Vince Carter had his second career triple-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists on Saturday to lead New Jersey past the Miami Heat 105-92.
Richard Jefferson added 26 points and Clifford Robinson scored a season-high 23 in a rare start for the Nets (24-21), who won their 10th straight home game.
Miami (29-19), which had its four-game winning streak snapped, trailed the entire game. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 31 points and Shaquille O'Neal was held to 11, his fourth-lowest total of the season.
PHOTO: AP
Wizards 98, Hawks 85
Washington, Antawn Jamison had 27 points and 15 rebounds as Washington snapped Atlanta's three-game winning streak.
Gilbert Arenas added 22 points as Washington won for the third time in four games. The Wizards have won nine of 13 overall and eight straight against the Hawks.
Caron Butler had 18 points and seven rebounds for Washington, which is in the midst of a stretch of playing seven of eight games at home. The Wizards opened a season-high, five-game homestand against the Hawks.
Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 16 points. Reserve Tyronn Lue added 14 points and Zaza Pachulia 13.
The Hawks had won three in a row for the first time since April 9-12, 2004.
Magic 100, Celtics 91
Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard and Steve Francis each scored 18 points, and Orlando beat Boston to snap a four-game losing streak.
Paul Pierce scored 37 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, but had little help as the Celtics lost their fifth straight game.
Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West each scored 13 points and were the only other Celtics in double figures.
76ers 100, Cavaliers 95
At Cleveland, Allen Iverson scored 34 points in his return to the Philadelphia starting lineup and did what he always does against Cleveland.
Iverson, who has had some of his biggest games against the Cavaliers, missed the previous four games with sore ankles. But all it took was another game in Cleveland to get the All-Star guard feeling better.
Chris Webber added 26 points, hitting a key jumper in the final minute, and Samuel Dalembert had 13 points and made a big block down the stretch for the Sixers, who went 2-2 without Iverson.
LeBron James scored 31 points to lead the Cavaliers, who lost their second straight following a seven-game winning streak. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 26 points and Drew Gooden added 18 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 50 seconds left.
Pacers 93, Pistons 85
At Indianapolis, Stephen Jackson shook off a recent injury that sent him to the hospital to score 20 points and grab seven rebounds, and Indiana upset rival Detroit.
Reserve center David Harrison scored 15 points and guard Fred Jones scored nine of his 13 in the fourth quarter for the Pacers, who won their second in a row after a six-game losing streak.
Jackson was hospitalized with a bruised hip and scraped elbow after a scary fall in Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers. A further examination showed no fractures and he was released from the hospital early Thursday.
Richard Hamilton led the Pistons (39-7) with 31 points on 14 for 24 shooting and Rasheed Wallace added 17 points.
Hornets 106, Lakers 90
At Oklahoma City, Desmond Mason scored 21 points, Chris Paul added 19 points and 13 assists, and New Orleans moved ahead of Los Angeles in the Western Conference standings.
Mason, guarded much of the game by Kobe Bryant, beat the Lakers star twice on New Orleans' first three possessions and the Hornets (24-22) never trailed.
Rasual Butler added 15 points, P.J. Brown scored 14 and Kirk Snyder and David West had 11 apiece.
Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer, had 19 of his 35 points in the first quarter. Devean George added a season-high 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and Brian Cook scored 13.
The Lakers were without Lamar Odom and Chris Mihm, two of their top four scorers.
Mavericks 110, SuperSonics 91
At Dallas, Josh Howard had 23 points to lead Dallas in scoring again and the Mavericks beat Seattle for their 11th straight victory, matching the NBA's longest winning streak this season.
The Mavericks are winning with defense, and without Dirk Nowitzki as their leading scorer every night. Howard led the team in scoring for the fourth straight game.
Dallas' winning streak coincides with its franchise-record stretch of holding 11 straight opponents under 100 points. Seattle came in second in the NBA with 102.3 points per game, but was also coming off a 100-77 loss at Houston the night before.
Jason Terry finished with 22 points, while Nowitzki and Jerry Stackhouse scored 17 each. Erick Dampier had 11 points and 14 rebounds off the bench.
Ray Allen led Seattle with 17 points while Rashard Lewis was held to nine on 1-of-11 shooting.
Suns 118, Bulls 101
At Phoenix, Shawn Marion had 26 points and 11 rebounds, All-Star starter Steve Nash added 21 points and seven assists, and Phoenix beat Chicago for its third straight victory.
In beating the Bulls for the eighth consecutive time on their home court, the Suns increased their Pacific Division lead to 2 games over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The loss was the third in a row for the Bulls on their seven-game, 14-day road trip against Western Conference opponents.
Ben Gordon was the major bright spot for the Bulls, scoring a career-best 39 points on 14-of-21 shooting. He hit nine 3-pointers, a team record.
Nuggets 105, Trail Blazers 104
At Denver, Andre Miller stole the ball from Jarrett Jack at midcourt and scored the winning basket with 4.3 seconds left, and Denver ended its four-game losing streak with a victory over Portland.
Marcus Camby blocked Ruben Patterson's desperation jumper at the buzzer.
Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 28 points, and Zach Randolph scored 28 for Portland.
Portland led 97-88 with 5 minutes left when the Nuggets went on an 11-2 run -- despite missing five free throws during the spurt -- to tie it at 99 on Camby's two foul shots with 1:59 left.
Warriors 109, Timberwolves 77
At Oakland, California, Jason Richardson had 23 points and seven rebounds in his return after missing four games with a sore back, and Golden State handed Minnesota its worst loss of the season.
Baron Davis, Golden State's point guard and second-leading scorer behind Richardson, tweaked his left ankle at shootaround earlier in the day and Mike Dunleavy got the start in his place.
Davis still played 20 minutes and had six assists, five rebounds and two points.
Troy Murphy added 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists in three quarters and Dunleavy had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for Golden State, which had lost its last two to Minnesota at home. Minnesota had won five of the previous seven meetings between the clubs on the Warriors' home floor.
Kevin Garnett had 15 points and 11 rebounds for his 32nd double-double of the season, a night after getting 27 points and 15 boards in a loss at Portland.
Ricky Davis scored 20 points and had five rebounds.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and