Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points, Josh Howard and Devin Harris each had 19, and the Dallas Mavericks led throughout in a 97-84 victory on Saturday that snapped Atlanta's five-game winning streak.
Dallas made its first five shots, including 3-pointers by Howard and Nowitzki, to jump out to a 12-0 lead less than 2.5 minutes into the game.
The Hawks (15-13) missed out on their first six-game winning streak since late in the 1998-99 season, the last time they made the playoffs and finished with a winning record. Atlanta had last won five in a row in December 1999.
PHOTO: AP
Marvin Williams led Atlanta with 18 points while Joe Johnson had 17 points.
Pistons 98, Pacers 92
In Indianapolis, Richard Hamilton scored 24 points, Chauncey Billups had 17, and Detroit beat Indiana for its eighth straight victory.
PHOTO: AP
Reserve Jason Maxiell added 12 points and Rasheed Wallace finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds to help the Pistons (23-7) complete a home-and-home sweep.
Jermaine O'Neal had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Mike Dunleavy scored 18 points and Danny Granger chipped in 15 for Indiana (15-16), which dropped its third straight game.
Celtics 104, Jazz 98
In Salt Lake City, Paul Pierce hit a tiebreaking layup with 28 seconds left, then sealed Boston's fifth straight victory with a defensive rebound and two free throws.
Pierce was shut out in the first half, then took over the scoring in the final two periods. He had 10 points in the third and another 14 in the fourth to lead Boston to its 14th win in the last 15 games.
Ray Allen scored 23 and Kevin Garnett added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who complete a four-game road trip Sunday at the Lakers.
Deron Williams had 22 points and 11 assists.
Wizards 96, Heat 74
In Washington, Andray Blatche scored 18 points, and Washington led by as many as 30 in handing Miami its fourth loss in a row.
It was the lowest point total for the Heat -- or any Wizards opponent -- this season.
Caron Butler scored 16 for Washington, and Antawn Jamison added 15 points and nine rebounds.
A night after playing 51.5 minutes, Dwyane Wade looked sluggish at times and finished with 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting, along with seven turnovers, in 27 minutes. Shaquille O'Neal and Jason Williams were out with injuries.
Hornets 86, Cavaliers 76
In New Orleans, David West had 27 points and 15 rebounds, leading New Orleans over Cleveland for its fifth straight victory.
Chris Paul had 20 points, nine assists and tied a career high with seven steals, while Tyson Chandler added 11 points and 12 rebounds to help New Orleans (20-10) tie its best start through 30 games in franchise history.
LeBron James drew the first sellout of the season in New Orleans Arena (17,623) and also drew a lot of attention from New Orleans' defense.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, but scored only two points in the second half.
Magic 104, Bobcats 95
In Orlando, Florida, Hedo Turkoglu scored a season-high 28 points, Dwight Howard added 15 points and 21 rebounds, and Orlando beat Charlotte for its third straight victory.
Carlos Arroyo replaced the injured Jameer Nelson at point guard for Orlando and had 16 points and six assists. Rashard Lewis scored 18 points and Keith Bogans 12 as all five Magic starters reached double figures.
Jason Richardson led Charlotte with a season-high 34 points and Gerald Wallace scored 23, but the Bobcats lost their fourth straight game.
Rockets 91, Raptors 79
In Houston, Yao Ming scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Houston.
Rafer Alston added 18 points, and Bonzi Wells had 13 points and 11 rebounds as Houston won its second straight and third in four games.
Tracy McGrady missed his second straight game with left knee tendinitis. He is day-to-day.
Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 19 points. Jamario Moon and Jose Calderon each scored 11 as Toronto lost for the fourth time in five games.
Nets 97, Bucks 95
In Milwaukee, Vince Carter scored eight of his 23 points in the final four minutes, Jason Kidd added 11 of his 17 in the fourth quarter, and New Jersey beat Milwaukee.
Richard Jefferson had 19 for the Nets, who have won four of five. Kidd finished with 15 assists but six turnovers.
Michael Redd led Milwaukee with 35 points. The Bucks have lost five of six.
SuperSonics 109, Timberwolves 90
In Seattle, Wally Szczerbiak and rookie Jeff Green each scored 18 points, and Seattle overcame the loss of Kevin Durant to beat Minnesota.
The Sonics played the final three quarters without Durant, their leading scorer. The second pick in this year's draft, who is averaging 20.2 points, sprained his left index finger near the end of the first period. X-rays were negative, but Seattle held Durant out as a precaution.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier