Carlos Boozer (5) of the Chicago Bulls goes to the basket against Shelden Williams of the New Jersey Nets during the game at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Bulls 108, Nets 87
NEWARK — Carlos Boozer scored 24 points and the Chicago Bulls beat the New Jersey Nets 109-87 Monday night.
Luol Deng scored 19 points and C.J. Watson added 14 points and 10 assists in place of Derrick Rose. The reigning league MVP played less than 11 minutes in the first half and the Bulls said at halftime that he would not return because of back spasms.
Chicago is 4-2 six games into a nine-game road trip that is the Bulls' longest of the season.
Deron Williams scored 25 points for the Nets, who only dressed nine players.
Starting shooting guard Anthony Morrow missed the game due to the death of his grandmother, while Brook Lopez, Damion James, Mehmet Okur, MarShon Brooks and DeShawn Stevenson were out with injuries.
Morrow is expected to return to the team for Wednesday's game against the Pistons.
Keith Bogans started in place of Morrow. The Nets signed Bogans last week. The ninth-year veteran played for the Bulls last season and averaged 4.4 points and 1.2 assists while starting in all 82 games.
Sixers 95, Lakers 90
PHILADELPHIA — Lou Williams nailed the go-ahead three-pointer, scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and spoiled Kobe Bryant's record-setting night while leading the Philadelphia 76ers to 95-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night.
With "Beat L.A.!" echoing through a second straight sellout crowd, Williams hit the tying jumper, then followed with the 3 for a 91-88 lead. He hit another floater to make it 93-88, part of a fantastic fourth that saw him hold off Bryant and help the Sixers improve to 13-3 at home.
Bryant scored 24 of his 28 points in the first half. He passed former teammate Shaquille O'Neal and moved into fifth place on the NBA's career scoring list. Bryant got 24 points in a hurry to pass O'Neal, but stumbled down the stretch and missed nine of his 10 shots in the fourth.
Andrew Bynum had 20 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers. Pau Gasol had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Clippers 107, Magic 102
ORLANDO — Chris Paul scored 29 points, including 11 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, and the Los Angeles Clippers slipped by the Orlando Magic 107-102 on Monday night.
Blake Griffin and Chauncey Billups each added 18 points for the Clippers.
The Clippers have won six of the last seven games and snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Magic. But they may have lost Billups for an extended period after he slipped and left in the fourth quarter with a left Achilles injury.
Dwight Howard had 33 points and 14 rebounds, and Jason Richardson 20 points for the Magic.
Orlando's loss ends a three-game win streak. It came as point guard Jameer Nelson returned to the lineup after missing five consecutive games with concussion symptoms, but had 15 points and 12 assists.
Suns 99, Hawks 90
ATLANTA — Steve Nash scored 24 points and the Phoenix Suns broke open a close game with a 24-6 run to close the third quarter and beat the Atlanta Hawks 99-90 on Monday night.
Nash, whose 38th birthday is Tuesday, had 11 assists and shot 9 of 12 — including each of his four three-pointers. Channing Frye had 19 points, including a three-pointer and another basket in the closing minutes to help the Suns stop Atlanta's final comeback attempt.
After trailing by 16 in the second quarter, the Hawks recovered to trail only 60-58 after back-to-back three-pointers by Joe Johnson and Josh Smith in the third period. Victoria guard Nash, who had a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first half, added another three before the shot clock expired to help the Suns launch the decisive run to lead 84-64 entering the final period.
Smith had 18 points, and Johnson had 17.
Knicks 99, Jazz 88
NEW YORK — Jeremy Lin scored a career-high 28 points in his first career start, Steve Novak added a season-best 19, and the New York Knicks overcame the absence of Amare Stoudemire and early loss of Carmelo Anthony to beat the Utah Jazz 99-88 on Monday night.
Stoudemire left the team to join his family in Florida after older brother Hazell was killed there earlier Monday in a car crash, then Anthony left after just six minutes with a strained right groin.
Despite missing two all-stars and using a lineup of second-teamers, the Knicks won their second straight thanks to another remarkable performance from Lin, the former Harvard point guard.
Al Jefferson scored 22 points in a disappointing effort for the Jazz in the opener of a brief two-game road trip.
Kings 100, Hornets 92
NEW ORLEANS — DeMarcus Cousins had 28 points and 19 rebounds, and the Sacramento Kings erased an 18-point deficit en route to a 100-92 victory over the slumping New Orleans Hornets on Monday night.
Tyreke Evans scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, when Sacramento took its first lead on Marcus Thornton's free throw with 6:24 left. Isaiah Thomas scored 17, including a 31-foot 3 with 2:15 to go that gave the Kings a 94-88 lead. Thornton added 12 points.
Greivis Vasquez scored 20 points and Marco Belinelli 18 points for New Orleans, which has lost six straight. Emeka Okafor scored a season-high 19 points and Chris Kaman added 10 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks in his return from a weeklong absence while the Hornets tried to trade him.
Spurs 89, Grizzlies 84
MEMPHIS — Tony Parker scored 21 points, and Tim Duncan added 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to an 89-84 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
Duncan scored 13 of his points in the second half as the Spurs opened a nine-game road trip with a win.
Marc Gasol scored 22 points to lead Memphis, which led 73-67 entering the final period. Mike Conley scored 19 and Rudy Gay had 18 for the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies trailed by 13 at 61-48 early in the third quarter, but rallied behind a 25-6 run to end the period. Memphis took its first lead, 66-63, since the opening quarter on O.J. Mayo's three-pointer with 2:11 to go in the third quarter.
But the Grizzlies couldn't sustain the momentum, missing their first nine shots in the final period and allowing the Spurs to regain the lead.
Shooting 5 of 7 on three-pointers in the first half, San Antonio led by as many as 14 late in the second quarter. Matt Bonner and Gary Neal connected on two three-pointers apiece and Kawhi Leonard had the other.
Rockets 99, Nuggets 90
DENVER — Luis Scola scored 25 points and the Houston Rockets handed the injury-riddled Denver Nuggets their third straight loss, 99-90 on Monday night.
The Nuggets not only lost for the fifth time in six games but they lost budding star forward Danilo Gallinari, who rolled his left ankle in the third quarter. X-rays revealed a chip fracture of the foot and he was scheduled for further tests Tuesday "for a definitive diagnosis," the team said.
Gallinari had 14 points when he went down with 9:38 left in the third quarter. He was replaced by Rudy Fernandez, who also scored 14 points to top Denver's makeshift lineup.
Kyle Lowry added 20 points for Houston, which won for just the fourth time in a dozen road games. Chase Budinger had 16 points on the strength of five 3-pointers, his last one giving Houston a seven-point lead with a minute left.
Thunder 111, Trail Blazers 107
PORTLAND — Kevin Durant had 33 points, including a dunk with 2.9 seconds left in overtime, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 111-107 on Monday night.
Russell Westbrook added 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, who upped their NBA-best record to 19-5.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 39 points for Portland, who led 103-101 with 6 seconds left in regulation before a goaltending call that drew the ire of the Rose Garden crowd and seemed to take the energy out of the Blazers.
With the game knotted at 103 to force overtime, Westbrook hit a jumper and James Harden added a fast-break dunk to give the Thunder a 107-103 lead. Jamal Crawford's pull-up jumper narrowed it to 109-107 for the Blazers, but Durant dunked with 2.9 seconds left to put it away.
