New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin, right, drives past Sacramento Kings' DeMarcus Cousins during the second half on Wednesday night. (Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)
Knicks 100, Kings 85
NEW YORK — Jeremy Lin put aside his record-setting scoring to hand out a career-best 13 assists, and the New York Knicks got back to .500 with their seventh straight victory, 100-85 over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
Lin added 10 points, focusing more on his role as a distributor while others torched the Kings for 51 per cent shooting. Landry Fields had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Bill Walker and Steve Novak each chipped in 14 points.
Lin scored 136 points in his first five starts, most by any NBA player since the NBA merged with the ABA in 1976. His three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left Tuesday allowed the Knicks to pull out a 90-87 victory over Toronto in a game they trailed nearly the whole way.
Magic 103, 76ers 87
ORLANDO, Fla. — Ryan Anderson had seven three-pointers and 27 points, Dwight Howard added 17 points and 14 rebounds and the Orlando Magic shot their way past the Philadelphia 76ers, 103-87 on Wednesday night.
Orlando made 15 of 25 attempts from three-point range, and had all five starters reach double figures for the second consecutive game.
Jason Richardson had 14 points, including four three-pointers.
The Magic have won three straight and seven of nine since losing to the Sixers last month.
Louis Williams led Philadelphia with 21 points and seven assists, and Andre Iguodala had 15 points. The loss ended the 76ers' winning streak at two.
Pistons 98, Celtics 88
BOSTON — Rodney Stuckey scored 25 points and Ben Gordon hit three three-pointers in the opening 4:09 of the fourth quarter during a game-breaking spree that carried the Detroit Pistons to a 98-88 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
Greg Monroe had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Gordon finished with 22 points for the Pistons, who won for the fifth time in seven games.
Rajon Rondo had a season-high 35 points for Boston one game after he recorded a triple-double. Chris Wilcox, starting in place of the injured Kevin Garnett, had 17 points and nine rebounds.
Celtics forward Paul Pierce scored just 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting, and Ray Allen was held to eight free throws until getting the final basket in the closing seconds to finish with 10 points.
Garnett was a late scratch with a hip flexor.
Grizzlies 105, Nets 100
NEWARK, N.J. — Rudy Gay scored 25 points and Tony Allen matched his season high with 21 to help the Memphis Grizzlies beat New Jersey 105-100 on Wednesday night, handing the error-prone Nets their season-high seventh straight loss.
Marreese Speights added a season-high 20 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, and the Grizzlies won for the fourth time in five games. Mike Conley had 16 points and 10 assists for the Grizzlies, who surrendered at least 100 points for only the fourth time this season.
Deron Williams scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half for the Nets, who committed four turnovers in the final 2:40 in handing the game to Memphis. Anthony Morrow added 17 points, hitting 3-of-8 from long range.
Cavaliers 98, Pacers 87
CLEVELAND — Rookie Kyrie Irving scored 22 points in his return after missing three games with a concussion, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 98-87 win Wednesday night over the Indiana Pacers, who dropped their fifth straight.
Irving played for the first time since Feb. 7, when he banged his head following a collision in Miami. The 19-year-old was only cleared to play in the morning by Cavs doctors, who followed the NBA's new guidelines on head injuries during his recovery.
Irving made the Cavs more complete, but they're still without centre Anderson Varejao, out indefinitely with a broken wrist. Semih Erden started for Varejao and scored a career-high 18.
Darren Collison scored 18 and Roy Hibbert had 17 for Indiana, which was without leading scorer Danny Granger because of a sprained ankle.
Timberwolves 102, Bobcats 90
MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Love had 30 points and 18 rebounds to help the Minnesota Timberwolves hand the Charlotte Bobcats their 16th loss in a row, 102-90 on Wednesday night.
Nikola Pekovic added 21 points and 11 rebounds in 43 minutes for Minnesota. The Timberwolves snapped a four-game skid of their own.
Kemba Walker had 21 points and six rebounds, and Corey Maggette scored 18 points for the Bobcats, who have lost 22 of the last 23 games. D.J. Augustin played for the first time in 12 games, but his return wasn't enough to lift Charlotte out of the worst losing streak in franchise history.
Rockets 96, Thunder 95
HOUSTON — Kevin Martin tied a season high with 32 points, including the winning free throws with 23.6 seconds remaining, to lead the Houston Rockets to a 96-95 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
Kevin Durant missed three shots in the last 16 seconds and Houston finally grabbed the rebound on the last miss to secure the win. Goran Dragic missed a pair of free throws for Houston after that, but the Thunder didn't have time to get down the court for another shot.
