Gilbert Arenas scored 38 points, and the Washington Wizards used a sizzling performance from three-point range to beat the New York Knicks 113-102 on Wednesday night for their first road victory of the season.
In a complete turnaround from their last visit to New York, the Wizards went 14-of-20 from behind the arc, tying the franchise record and matching an NBA season high for makes. In a 102-82 loss at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 15, the Wizards tied an NBA record for futility by misfiring on all 15 three-point attempts.
Arenas and Antawn Jamison combined to go 0-for-11 that night, but each made six on Wednesday.
PHOTO: AFP
Jamison added a season-high 33 points for Washington, playing for the first time since snapping Dallas' 12-game winning streak on Monday. Though only 1-8 on the road, the Wizards have won four of five overall.
Eddy Curry scored 22 points for the Knicks, extending his streak of 20-point games to eight. New York put all five starters in double figures, but was dreadful on the other end.
Cavaliers 95, Raptors 91
LeBron James scored 26 points and did everything Cleveland needed him to in the final minutes, rallying the Cavaliers over the visiting Raptors.
With Cleveland down by seven, James dished out three assists, grabbed a rebound and scored five points -- two on a dunk -- during a 13-0 burst that put the Cavs ahead 90-86. After Fred Jones drained a three-pointer for Toronto, James fed Donyell Marshall for a 3 to make it 93-89 with 17.9 seconds remaining.
Chris Bosh and Anthony Parker had 18 apiece and rookie Andrea Bargnani 14 for the Raptors.
Pacers 94, Magic 80
At Indianapolis, Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington each scored 26 points to lead the Pacers over the Magic.
Jermaine O'Neal added 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Jeff Foster grabbed 18 rebounds for the Pacers (10-10), who returned home after losing their final three games of a six-game road trip.
Spurs 96, Bobcats 76
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Tim Duncan shook off a slow start to score 25 points and the Spurs avenged a surprising home loss to Charlotte.
Charlotte, which won in San Antonio 95-92 in overtime three weeks ago, led by seven in the first quarter, when Duncan missed three dunks. But San Antonio recovered and took an 11-point second-quarter lead and the Bobcats faded in the second half after guard Brevin Knight was ejected for picking up two technical fouls.
Sean May scored 18 points, Gerald Wallace had 15 and Raymond Felton added 13 points and nine assists for the Bobcats, who failed to win consecutive games for the first time this season.
Grizzlies 98, Celtics 96
At Boston, Rudy Gay's jumper with 2.6 seconds left lifted the Grizzlies over the Celtics.
Chucky Atkins scored 19 points and Lawrence Roberts added a career-high 18 points for the Grizzlies, who snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 2-9 on the road.
The Grizzlies squandered a 17-point fourth-quarter lead, but Gay bailed them out when he took a Mike Miller pass and sank a long jumper from the top of the key with 2.6 seconds left.
Sebastian Telfair missed a long three-pointer at the buzzer for Boston.
Timberwolves 90, Rockets 84
In Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 12 rebounds and led a strong defensive effort by Minnesota against Houston and Yao Ming.
Yao had 14 points and eight rebounds, shooting only 5-for-19 from the field. Tracy McGrady didn't do much for the Rockets, either, finishing with 14 points on 5-for-21 shooting.
He did have 10 rebounds and seven assists, however.
Making up for last week's 82-75 loss at Houston, Minnesota won a remarkably even game by refusing to let Yao dominate underneath as he has so many times this season -- with Garnett, Mark Blount and Craig Smith all chipping in after Mark Madsen left with an early injury.
Bucks 102, Trail Blazers 94, OT
At Milwaukee, Michael Redd scored 33 to help the Bucks beat the Trail Blazers. Redd score 19 of his points after the end of the third quarter, including a key basket early in overtime.
The Bucks took the lead right away in the extra session on a slam dunk by Ruben Patterson. After an offensive foul call on Portland's Zach Randolph, Redd hit a long jump shot to put Milwaukee ahead 90-86 with 2:57 left in overtime.
Jarrett Jack scored to cut the Milwaukee lead to four, but Mo Williams and Redd hit jump shots on back-to-back possessions to go ahead 96-88 with 1:03 remaining -- their biggest lead of the game. Jack scored a career-high 30 and added 10 assists to lead Portland.
Hawks 98, Nuggets 96
At Denver, Joe Johnson scored 27 points and Shelden Williams hit two free throws with 5 seconds left to lead the Hawks over the Nuggets.
Bulls 121, 76ers 94
At Chicago, Ben Gordon scored 17 of his 31 points in the first-quarter and the Bulls beat the 76ers.
Hornets 105, Lakers 89
At Los Angeles, Chris Paul had 26 points and 11 rebounds, Rasual Butler added 22 points and the Hornets beat the Lakers to snap their season-high five-game losing streak.
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