With NBA scoring leader LeBron James missing his second straight game with a sprained finger, the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 80-70 on Sunday.
Last Tuesday, James and the Cavaliers handed the Celtics one of their two losses of the season. Five days later Boston improved to a NBA-best 14-2 and was led by Ray Allen with 20 points and Rajon Rondo with 12. Kevin Garnett had only nine points in 26 minutes and Paul Pierce scored seven in 30 minutes.
Cleveland was led by Zydrunas Ilgauskas with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Sasha Pavlovic with 11 points. Drew Gooden had a double-double at halftime and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Spurs 100, Trail Blazers 79
At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 27 points, and San Antonio beat Portland after losing Tim Duncan in the second quarter with an injured knee and ankle.
Brent Barry added 17 points for the Spurs in their third straight victory.
Duncan bruised his right knee and sprained his right ankle in the first half and did not return to the game.
The team said all of Duncan's ligaments appeared stable, but that he would undergo an MRI exam yesterday.
Martell Webster and Travis Outlaw had 17 points each for Portland.
Pacers 101, Clippers 95
At Los Angeles, Jamaal Tinsley scored 10 of his 29 points in the final four minutes, and Jermaine O'Neal added 20 points and 15 rebounds for Indiana.
Chris Kaman had 22 points and 22 rebounds for Los Angeles, 2-9 since a win at Indiana on Nov. 7 that capped their 4-0 start.
The Clippers' injury woes grew a bit worse when No. 1 draft pick Al Thornton sprained his left ankle and left the game with 1:22 to go in the first half.
Magic 104, Lakers 97
At Los Angeles, Hedo Turkoglu sparked a pivotal 9-0 run with a 3-pointer that put Orlando ahead to stay and added a layup with 55 seconds left.
Rashard Lewis led the Magic with 18 points, and Dwight Howard had 17 points and eight rebounds.
Orlando is off to a 15-4 start in its first season under coach Stan Van Gundy, matching the best start in the franchise's 19-year history.
Turkoglu finished with 14 points, and is the only Orlando player to reach double figures in every game this season.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points, 19 in the first quarter. Lamar Odom had 19 points and 19 rebounds.
Pistons 118, Nets 95
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Jason Maxiell had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Richard Hamilton added 19 points for Detroit.
With Antonio McDyess in early foul trouble, Maxiell came off the bench and pulled down six offensive rebounds in the first half. Detroit won for the sixth time in seven games, and beat New Jersey for the fifth straight time.
Vince Carter led New Jersey with 22 points.
Suns 115, Knicks 104
At New York, Grant Hill scored a season-high of 28 points for Phoenix, nine during a fourth-quarter flurry that broke open a close game.
Amare Stoudemire added 28 points and 12 rebounds to help the Suns win for the 10th time in 12 games. Phoenix, opening a five-game road trip, also got 15 points from Shawn Marion, and nine points and 15 assists from Steve Nash.
Hill shot 13-of-17 in his highest-scoring game in nearly two years.
Eddy Curry and Stephon Marbury scored 21 points apiece for the Knicks, and Zach Randolph had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Nuggets 115, Heat 89
At Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points, and Kenyon Martin added a season-high 20 for Denver.
Allen Iverson also scored 20 points, and Marcus Camby had 21 rebounds -- his fifth 20-rebound game of the season -- for the Nuggets, who led by 33 in the second half.
Dwyane Wade had 13 points for Miami, and Ricky Davis and Daequan Cook had 11 each.
Warriors 109, SuperSonics 96
At Seattle, Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington led Golden State with 20 points apiece, and Andris Biedrins had 18 points and 16 rebounds.
Monta Ellis added 18 points, and Baron Davis had 14 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Golden State is 9-1 in its last 10 games after opening 0-6.
The game was delayed about 15 minutes in the first quarter when arena officials noticed a small fire coming from a spotlight attached to the bottom of the scoreboard above the court and smoke shooting from the top of the scoreboard.
The scoreboard was lowered just above the floor, Seattle firefighters used an extinguisher to put out the flames and detached the spotlight from the scoreboard.
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