Allen Iverson scored 41 points and Chris Webber had 17 points and 13 rebounds, leading the Philadelphia 76ers over the undermanned Sacramento Kings 109-103 in the NBA on Tuesday.
The Kings were without Peja Stojakovic because he stayed back at the hotel after the team reportedly agreed to send him to Indiana for Ron Artest earlier in the day. However, the trade fell through, though Artest left open the possibility that something could still happen.
"As far as distractions go, not having Peja was the biggest thing," Mike Bibby said. "We still don't know what's going on."
Bibby had a career-high 44 points and Kevin Martin added 20 as the Kings lost their third straight game. Sacramento has won at least 55 games in four straight seasons, but is last in the Pacific Division.
The Sixers have won three in a row, improving to 21-20 at the halfway point of the season. Philadelphia, which came in allowing the third-most points in the NBA, reverted back to its usual form on defense after consecutive solid efforts.
The Sixers held Memphis and Minnesota to under 90 points each, but allowed the Kings to shoot 47.6 percent.
Cavaliers 96, Pacers 66
At Cleveland, LeBron James had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as Cleveland rolled past Indiana, which may be on the verge of trading Ron Artest.
James scored 12 points in the third quarter -- one fewer than the Pacers -- and the Cavaliers outscored Indiana 27-13. Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 18 points, Sasha Pavlovic a season-high 16 and Drew Gooden 14 with 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, back home following a 1-5 trip to the West Coast.
Cleveland held Indiana to a season-low in points and the Pacers shot a season-low 33 percent.
Stephen Jackson scored 17 points to lead Indiana, but Jermaine O'Neal had only seven and 15 rebounds before re-injuring his left ankle in the fourth.
Heat 94, Grizzlies 82
At Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half, helping Miami pull away from Memphis.
Shaquille O'Neal had 20 points and 15 rebounds in only 30 minutes for Miami, which won its 51st consecutive home game when leading after three quarters. Former Memphis guard Jason Williams added 14 points and six assists for the Heat, who have won two straight.
Bobby Jackson had a season-high 22 points for Memphis, which also got 12 from Shane Battier and Mike Miller. Pau Gasol added 11 for the Grizzlies,.
Pistons 107, Timberwolves 83
At Minneapolis, Chauncey Billups beat his old team by five points in the third quarter, leading Detroit to a win and giving Pistons coach Flip Saunders a satisfying return to Minnesota.
Billups finished with 27 points, eight assists and seven rebounds after outscoring the Timberwolves 18-13 by himself in the third. Antonio McDyess had 16 points, and Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace each had 15 points for the Pistons (34-5), who won their eighth straight game and showed the bravado of a team with the NBA's best record.
Kevin Garnett had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota (19-20).
The Indiana Pacers' trade of volatile NBA star Ron Artest to the Sacramento Kings for Serbia and Montenegro forward Peja Stojakovic was stopped on Tuesday.
Indiana reportedly agreed to the deal, but coach Rick Carlisle said on Tuesday it wasn't going to happen, after all.
"There is no trade right now and there may not be a trade," Carlisle said. "There's nothing to talk about because there is no trade."
The deal would have ended a lengthy standoff between the Pacers and Artest, who was deactivated in December after requesting a trade and was suspended for most of last season for his role in one of the worst brawls in US sports history.
ESPN and the Indianapolis Star had reported earlier Tuesday that the deal was imminent, pending league approval.
Artest led the league in steals and was the Pacers' second-leading scorer at 19.4 points a game before being deactivated after publicly requesting a trade in early December. In five years with the Pacers, Artest was an All-Star once and was the NBA's defensive player of the year in 2003-2004.
"He's got to be a little confused right now if they wanted to trade him," Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim said of Stojakovic, who had traveled with the team but stayed behind at the hotel in Philadelphia.
Stojakovic has has a career average of 18.3 points a game.
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