At Charlotte, North Carolina, Primoz Brezec muscled in a layup over several defenders with 54 seconds to play, then added a pair of free throws to help Charlotte a win over Minnesota.
It was the 12th-straight road loss for the Timberwolves, tying a mark for futility set 12 years ago. Minnesota had not lost 12 in a row on the road since March 26-Nov. 8, 1994.
Grizzlies 100, Warriors 75
At Memphis, Tennessee, Chucky Atkins scored 22 points and Pau Gasol finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists to help Memphis beat Golden State.
Jake Tsakalidis added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who swept the three-game season series from the Warriors.
Memphis built the double-digit lead in the second period, outscoring the Warriors 27-9 and Golden State never threatened again, dropping their fifth straight.
Derek Fisher scored 17 points and Troy Murphy added 13 and 10 rebounds for Golden State, which benched its starters with about nine minutes left in the game.
Mavericks 127, Kings 101
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points, Josh Howard had 23 and Josh Powell dazzled during a game-breaking stretch of the second quarter, helping Dallas shatter Sacramento's nearly monthlong run of strong defense.
Sacramento, which is trying to hold onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, hadn't allowed more than 98 points its last 13 games -- but gave up 63 in the first half. Dallas broke 100 with 54 seconds left in the third quarter and wound up topping its season-high for points by six.
Bonzi Wells led Sacramento with 30 points and seven rebounds.
Bulls 102, Pacers 96
At Chicago, Ben Gordon scored 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and the surging Chicago moved closer to a playoff spot, rallying from a 17-point deficit to beat struggling Indiana.
The Bulls (34-40) moved within a half-game of Philadelphia -- which lost by 33 points to Cleveland -- for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and 1.5 games of the seventh-place Pacers. Chicago was to visit the 76ers yesterday and host them on Saturday.
Spurs 95, Jazz 86
At Salt Lake City, Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the Spurs held off Utah to maintain their 2.5-game lead for the top seed in the Western Conference.
The Spurs led by 24 in the second quarter and 18 at halftime, but had to stave off several rallies by the Jazz, who were within five points with about 3 minutes left.
San Antonio (58-16) kept its margin over Dallas, which beat Sacramento 127-101 on Tuesday in a game that really could have helped Utah's playoff hopes. Instead, the Jazz started and ended the night 2.5 games behind the Kings for the No. 8 spot in the West.
SuperSonics 104, Rockets 87
At Seattle, Ray Allen scored 32 points and moved into a tie for second place on the NBA's career 3-pointers list as the Seattle beat Houston.
Allen moved even with Dale Ellis, who played six-plus seasons for Seattle, for second all-time each with 1,719 3-pointers. Allen shot 11-for-22 and made three 3-pointers, all in the second half.
Chris Wilcox outplayed Yao Ming on the interior, finishing with 26 points and a career-high 24 rebounds.
Yao led the Rockets with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Clippers 111, Nuggets 109
At Los Angeles, Sam Cassell scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame a 22-point deficit and 81.6 percent shooting by Denver in the first half to beat the Nuggets.
RSS