Martin's performance came a night after he went scoreless for the first time in six years in Houston's 93-83 loss to Memphis. He didn't score in the fourth quarter until his free throws for the win.
Durant led the Thunder with 33 points and Russell Westbrook added 26 points.
Mavericks 102, Nuggets 84
DALLAS — Shawn Marion had 16 points and 10 rebounds, leading six Dallas players scoring in double figures as the Mavericks stretched their winning streak to five in a row with a 102-84 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.
Dallas jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first 3 minutes and was never really challenged.
The five straight wins match a season high for Dallas. They have come since a rare three-day break between games that followed three consecutive losses.
Vince Carter had 15 points for the Mavericks. Lamar Odom scored 14, Jason Kidd 13 and Dirk Nowitzki 12. None of the starters played more than 27 minutes.
Rudy Fernandez led the Nuggets with 14 points. Al Harrington, another reserve, had 13.
Hornets 92, Bucks 89
MILWAUKEE — Marco Belinelli made a career-high six three-pointers and scored a season-high 22 points to lead the short-handed New Orleans Hornets to a 92-89 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
Chris Kaman added 18 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans. Gusvtavo Ayon had 12 points and 12 rebounds, as New Orleans (6-23) won its second straight game for the first time since starting the season 2-0.
Ersan Ilyasova led the Bucks with a season-high 23 points, two off his career high, but the Bucks dropped their third straight and sixth of eight to fall further out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, with the surging New York Knicks now in the No. 8 spot.
Hawks 101, Suns 99
PHOENIX — Josh Smith matched his season high with 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to rally the Atlanta Hawks to a 101-99 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
Smith, whose career best is 32, had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the second half as Atlanta snapped a two-game skid and won for only the third time in eight games.
Victoria's Steve Nash, back after a night off as the Suns played their third game in three days, had 22 points and 16 assists. Grant Hill, who also sat out Tuesday night in a loss at Denver, scored 18 points for Phoenix.
Willie Green added 20 for Atlanta, including 4 of 6 three-pointers.
Trail Blazers 93, Warriors 91
OAKLAND, Calif. — Gerald Wallace scored 24 points and Jamal Crawford hit a key three-pointer and a pair of late free throws to lift the Portland Trail Blazers over the Golden State Warriors 93-91 Wednesday night.
Nicolas Batum added 17 points for the Trail Blazers, who had lost 11 of their last 12 in Oakland.
David Lee matched his season high with 29 points to lead the Warriors, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Lee also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Crawford, who finished with 14 points, hit a long three-pointer to put Portland ahead 91-90 with 1:03 left. Nate Robinson made one of two from the foul line to tie it with 51 seconds remaining before Crawford knocked down a pair of free throws with 44 seconds to go for the final points of the game.
Spurs 113, Raptors 106
TORONTO — Tony Parker scored 34 points and had 14 assists as the San Antonio Spurs extended their winning streak to nine games with a 113-106 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Forward Tiago Splitter had 13 for San Antonio (21-9), while shooting guard Danny Green had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Jose Calderon had 16 points and 11 assists for Toronto (9-22), which lost its fourth game in a row. DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points, while Amir Johnson had 10 points and seven rebounds.
The game was the Spurs' fifth straight on the road, part of a nine-game trip through the month of February while the rodeo is in San Antonio.
Splitter and Parker led the Spurs offence in the fourth quarter. Splitter scored eight points in the final period, while Parker had 14.
Although Toronto played hard defence, forcing several turnovers and bad shots, Parker and Splitter were not to be denied. Parker was particularly effective, going 8 for 8 from the free-throw line as the Raptors repeatedly fouled him.
Clippers 102, Wizards 84
LOS ANGELES — Blake Griffin had 23 points and 15 rebounds, Caron Butler added 21 points and Randy Foye scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter against his former team, leading the Los Angeles Clippers to a 102-84 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Five players scored in double digits for the Clippers, who increased their lead in the Pacific Division to two games over the idle Lakers with their ninth victory in 12 contests.
The Clippers took an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter before John Wall cut it to 75-72 on a 16-footer with 10:12 remaining. But Foye, starting at shooting guard because of Chauncey Billups' season-ending Achilles injury, completely took during the next 3 1/2 minutes.
Foye started his one-man assault with a 3-pointer, then made two free throws and hustled after an offensive rebound to set up another 3 by Mo Williams. Foye made two more free throws and capped his run with a 3-pointer that made it 88-76 with 6:59 to play.
