lead the Hornets.
Rockets 102, Bobcats 78
At Houston, Tracy McGrady scored 29 points in three quarters as Houston downed Charlotte to snap a seven-game home losing streak.
Seldom-used Lonnie Baxter added a season-high 18 points and 11 rebounds and David Wesley added 15 for Houston, which improved to 4-13 at the Toyota Center. The Rockets hadn't won a home game since a 91-73 victory over Boston on Dec. 6.
Matt Carroll had 19 for injury-depleted Charlotte, which dropped its season-high ninth consecutive game.
SuperSonics 113, Jazz 94
At Salt Lake City, Ray Allen had 22 points and six assists and Seattle won consecutive games for the first time under coach Bob Hill.
Luke Ridnour added 17 points and seven assists and Rashard Lewis scored 16 for Seattle, which improved to 4-7 since Hill took over after Bob Weiss was fired Jan. 3.
Andrei Kirilenko had 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Jazz. Mehmet Okur had 20 points and 13 boards for Utah.
Grizzlies 107, Timberwolves 87
At Memphis, Tennessee, Pau Gasol broke out of an offensive slump and scored 30 points to help Memphis down Minnesota.
Gasol, who had averaged 11.3 points in the past four games and had only eight shots against Miami on Tuesday, connected on 9-of-14 shots and all 12 of his free throws to lead five Grizzlies in double figures.
Eddie Jones added 22 points for Memphis, including 10 in the fourth period, while Mike Miller scored 18 off the bench.
Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves with 29 points and Wally Szczerbiak finished with 15.
Nuggets 97, Trail Blazers 94
At Portland, Oregon, Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points to help Denver beat Portland for its seventh consecutive win.
The Blazers, who lost their second straight at home, were up by as many as 12 points in the second half, but both teams wrestled with the lead in the final minutes.
Greg Buckner's 3-pointer with 1:13 left put the Nuggets up 97-94 for their biggest lead of the game.
The Blazers inbounded the ball with 3.7 seconds left and guard Steve Blake was fouled by Kenyon Martin as Denver had a foul to give. With 1.6 seconds on the clock, Blake inbounded the ball again, and Travis Outlaw missed an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Clippers 90, Nets 77
At Los Angeles, Elton Brand scored 10 of his 19 points in the first 5 minutes, Sam Cassell and Chris Kaman added 17 each, and the Los Angeles Clippers won their third consecutive game.
Cuttino Mobley had 15 points, a career-high 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Clippers (23-16), who went ahead for good on two straight baskets by Brand in the early going and moved within two games of first-place Phoenix in the Pacific Division.
Richard Jefferson added 15 points and Nenad Krstic had 12 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 8:29 remaining.
Mavericks 102, Warriors 93
At Oakland, California, Jerry Stackhouse scored 23 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 18 and Dallas roared past Golden State in the fourth quarter for its sixth straight victory.
Jason Terry scored 16 points for the Mavericks, who got their 17th road victory of the season and improved to 4-0 on their five-game road trip. They had plenty of help from the Warriors, who absolutely fell apart in the fourth quarter -- missing their first 16 shots and going 10:42 between field goals.
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