ATLANTA 87, TORONTO 84

ATLANTA Joe Johnson scored 28 points and Mike Bibby added 23 as the Atlanta Hawks posted a thrilling 87-84 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Josh Smith finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks, who erased a nine-point halftime deficit.

Atlanta took an 85-84 lead when Bibby sank a pair of free throws with 54 seconds remaining. Johnson drilled a fadeaway jumper with 12 seconds left to provide the final margin.

Chris Bosh had 22 points and 14 rebounds for Toronto, which made just 2-of-18 shots from 3-point range.

BOSTON 104, PHOENIX 87

BOSTON Rajon Rondo led a balanced attack with 23 points while Ray Allen added 20 as the Boston Celtics embarrassed the Phoenix Suns, 104-87, at TD Banknorth Garden.

Kevin Garnett added 16 points for the Celtics, who won their fifth straight and improved to 34-9 overall and 21-2 on their home court.

Shaquille ONeal had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns, who did not share the Super Bowl karma of their neighbors in the desert – the Arizona Cardinals – on this night.

The Celtics wasted no time taking complete control of the game in the opening 90 seconds, scoring the first three baskets of the game to take a 6-0 lead.

Steve Nash hit a running bank shot with 8:34 remaining in the first to draw the Suns within four, 11-7. That would be as close as the visitors would get the rest of the night.

DALLAS 95, PHILADELPHIA 93

PHILADELPHIA Dirk Nowitzki drilled a fadeaway 20-footer at the buzzer, lifting the Dallas Mavericks to a 95-93 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Nowitzki scored 24 points and Jason Kidd was 6-of-8 from 3-point range en route to 22 for Dallas, which squandered a 12-point lead in the final two minutes.

Andre Iguodala scored 18 points for Philadelphia, which had its seven-game winning streak snapped. The Sixers fell to 9-7 without star forward Elton Brand.

NEW YORK 102, CHICAGO 98

NEW YORK Quentin Richardson scored 24 points, leading the New York Knicks to a 102-98 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Chris Duhon scored 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and gave New York the lead for good by making a layup with 31 seconds remaining.

Luol Deng had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago, which enjoyed a 58-41 advantage on the boards.

HOUSTON 115, DENVER 113

HOUSTON Kenyon Martin missed two free throws with 2.6 seconds left, allowing the Houston Rockets to hold on for a 115-113 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Yao Ming scored 31 points and Rafer Alston had 18 and 11 assists for the Rockets, who have won five of their last six games.

Trailing by two in the waning seconds, Denver went to Martin, who was fouled from behind by Brent Barry as his point-blank layup spun out. He then missed the first free throw long before intentionally missing the second, which caromed to Yao as time expired.

J.R. Smith pulled the Nuggets within one, 114-113, with a deep 3-pointer with 1:05 left. After some empty possessions, Aaron Brooks went 1-of-2 from the line for Houston with six ticks remaining to provide the final margin.

Smith scored 24 points and Nene added 23 and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost two straight.

SAN ANTONIO 86, CHARLOTTE 84

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina Tim Duncan had 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists and a key block late to help the San Antonio Spurs to an 86-84 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Tony Parker had 13 points and eight assists for the Spurs, who have won eight of their nine meetings with Charlotte.

Raja Bell poured in a season-high 25 points for the Bobcats, who had a chance to tie it late. Raymond Felton drove the lane but had his floater was swatted by Duncan.

Boris Diaw grabbed the loose ball and launched an uncontested 3-pointer that was short at the buzzer.

GOLDEN STATE 119, WASHINGTON 98

OAKLAND, California Jamal Crawford had 28 points and eight assists and Stephen Jackson added 26 for the Golden State Warriors, who cruised to an easy 119-98 win over the lowly Washington Wizards.

Golden State is in the midst of a season-long, seven-game homestand, having won three of its last four games. The Warriors have won two straight for the first time since December 8-10.

The Warriors took their largest lead of the game at 15 points after a 3-pointer from the baseline by Kelenna Azubuike with 6:13 left.

Anthony Morrows 3-pointer with 3:30 left made it an 18-point advantage and many happy fans headed for the exits with the outcome of the game decided.

NEW ORLEANS 103, INDIANA 100

NEW ORLEANS Chris Paul drilled a 3-pointer as time expired, lifting the New Orleans Hornets to a dramatic 103-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Paul collected 27 points and nine assists and Peja Stojakovic added 26 points for the Hornets, who responded to Danny Grangers game-tying shot from the arc just seconds before.

Granger tied the game at 100-100 with 2.5 ticks left, when he took a dribble hand-off from Jarrett Jack and nailed a 3-pointer with Rasual Butlers hand in his face.

After a timeout, Paul quickly dribbled to the right wing and uncorked a fadeaway 3-pointer, which was open thanks to Indianas notoriously lackadaisical defense.

Granger scored 30 points for the Pacers, who had their brief two-game winning streak snapped with another close loss. Three of Indianas last four defeats have come back three points or less.

MINNESOTA 94, LA CLIPPERS 86

LOS ANGELES Al Jefferson had 20 points and 17 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves stayed red hot with a 94-86 victory over the shorthanded Los Angeles Clippers.

Craig Smith added 20 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have won seven of eight and nine of their last 12 games.

Rookie Eric Gordon recorded 25 points for Los Angeles, which has lost 13 of 14 and had just nine healthy players available.

DETROIT 87, MEMPHIS 79

MEMPHIS, Tennessee Allen Iverson scored 27 points to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 87-79 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Rodney Stuckey and Richard Hamilton scored 14 points apiece for the Pistons, who snapped a five-game losing streak.

The Grizzlies managed just 10 points in the fourth quarter on 4-of-20 shooting to surrender a 69-67 edge after three. The contest was tied at 77-77 with 4:22 left before Detroit used a 10-2 run to put away the game.

Rookie O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay led Memphis with 15 points apiece.

PORTLAND 102, MILWAUKEE 85

PORTLAND, Oregon Another day, another home victory for the Portland Trail Blazers.

On the strength of big games by Marcus Aldridge and Greg Oden, the Blazers improved to 15-4 at home, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, 102-85.

Aldridge, who scored the games opening field goal, went 9-of-14 from the field and finished with 24 points. Oden had the best game of his rookie season, scoring a career-high 24 points while bringing in 15 rebounds.

Portland pulled away in the fourth quarter, extending their lead to 75-65 on the strength of consecutive scoring drives from Oden.

Travis Outlaw added 17 points and rookie Rudy Fernandez had 13 for the Blazers.

LA LAKERS 105, CLEVELAND 88

LOS ANGELES Kobe Bryant had 20 points and 12 assists, outdueling LeBron James and leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-88 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pau Gasol scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Los Angeles turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 75-66 lead after three quarters. The Lakers pushed the advantage up to 91-73 before the Cavaliers closed within seven on a James tip-in with 3:32 left.

Derek Fisher hit a jumper to snap the Cleveland run and Trevor Ariza put the game away with eight straight points as Los Angeles shot 52 percent (44-of-84).

James, who guarded Bryant for most of the night in a titillating matchup between the leagues top two stars, had 23 points and nine rebounds – but shot 9-of-25 from the floor and committed six turnovers.

Posted on January 20th, 2009 by admin
Filed under: NBA basketball news