TORONTO 100, LA CLIPPERS 76

TORONTO Chris Bosh had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Shawn Marion added 14 points and 13 boards and the Toronto Raptors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 100-76.

Jose Calderon scored 15 points and Joey Graham added 13 for the Raptors, who have won five of six against the Clippers.

The Raptors had lost nine of 10 coming in but had little difficulty handling the struggling Clippers, leading by as many as 28 in a runaway fourth quarter. Toronto outrebounded Los Angeles, 57-34.

Zach Randolph scored 20 points and Baron Davis added 12 for the Clippers, who have won just two of their past 12.

The Clippers have not won on the road since a 121-97 victory at Atlanta on February 7.

CLEVELAND 96, NEW JERSEY 88

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey LeBron James had 30 points and 11 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their ninth straight game, beating the New Jersey Nets 96-88 to tie a franchise record with their 57th victory.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 18 points and became the career leader in blocked shots for the Cavaliers, who improved the NBAs best record to 57-13.

Vince Carter had 25 points and nine rebounds, but without injured All-Star point guard Devin Harris the Nets simply lacked the firepower to hang with the NBAs toughest defensive team.

James finished two assists shy of a fifth triple-double during the winning streak on a night where he was content to let his big men handle the scoring load early.

MIAMI 101, DETROIT 96

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan Dwyane Wade scored 39 points, Udonis Haslem hit a short jumper with 6.3 seconds left and the Miami Heat beat the short-handed Detroit Pistons 101-96.

Wade also blocked two shots in the final 30 seconds, helping fifth-place Miami stretch its lead over Detroit to three games in the Eastern Conference standings.

Rodney Stuckey scored 24 points and Antonio McDyess had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the seventh-place Pistons.

Detroit led for most of the game despite missing three key playersRichard Hamilton (groin), Rasheed Wallace (calf) and Allen Iverson (back). Iverson has missed 13 straight games, while Wallace has been out for seven and Hamilton four.

HOUSTON 87, SAN ANTONIO 85

SAN ANTONIO Luis Scola dropped in the winning layup with 11.2 seconds left after a bullet pass from Yao Ming, and the Houston Rockets rallied in the fourth to wrest first place in the division from the San Antonio Spurs in an 87-85 victory.

Ron Artest scored 24 as Houston won its fifth straight to reclaim the top spot in the division for the first time since Christmas Day.

Tim Duncan scored 23 points for the Spurs, who watched its longtime grip as the No. 2 team in West disappear when Matt Bonners 3-pointer at the buzzer clanked off the rim.

Scola finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds for Houston, which trailed by five midway through the fourth before storming back.

OKLAHOMA CITY 97, MINNESOTA 90

MINNEAPOLIS Kevin Durant scored 30 points, Jeff Green added 17 and Oklahoma City beat lethargic Minnesota Timberwolves 97-90.

Durant has scored more than 20 points in 16 of his last 17 games for the Thunder, who improved to 7-5 in their last 12 games. His lone exception during that span came Feb. 27 at Dallas, when he logged only eight minutes after spraining his right ankle.

Craig Smith led Minnesota with 19 points. Bobby Brown fueled a late Wolves run with 12 points in the fourth quarter. Rodney Carney had 12 of his 15 points in the fourth and Kevin Love finished with 10.

NEW ORLEANS 99, GOLDEN STATE 89

NEW ORLEANS Chris Paul scored 27 points and David West added 23 points, leading the New Orleans Hornets to a 99-89 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

The Hornets, who won their third in a row during a four-game home stretch, pulled within 1games of the Houston Rockets in the Southwest division. They trail the San Antonio Spurs, who lost to the Rockets earlier Sunday, by a game.

Stephen Jackson led Golden State with 22 points and 10 rebounds.Kelenna Azubuike added 16 points after missing his first eight shots.

The Warriors, who shot a season-best 56.5 percent against Philadelphia on Friday, connected on only 13 of 43 attempts in the first half. The Hornets led by as many as 23 points in the third quarter and were ahead by double digits for the entire second half until Golden State briefly pulled within nine in the final two minutes.

PHILADELPHIA 112, SACRAMENTO 100

SACRAMENTO, California Andre Iguodala made his first 10 shots and scored 27 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers never trailed in beating the Sacramento Kings, 112-100, to end a two-game skid.

Thaddeus Young scored 22 points for the 76ers, who shot nearly 60 percent and never let their lead fall below double digits after taking a 17-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Louis Williams scored 18 points, Marreese Speights had 15 points and Willie Green added 10 for Philadelphia.

Francisco Garcia made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points for the Kings, who outscored the 76ers, 26-17, in the fourth quarter but couldnt get closer than 11.

Posted on March 23rd, 2009 by admin
Filed under: NBA basketball news