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NBA: Knicks rebound to edge past Nuggets

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers warms up against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP

Zach Randolph had 22 points and 17 rebounds, three other players scored more than 20 points, and the New York Knicks erased a series of double-digit deficits to win 119-112 on Tuesday in the Denver Nuggets' first trip to Madison Square Garden since last year's brawl.

Seemingly on the verge of being run off the floor in the same way they were before losing their cool 11 months ago, the Knicks instead blew by the Nuggets with a fourth-quarter rally, then held on behind huge plays from Randolph and Eddy Curry in their best outing since being paired together.

Jamal Crawford led the Knicks with 25 points and Curry added 24, nine in the fourth quarter. Stephon Marbury had 21 and nine assists, and Renaldo Balkman led a spirited bench effort with 11 points.

Allen Iverson scored 32 points and Carmelo Anthony had 24 for the Nuggets, who led by as many as 15 and were still ahead by 10 going to the fourth quarter before dropping their second straight.

Magic 111, Timberwolves 103

At Minneapolis, Dwight Howard edged his classmate Al Jefferson, with 28 points and 16 rebounds in Orlando's victory over winless Minnesota.

Carlos Arroyo had 18 points and six assists in place of an injured Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis scored nine of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for the Magic to stave off the hard-charging Timberwolves.

Marko Jaric had 10 points and 10 assists and Greg Buckner scored 18 points for the Timberwolves, who missed Rashad McCants' offensive skills down the stretch. McCants went out in the first quarter with a sprained ankle.

Suns 115, Bobcats 83

At Charlotte, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Shawn Marion led eight players in double figures with 16 points apiece and Phoenix continued its dominance of the Eastern Conference.

The Bobcats, who had been 2-0 for the first time in their four-year history, trailed by as many as 34 points against the Suns. Phoenix has now won 15 of its last 16 road games against Eastern teams dating to last season.

Marion added 11 rebounds, while Boris Diaw had 15 points and 11 assists for the Suns. Phoenix shot 50 percent from the field, committed only 10 turnovers and made it a laugher in the second quarter despite playing without center Amare Stoudemire, who missed a second straight game with pain in his right knee.

Nets 87, Hawks 82

At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Richard Jefferson scored 25 points and Antoine Wright added 15 to lead New Jersey over Atlanta.

Jason Kidd had nine points, 12 assists and nine rebounds in nearly collecting his second straight triple-double and helping New Jersey win for the third time in four games.

Vince Carter had 12 points with another miserable shooting effort from the field (6-of-16), but he made two clutch baskets late to hold off the Hawks.

Josh Smith and backup forward Josh Childress had 18 points apiece to lead the Hawks, who were limited to 38 percent shooting from the field. All-Star guard Joe Johnson added 15 points and Marvin Williams had 13, all in the first half.

Bucks 112, Raptors 85

At Milwaukee, Desmond Mason was 10-for-10 from the field and scored 21 points in Milwaukee's rout of Toronto.

Milwaukee, a team that didn't shoot 60 percent or better from the field in a game all last season, shot 60.3 percent and held Toronto star Chris Bosh to one point.

Rockets 89, Spurs 81

At Houston, Yao Ming had 28 points and 13 rebounds to help the Houston Rockets snap a four-game, home-court losing streak to San Antonio.

Bonzi Wells added 14 points and 15 rebounds for Houston, which controlled Tim Duncan and outrebounded the sluggish Spurs 55-28. Duncan scored 14 and grabbed 10 rebounds, but went only 5-for-15 from the field.

Manu Ginobili scored 23 and Tony Parker added 21 for the Spurs.

Clippers 97, Bulls 91

At Chicago, Cuttino Mobley scored 33 points and Corey Maggette added 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead the Clippers over the Bulls.

Luol Deng scored 22 points for Chicago and Joe Smith added 17.

Hornets 118, Lakers 104

At Los Angeles, Peja Stojakovic made a franchise-record 10 3-pointers, and Chris Paul established another Hornets team mark with 21 assists in New Orleans' victory over the Lakers.

Stojakovic missed just three of 13 shots from behind the arc and finished with 36 points. He was just 2-of-8 shooting two-pointers. The Hornets went 14-of-25 on 3-pointers.

Cavaliers 108, Warriors 104

At Oakland, California, LeBron James had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, and Damon Jones' 3-pointer with 2:30 to play put the Cavaliers ahead to stay in a victory over Golden State.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the defending Eastern Conference champions, who kept the Warriors winless with a calm finish on their third victory in their last four trips to Golden State.

Kings 104, SuperSonics 98

At Sacramento, Francisco Garcia hit a go-ahead baseline 3 with 29 seconds to play, lifting Sacramento to a victory over the SuperSonics and giving a win to new coach Reggie Theus in his Arco Arena debut.
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