Arenas, Wizards roast Clippers

Dallas Mavericks guard Josh Howard, right, grabs a rebound next to San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan during the fourth quarter of their NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Texas, on Friday. Dallas won 90-85. PHOTO: AP

Gilbert Arenas scored 29 of his 35 points in the first half and added a season-high 12 assists on Friday, leading the Washington Wizards past the Los Angeles Clippers 116-105 and drawing MVP chants from the sellout crowd.

Arenas, who turned 25 yesterday, scored 13 points in the first quarter, 16 in the second on 7-for-8 shooting, but was only 3-for-10 the rest of the way. He also had seven rebounds in the Wizards' seventh win in eight games.

Caron Butler had 27 points -- his fifth consecutive game with at least 20 -- six assists and five rebounds for Washington, which is 13-3 at home. Antawn Jamison added 19 points and Brendan Haywood contributed 13 points and 12 rebounds to help the Wizards put up the most points scored against Los Angeles this season.

Nets 91, Bulls 86

At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Vince Carter and Jason Kidd combined to score 10 straight points down the stretch and New Jersey rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Chicago for the 10th straight time at home.

Carter finished with 21 points while Kidd had 17 points and 10 rebounds to help the Nets earn their first three-game winning streak.

Raptors 105, Hawks 92

At Toronto, Chris Bosh scored 21 points in helping Toronto send Atlanta to its eighth straight loss.

Joey Graham tied a career high with 19 points and had eight rebounds for the Raptors.

Marvin Williams scored 24 points for the Hawks.

Magic 106, Bobcats 74

At Orlando, Florida, Dwight How-ard had 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks to lead Orlando over Charlotte for its third straight win.

Jameer Nelson added 20 points, going 4-of-6 from 3-point range for the Magic, who limited Charlotte to 29 percent shooting in the game. Reserve forward Trevor Ariza had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Celtics 128, Grizzlies 119

At Memphis, Tennessee, Wally Szczerbiak scored 26 points and Tony Allen added 20 to lead seven players in double figures for Boston, which won for only the second time in nine games.

Ryan Gomes, Brian Scalabrine and Delonte West scored 16 points apiece for Boston, which is without leading scorer Paul Pierce because of an injured left foot.

Timberwolves 104, 76ers 102, OT

At Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett hit a 15-footer with Samuel Dalembert's hand in his face as the buzzer sounded in overtime to lift Minne-sota past Philadelphia for its third win in a row.

Garnett finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds and Trenton Hassell tied a career high with 22 points for the Timberwolves.

Mavericks 90, Spurs 85

At San Antonio, Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 36 points and Josh Howard added 18 to lead Dallas to its 13th straight victory.

Howard grabbed 12 rebounds in Dallas' third straight win in San Antonio, dating to last season's Western Conference semifinals.

Cavaliers 95, Bucks 86

At Milwaukee, Drew Gooden scored a season-high 31 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to carry a struggling LeBron James and Cleveland to a come-from-behind victory against Milwaukee.

Larry Hughes scored 22 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 11 for Cleveland. James finished with eight points, scoring less than 10 for only the eighth time in his career.

Rockets 100, Jazz 86

At Houston, Tracy McGrady scored a season-high 44 points and Dikembe Mutombo, 40, grabbed a season-best 19 rebounds to lead Houston to its fifth straight win.

McGrady topped 30 points for the fourth consecutive game. He hit 14 of 31 shots and went 13-for-16 from the foul line, reaching 40 points for the 39th time.

Lakers 123, Nuggets 104

At Los Angeles, Smush Parker led five players in double figures with 23 points and Los Angeles led virtually all the way in beating Denver for the eighth consecutive time at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant finished with a season-low eight points on 2-of-9 shooting and 10 assists in coach Phil Jackson's 899th career victory. Bryant, who averaged 45 points in his previous four games, spent the fourth quarter on the bench with both knees heavily wrapped.

Suns 108, Heat 80

At Phoenix, Steve Nash scored 22 points, Amare Stoudemire added 20 and Phoenix won its fifth consecutive game in beating Miami, which was without five players and coach Pat Riley.

The Heat succumbed to their fifth straight loss, the last four without All-Star Dwyane Wade, who was sidelined with a sprained wrist.

Knicks 111, SuperSonics 93

At Seattle, Eddy Curry made all nine of his shots and had 27 points, Stephon Marbury scored 28 and New York rolled past Seattle.

The Knicks never trailed against the Sonics and won the final two games of their five-game West Coast road swing.

Jamal Crawford added 22 points, taking 26 shots in a return to his hometown.