Roger Mason led a spirited fourth-quarter comeback and Kobe Bryant lost his shooting touch down the stretch as the Washington Wizards rallied from a 21-point deficit on Wednesday night to stun the Los Angeles Lakers 106-101.
Mason hit three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, turning what had been a pro-Lakers scene into an unusually raucous show of home support for a team that is 20 games below .500. The same arena that rocked to “M-V-P!” for Bryant in the first half was bellowing “Beat LA!” in the final minute.
Nick Young scored 19 points for the Wizards, who beat the Lakers for the first time since 2006 — a stretch of nine straight losses. Trevor Booker had 18 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and Kevin Seraphin scored a career-high 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting.
Photo: AFP
Mason also finished with 14 points, and John Wall had nine assists to help make up for four points on 1-for-8 shooting.
Bryant scored 30, but he went 1-for-10 from the field in the fourth quarter. Pau Gasol had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and Andrew Bynum scored 19 points for the Lakers, who dropped both ends of a road back-to-back.
76ERS 103, CELTICS 71
In Philadelphia, Evan Turner scored a career-best 26 points, helping the 76ers rout the Celtics to maintain their lead in the Atlantic Division.
Before tip-off, Turner denied a radio report that a mystery problem was causing his inconsistent play. Then Turner went out and proved he was just fine. He shot 11-of-19 and grabbed nine rebounds.
Six Sixers scored in double figures, including Elton Brand, Lou Williams and Nik Vucevic. Vucevic’s 12 rebounds were a high for the rookie. Andre Iguodala had 10 points, eight assists and seven boards.
The Sixers, a surprise contender a month ago, had lost eight of 10 to drop their lead in the division to one game over Boston, who had won five in a row.
JAZZ 99, BOBCATS 93
In Charlotte, Al Jefferson had 31 points and nine rebounds as the Jazz controlled the paint, where they outscored the Bobcats 54-36 and out-rebounded them 43-34.
Jefferson was 11-of-19 from the field and hit all but one of his 10 foul shots in a dominating inside effort. Paul Millsap scored 16 points, while Derrick Favors added 14 points for the Jazz, who won for just the fifth time this season on the road.
The victory helped pull the Jazz back to .500 at 19-19.
Corey Maggette scored 25 points to lead the Bobcats, who failed in their quest to win back-to-back games for the first time this season. It was the third straight 20-point game for Maggette, who is averaging 19.7 points per game over the last 10 games.
RAPTORS 116, ROCKETS 98
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points as the Raptors used a rare offensive outburst to beat the Rockets.
Linas Kleiza added 19 points, while Jose Calderon had 17 points and 12 assists for the Raptors, who wrapped up a 2-2 homestand with one of their strongest games of the season. Toronto set season highs in points and shooting percentage (59.2) while overcoming a shaky third quarter by dominating the weary Rockets over the final 12 minutes.
Leandro Barbosa added 15 points and Amir Johnson had 14 for the Raptors.
Chandler Parsons scored 17 points to lead the Rockets, who have dropped five straight in Toronto, and five in a row overall.
HEAT 89, HAWKS 86
In Miami, LeBron James had 31 points and 11 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 18 points and set up Udonis Haslem for an alley-oop dunk with 12 seconds left.
Miami won their 11th straight at home and had to come from 10 points down in the third quarter to extend the streak.
Another Heat streak ended — it was Miami’s first time since April 6, 2006, without making a three-pointer, a span that included 455 regular-season games and 60 more in the playoffs.
The Heat were 0-for-10 from beyond the arc.
Josh Smith scored 23 for the Hawks, who were without Joe Johnson and Tracy McGrady, among others.
TIMBERWOLVES 106, BLAZERS 94
In Minneapolis, Wes Johnson scored 19 points to back Kevin Love’s 29 points and 16 rebounds for Minnesota.
Johnson went 3-of-4 on three-pointers and Luke Ridnour added 22 points for the Timberwolves (21-19), who moved into the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race. They own the tiebreaker over Houston, who lost earlier on Wednesday.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points and Gerald Wallace had 13 points, nine assists and nine rebounds for the Blazers, who have lost four of their past five games.
Aldridge went 2-for-3 from the free throw line — his first foul shots in four games — but was badly outplayed by Love for the second straight game. He was held to just five points in the second half.
THUNDER 115, SUNS 104
In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook scored 31 points and James Harden added a career-high 30 off the bench as the Thunder roared back for their 14th straight home win.
Kevin Durant also chipped in 30 points and Serge Ibaka contributed 18 points and a career-high 20 rebounds as the Thunder overcame a 16-point deficit late in the third quarter.
Oklahoma City limited the Suns to two baskets over an 11-minute stretch, outscoring Phoenix 33-9 to eliminate a big deficit and take control.
Marcin Gortat had a career-best 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Phoenix, who built the largest lead for an opponent this season inside Chesapeake Energy Arena only to watch it disintegrate.
BULLS 106, BUCKS 104
In Milwaukee, Derrick Rose drilled a long jumper at the buzzer to win it for the Bulls.
Holding the ball for the last shot in a tie game, Rose pulled up just inside the three-point line and hit it just as time expired. Rose was mobbed by his teammates near halfcourt and cheered wildly by a predominantly pro-Bulls crowd.
Rose scored 30 and Joakim Noah added 20 points and 10 -rebounds for the Bulls, who have won eight straight.
Ersan Ilyasova had a career-high 32 points and Drew Gooden added a season-high 27 for the Bucks, who were coming off a home win over Philadelphia on Monday.
The Bulls held Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings to 11 points on 4-for-18 shooting.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Nets 101, Clippers 100
‧ Cavaliers 100, Nuggets 99
‧ Kings 99, Hornets 98
‧ Grizzlies 110, Warriors 92
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