Joe Johnson scored 28 points, Al Harrington had 20 and the Atlanta Hawks rallied in the second half to upset the Indiana Pacers 104-94 in the NBA on Monday.
The Hawks trailed 56-48 at halftime, and the Pacers twice stretched the lead to 11 in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
But Atlanta, with the league's worst record and coming off two straight blowout losses at home, surged in front before the period was over. Tyronn Lue provided the unlikely spark, coming back after missing four games with a sore back. He had 15 points and seven assists.
PHOTO: AP
"We made shots, we milked plays and we just didn't crack," Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said, "which was really nice to see.
"When we were struggling, [Lue] really held us together with his leadership and running our offense for us. I didn't really come in the game thinking I was going to play him 30 minutes, but he had it going. He was orchestrating and creating an offense, so I was content to leave him in there," Woodson said.
Jermaine O'Neal led the Pacers with 24 points, and Stephen Jackson added 21.
Celtics 91, Hornets 78
At Boston, Ricky Davis scored 17 of his 32 points in the third quarter to help Boston past New Orleans.
Raef LaFrentz added 18 points and Paul Pierce had 16 and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who have won six of their last eight home games.
David West led the Hornets with 21 points, 19 coming in the first half. J.R. Smith added 16 points and was the only other New Orleans player in double figures.
Rockets 97, Bucks 80
At Milwaukee, Tracy McGrady scored 41 points, including 14 straight in the fourth quarter, to lead Houston.
Andrew Bogut, who finished with 10 points for the Bucks, hit a short basket to make it 76-75 just over a minute into the fourth before McGrady took over with his personal 14-0 run.
McGrady hit a pair of 3-pointers, a driving 10-footer, a turnaround fadeaway and two jump shots to give the Rockets a 90-75 lead with 5:21 left.
Nuggets 107, Raptors 101
At Denver, 81 points it was not. Carmelo Anthony's 37 were enough to lead Denver to its sixth consecutive win.
Toronto was still smarting a day after surrendering Kobe Bryant's 81 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. But after watching the film in the morning, Toronto put its embarrassment behind and gave the Nuggets a good game.
Kenyon Martin added 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Nuggets improved to 10-2 this month. Their winning streak is their longest since winning 10 straight in March and April of last season.
Mike James led Toronto with 22 points, Jalen Rose had 21 and Chris Bosh scored 18.
Jazz 89, Nets 78
At Salt Lake City, Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points and 13 rebounds to help Utah overcome Jason Kidd's triple-double.
Kidd posted his league-leading third triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the 70th of his career. However, Kidd missed 12 of his 15 field goal attempts. Mehmet Okur scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Jazz.
Richard Jefferson had 32 points, but New Jersey shot a season-low 33 percent, including 2-for-21 from 3-point range.
Clippers 96, Warriors 93
At Oakland, California, Elton Brand had 28 points and nine rebounds, Sam Cassell scored the final four points on free throws and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second half.
Cassell scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, hitting the go-ahead free throws with 1:10 to play. He added two more with 0.9 seconds left after Baron Davis botched Golden State's last chance to avoid an embarrassing collapse.
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
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