Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Pacers 106, Celtics 96
INDIANAPOLIS -- Jamaal Tinsley had a career-high 29 points and James Jones had a career-best 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead suspension-weakened Indiana over Boston.
It was the Pacers' second game without their three stars -- Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal -- and first since the team learned of the harsh punishment handed down by the NBA on Sunday. Several Pacers wore Jackson's and O'Neal's arm bands.
Artest was banned for the season, Jackson for 30 games and O'Neal for 25 for fighting with fans in Friday night's game against the Detroit Pistons.
Fred Jones had 16 points and 10 rebounds and the Pacers outrebounded Boston 45-33 and made 31 of 33 free throws.
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 20 points, but shot just 6-of-14 from the field.
Wizards 102, Raptors 86
WASHINGTON -- The Wizards won their third straight game under coach Eddie Jordan for the first time, dominating the boards and surviving another late Toronto rally.
Antawn Jamison scored 28 points and Gilbert Arenas had 26, but it was the 64-47 rebounding advantage, including 26-13 on the offensive boards, that allowed Washington to win three in a row for the first time since March 2003, during Doug Collins' last days as coach.
Jamison had 13 rebounds, Jared Jeffries had 12, Brendan Haywood 11 and Jarvis Hayes grabbed nine. The rebounding offset a 35 percent shooting performance in the first half, and the Wizards took control with a 25-7 third-quarter run that included two 3-pointers each from Arenas and Larry Hughes.
Hughes finished with 20 points and seven rebounds.
The Raptors have lost six of seven, their only victory coming when they set a franchise record by overcoming a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat San Antonio on Sunday. They trailed by 19 again after three quarters on Tuesday, then scored 12 straight points to cut the lead to seven.
Vince Carter, away from the booing home fans in Toronto, led the Raptors with 25 points.
Bobcats 91, Pistons 89
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Emeka Okafor had the best game of his young rookie season with 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Bobcats over Detroit.
The Bobcats won for just the second time this season, and became the first expansion team to beat the reigning NBA champion since Portland and Buffalo defeated the New York Knicks during the 1970-71 season.
The Pistons had all their players back from suspensions stemming from their brawl last week with the Indiana Pacers except for Ben Wallace, who sat out the second of six games.
Keith Bogans scored 18 points, Gerald Wallace had 17 points and Brevin Knight had 19 assists.
Chauncey Billups, suspended for Sunday night's game, came back to lead Detroit with 24 points. Richard Hamilton scored 14, and Prince and Antonio McDyess had 13 each.
Knicks 104, Hawks 88
NEW YORK -- Nazr Mohammed had another strong game against the team that traded him last season, scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to lead New York past Atlanta.
Stephon Marbury had 11 assists -- all in the first half -- and Jamal Crawford scored 17 as New York improved to .500 and moved past Boston and Toronto into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.
Marbury scored 16, and Kurt Thomas continued his recent strong play with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Antoine Walker scored 20 and Al Harrington 19 for the Hawks.
Mohammed was acquired in February when Knicks president Isiah Thomas sent Keith Van Horn to Milwaukee in a three-way trade that also netted Tim Thomas. Mohammed had 18 points and 13 rebounds last March in his first game against the Hawks, with whom he spent three seasons.
Trail Blazers 99, Heat 87
MIAMI -- Zach Randolph had 24 points and Derek Anderson added 19, helping Portland pull away in the second half for a win over Miami.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 16 for Portland, which hasn't beaten a sub-.500 team this season -- but moved to 4-1 when facing clubs with winning records.
Shaquille O'Neal had 17 points and 13 rebounds -- his seventh double-double in the last eight games for Miami, which shot 37.5 percent in the second half and fell to 1-4 against the Western Conference.
Portland used a 17-8 run over a 7:35 stretch of the second half to pull away. Eddie Jones' layup with 4:31 left in the third drew Miami to 64-60, but Portland hit five of its next six perimeter shots.
SuperSonics 103, Timberwolves 92
MINNEAPOLIS -- Rashard Lewis scored 27 points, Ray Allen added 24 and Seattle beat Minnesota.
Seattle made 10 of 19 3-points attempts. It was the fifth time this season the Sonics have made at least 10 3-pointers.
Lewis hit four of them, all during a 31-14 run that bridged the second and third quarters. Allen had 10 points during that span, shaking off a cold that sidelined him for practice on Monday.
Seattle also got a combined 39 points from three key reserves. Vladimir Radmanovic had 17 points, Antonio Daniels 12 and Danny Fortson 10. Daniels added 11 assists and Fortson seven rebounds.
Kevin Garnett led Minnesota with 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Wally Szczerbiak scored 16 points.
Associated Press