Ron Artest, who was ejected from Sunday's game against Sacramento for arguing an offensive foul call, bounced back Tuesday with 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 93-79 win over the Washington Wizards.
"We got the ball in Ron's hands and he made plays and scored when he had to," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "He really had a fine, fine all-around game."
After receiving 12 behavior-related suspensions last season, Artest hadn't been whistled for a technical foul this season before the Sacramento game.
PHOTO: AFP
Carlisle said Artest's performance was especially significant because Jermaine O'Neal was battling a stomach ailment. O'Neal felt sick before the game, got 15 points and nine rebounds.
"If there was any way possible I didn't want to go too many minutes with him," Carlisle said. "Ron's play tonight facilitated that for us."
Kwame Brown led the Wizards with 17 points and seven rebounds, and Larry Hughes added 16 points and five rebounds.
Al Harrington added 13 points and nine rebounds for Indiana.
Raptors 100, Cavaliers 93
In Cleveland, Vince Carter scored 22 points, Donyell Marshall and Jalen Rose scored 20 apiece and the revamped Toronto beat Cleveland for its fifth straight game.
Rose scored 16 points in the second half -- 12 in the third quarter -- as Toronto improved to 5-0 since acquiring Rose, Marshall and Lonny Baxter in a trade with Chicago for its longest streak since winning nine in a row from March 22-April 9, 2002.
Carter, who begged his teammates for the ball early in the fourth quarter, added eight rebounds and seven assists. Rookie Chris Bosh chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds.
Rookie LeBron James led the Cavs with 18 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 17.
Nets 101, SuperSonics 88
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Richard Jefferson scored a season-high 31 points, Kenyon Martin had 25 and the reawakened New Jersey Nets shot a season-best 55.1 percent to beat Seattle.
Jason Kidd added 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in just three quarters to help the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions post a season-high three-game winning streak.
Ronald Murray had 27 points for Seattle, which has lost three in a row and seven of 10. The only thing that prevented a season-worst loss was an 18-0 run to end the game.
Heat 92, Suns 72
In Miami, Lamar Odom scored 16 points with a career-high 17 rebounds, as Miami got Caron Butler back in the starting lineup and downed Phoenix.
Dwyane Wade and Brian Grant each scored 18 points as Miami snapped a three-game losing streak. Butler, who sat out the previous seven games with a quadriceps injury, scored seven points in 37 minutes.
The Suns, whose loss at Orlando on Monday night ended the Magic's 19-game losing streak, have lost three straight. Shawn Marion led Phoenix with 27 points.
Miami took the lead for good late in the second quarter and maintained a double-digit advantage for most of the second half. The Heat outrebounded Phoenix 51-30 and had 24 offensive rebounds.
Hawks 112, Nuggets 98
In Atlanta, Jacque Vaughn scored a career-high 23 points as Atlanta took command after halftime to snap a four-game losing streak with a win over Denver and set a season high for points.
Atlanta won despite the absence of third-leading scorer Stephen Jackson, who served a one-game suspension for a heated exchange with the coaching staff after a weekend loss in Cleveland.
With Jackson sidelined, Vaughn got extensive playing time. Averaging just 4.5 points a game, he shot 9-of-13 from the field to eclipse his previous career high of 20 points. Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 22 points, Jason Terry 20 and Theo Ratliff a season-high 12.
76ers 78, Pistons 76
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Aaron McKie did a great job filling in for Allen Iverson, scoring a season-high 21 points and blocking Mehmet Okur's shot as time expired to lead Philadelphia over Detroit.
Eric Snow, his backcourt mate, had 17 points and seven assists.
Chauncey Billups had 29 points and Richard Hamilton scored 15 for the Pistons, who were held to a season-low 31 points in the first half and 37.3-percent shooting overall.
The Sixers, who were also without Glenn Robinson and Marc Jackson, have won three straight and are 2-0 against their former coach, Larry Brown.
Warriors 98, Timberwolves 95
In Minneapolis, Jason Richardson made a wide-open 3-pointer in the final two-tenths of a second to give Golden State a win over Minnesota.
Richardson had 30 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Golden State (10-9), which moved above .500 this late in the season for the first time since 1993-94.
Kevin Garnett tied a season-high with 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Minnesota, whose three-game winning streak ended.
Latrell Sprewell had 27 points for the Wolves.
Lakers 98, Knicks 90
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant had 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and Karl Malone added 20 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat New York for their 10th straight win.
It was the 27th consecutive regular-season home victory for the Lakers -- three short of the franchise record set in 1951 when they played in Minneapolis.
The Lakers, whose 18-3 record is the best in the NBA, are 12-0 at home this season.
The loss was the fifth in succession for the Knicks (7-15), who played without leading scorer Allan Houston (sore right knee). New York's Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley scored 26 points each.
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