WASHINGTON (AP) -Gilbert Arenas made a surprise return Wednesday night after 66 games away, but Ramon Sessions provided the Arenas-like dramatics with a 19-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Milwaukee Bucks a 110-109 victory over the Wizards.
The Bucks, who never led by more than one point, set up the perfect inbounds play to win the game. With 1.1 seconds left, Royal Ivey threw the ball in to Andrew Bogut, who found Sessions open in the corner. There was barely a tick left on the clock as the ball left Sessions’ hands, but the shot was clearly good upon instant replay review.
Until then, the evening belonged to Arenas, who scored 17 points and made a pair of free throws with 15 seconds to play to give the Wizards the lead. Arenas played 19 minutes and shot 5-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 on free throws.
Celtics 92, Pacers 77
BOSTON (AP) – Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Celtics tied the NBA record for the best single-season turnaround.
With the league’s best record at 60-15, the Celtics have 36 more wins than last season when they finished 24-58, the NBA’s second worst mark. The only other team to improve by that much was the San Antonio Spurs, who went from 20-62 in 1996-97 to 56-26 the next season, Tim Duncan’s first.
Boston won its fifth straight and lowered its magic number for clinching the No. 1 seed to two.
The Pacers were led by Danny Granger with 14 points.
Cavaliers 118, Bobcats 114
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – LeBron James scored 29 points before fouling out for the only the third time in his career and wasn’t on the floor when Cleveland snapped a six-game road skid.
James was called for his sixth foul when he reached in on Charlotte’s Jason Richardson at the top of his drive to the basket with Cleveland leading 104-101 with 3:56 left.
Then Wally Szczerbiak hit a jumper, Devin Brown hit two free throws and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had two buckets as the Cavaliers took a 113-106 lead. Richardson hit two 3-pointers to get the Bobcats to 116-114, but Brown, who had 20 points, made two free throws with 20 seconds left to put it away.
Anderson Varejao had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Ilgauskas added 16 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland.
Richardson had 31 points, Emeka Okafor matched a season high with 25 and Gerald Wallace scored 21 for the Bobcats.
Hornets 106, Heat 77
MIAMI (AP) – Tyson Chandler was a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor, and his 20-point, 10-rebound effort helped the New Orleans Hornets remain atop the Western Conference standings.
David West scored 22 points and Chris Paul added 14 points and 10 assists for the Hornets, who finished 5-1 on their six-game road trip through the East.
Chris Quinn finished with 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for Miami, which lost its fifth straight. The Heat are 5-42 since Christmas.
Grizzlies 130, Knicks 114
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Javaris Crittenton scored 23 points, Rudy Gay added 21, and the Grizzlies had their best offensive performance this season in a win over the Knicks, who hired Donnie Walsh as their new president earlier in the day.
Michael Conley added 18 points, Juan Carlos Navarro had 16 and Mike Miller 15 as eight Grizzlies reached double figures.
Zach Randolph led New York with 27 points. The Knicks lost their fourth straight overall, its sixth in a row on the road and the ninth in 10 games.
Hawks 127, Raptors 120, OT
ATLANTA (AP) – Mike Bibby hit a tying 3-pointer in regulation, Josh Smith made two in overtime and the Hawks won their fifth straight.
The Hawks increased their lead for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot to four games over Indiana, which lost 92-77 at Boston.
Chris Bosh had 24 for Toronto, and T.J. Ford finished with 23 points and 13 assists.
Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 28 points. Bibby had 26 and Smith finished with 24.
Jazz 117, Timberwolves 100
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Mehmet Okur made four 3-pointers and scored 22 points in a win for Utah.
Deron Williams had 19 points and 14 assists for his 49th double-double of the season as the Jazz won for the 24th time in 25 home games and improved to 34-4 at EnergySolutions Arena this season.
For the 10th time this season, the Jazz had seven players score in double figures. Carlos Boozer and Ronnie Price each scored 12 points.
Marko Jaric led Minnesota with 18 points and Rashad McCants had 17 points.
Mavericks 111, Warriors 86
DALLAS (AP) – Dirk Nowitzki unexpectedly returned to the starting lineup and scored 18 points after missing four games with a high ankle sprain, and the Mavericks finally beat a winning team since acquiring Jason Kidd.
Jason Terry equaled his season high with 31 points and Josh Howard added 28 for the Mavericks.
Kidd matched a season-high 17 assists and had 11 rebounds and five points for the Mavericks, who had been 11-10 since getting the All-Star point guard in a trade from New Jersey at the All-Star break. Dallas was 0-10 against teams with winning records with Kidd.
Clippers 102, SuperSonics 84
SEATTLE (AP) – Elton Brand made his long-awaited season debut and scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and Al Thornton had 21 points for the Clippers.
Brand had missed the entire season while recovering from a surgically repaired left Achilles’ tendon, after being injured during an offseason workout on Aug. 3. He finished with 19 points and five rebounds, hitting seven of 15 shots and making all five of his free throws.
Corey Maggette added 20 points and Dan Dickau added 13 for the Clippers. Los Angeles had lost 11 of 12 entering Wednesday night.
Kevin Durant led Seattle with 30 points, but the SuperSonics lost for the 19th time in 21 games and have just two victories since March 1.
Lakers 104, Trail Blazers 91
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, Pau Gasol added 10 points in his first game in nearly three weeks and the Lakers beat Portland.
Bryant also had 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers (51-24), who trail New Orleans by 1 1/2 games and San Antonio by one game in the Western Conference standings.
Gasol, playing for the first time since spraining his left ankle March 14 and admittedly not fully healed, played nearly 32 minutes – far more than expected. He added six rebounds and seven assists.
Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster scored 23 points each for the Blazers.
Add A Comment
THIS IS NOT A GAMBLING SITE – If you think you have a gambling problem click here.
Disclaimer: This site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Individual users are responsible for the laws regarding accessing gambling information from their jurisdictions. Many countries around the world prohibit gambling, please check the laws in your location. Any use of this information that may violate any federal, state, local or international law is strictly prohibited.
Copyright: The information contained on TheSpread.com website is protected by international copyright and may not be reproduced, or redistributed in any way without expressed written consent.
About: TheSpread.com is the largest sports betting news site in the United States. We provide point spread news, odds, statistics and information to over 175 countries around the world each year. Our coverage includes all North American College and Professional Sports as well as entertainment, political and proposition wagering news.
©1999-2023 TheSpread.com