Portland spoiled Jeff Bower’s debut as head coach of the New Orleans’ Hornets, who lost not only the NBA game but also All-Star point guard Chris Paul with a sprained ankle.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 20 points with 13 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who stung the Hornets 86-78.
The defeat came a day after the struggling team sacked coach Byron Scott and installed general manager Bower as coach.
Paul said earlier on Friday that he wasn’t convinced ditching Scott was the way to ease the woes of a team that has now fallen to 3-7.
“Obviously change needed to occur. I’m not sure that’s what should have happened,” Paul said. “I’m not sure it was all coach’s fault. You can [only] play with the cards you’re dealt. It’s a tough situation. The team went a different direction. Now we’ve got to play.”
Paul’s night came to a premature end, however, when he had to be helped from the court by teammates late in the third quarter.
Seconds after he set up Hilton Armstrong’s dunk, Paul appeared to land on Joel Przybilla’s foot, falling hard to the court.
He twisted the same ankle in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers earlier in the week.
HAWKS 97, CELTICS 86
Atlanta swooped for a confidence-boosting 97-86 NBA victory over Boston on Friday.
Joe Johnson scored 24 points and Jamal Crawford added 18 for the Hawks, who extended the Celtics to seven games in the first round of the 2008 playoffs but lost that series as they failed to win a game in Boston.
The Celtics went on to win the championship that year.
Since then, Atlanta have built on their nucleus of Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Mike Bibby, adding experienced reserves Crawford and Joe Smith.
NUGGETS 105, LAKERS 79
Carmelo Anthony got the better of Ron Artest, scoring 25 points in 29 minutes to lead Denver past Los Angeles 105-79 on Friday.
The Lakers’ six-game winning streak was snapped. They scored just eight points in the third quarter as the Nuggets turned a two-point halftime lead into an 87-64 cushion.
Held to seven points in less than 12 first-half minutes because of foul trouble, Anthony scored 10 quick points in the third quarter to give the Nuggets (7-3) a double-digit lead and turn this one into a laugher.
MAVERICKS 89, TIMBERWOLVES 77
At Minneapolis, Dirk Nowitzki scored 15 of his 20 points in a tense third quarter and had 11 rebounds to lead Dallas over Minnesota.
Nowitzki only had a quiet five points and five rebounds in the first half before jawing with Timberwolves rookie Jonny Flynn five minutes into the third. He received a technical foul, then scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots in the next seven minutes to hand the Timberwolves their ninth straight loss.
MAGIC 88, NETS 72
At Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Matt Barnes added 13 points and 13 rebounds as Orlando put away winless New Jersey.
New Jersey got a triple-double from point guard Rafer Alston, the first triple-double of his career, but the Nets fell to 0-9. They are the NBA’s only winless team.
Alston had 17 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds against his former team.
JAZZ 112, 76ERS 90
At Philadelphia, Carlos Boozer had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Wesley Matthews added a career-high 16 points as Utah ran past Philadelphia.
Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur scored 15 points each, Ronnie Brewer contributed 14 and Eric Maynor had 13 points and 11 assists for the Jazz, who played without point guard Deron Williams yet still had seven players in double figures. Andrei Kirilenko had 13.
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