Elton Brand and Vince Carter gave their former fans reasons to miss them.
Brand hit a 15-footer with 57 seconds left to give Philadelphia an 89-88 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, while in Toronto, Carter put on a show from start to finish.
On a night when he scored 39 points, Carter sent the game to overtime by draining a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation and won it with a reverse dunk on Bobby Simmons’ inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds left, giving the New Jersey Nets a 129-127 win.
The Toronto fans jeered Carter every time he touched the ball. But Carter silenced them.
“You feel so good for Vince when you have the crowd like that, all the times we’ve been up here, for him to hit the 3 to put it into overtime and for him to get the dunk,” New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank said.
In Friday night’s other NBA games, it was: Lakers 104, Nuggets 90; Bulls 115, Warriors 110; Trail Blazers 117, Kings 96; Bucks 104, Knicks 87; Celtics 95, Timberwolves 78; Mavericks 91, Grizzlies 76; Rockets 103, Wizards 91; Magic 100, Pacers 98, in overtime; Spurs 119, Jazz 94; Hawks 88, Bobcats 83.
ve to deal with hostile road fans. Just former teammates who knew his tendencies well. But with 57 seconds left, he made a key 15-footer and finished with 17 points.
“I’ve seen him make that shot a few times,” Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said.
Brand played his first game against the Clippers since signing a five-year deal worth around $80 million in July. Brand grabbed a franchise-record 4,710 rebounds and scored 9,336 points for Los Angeles from 2001-08 and became the face of the long-suffering franchise.
Brand struggled most of the game from the floor, missing a couple of open looks late in the fourth that could have sliced Philadelphia’s deficit.
“They know where I like the ball, they know my moves,” Brand said. “Some of those coaches taught me those moves.”
Lakers 104, Nuggets 90
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 11 of his 29 points in the third quarter before sitting out the fourth and Andrew Bynum finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The defending Western Conference champions are 10-1 – their best start through 11 games since the 2001-02 championship season, when they won 16 of their first 17.
Nene led the way for Denver with 18 points.
Bulls 115, Warriors 110
In Oakland, Calif., Larry Hughes made five 3-pointers and finished with 26 points, and Chicago rookie Derrick Rose scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half.
18 points and 16 rebounds for the Bulls.
Hughes, a longtime Warriors guard, and Oakland native Gooden kept Chicago in a fast-paced game until Rose took charge of the final minutes.
Trail Blazers 117, Kings 96
In Sacramento, Calif., Steve Blake made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points, and Portland pulled away in the third quarter.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 19 points for the Blazers, who made 14 of 26 3-point attempts. Rookie Jason Thompson had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost three of four.
Bucks 104, Knicks 87
In Milwaukee, Charlie Villanueva tied a season high with 20 points in his return from injury.
Chris Duhon scored a season-high 20 for the Knicks, who dressed the league-minimum eight players after trading away three players in a pair of deals earlier Friday. Out the door were New York’s top two scorers, Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford, along with guard Mardy Collins.
Despite being so short-handed, the Knicks still didn’t play Stephon Marbury – Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said after the game was Marbury’s decision.
Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut had 14 points and 17 rebounds. Rookie Luc Richard Mbah a Moute added eight points and 13 rebounds.
Celtics 95, Timberwolves 78
In Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett scored 17 points in his first game back at Target Center.
Al Jefferson scored 23 points for the Timberwolves.
was injured in Boston’s only game here last season. That kept him from playing in the arena he called home for 12 brilliant seasons.
Mavericks 91, Grizzlies 76
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Jason Kidd had 18 points and 13 rebounds.
O.J. Mayo scored 19 points, and Mike Conley and Rudy Gay added 14 apiece for the Grizzlies, who’ve lost 12 straight to the Mavericks and are 7-45 all-time against Dallas.
Rockets 103, Wizards 91
In Washington, Tracy McGrady scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, Yao Ming added 18 to win a battle of awesome wingspans, and Houston added to Washington’s misery.
Carl Landry scored 19 points, and Aaron Brooks had 18 for the Rockets, who opened a three-game East Coast trip with their seventh straight win against Washington.
Antawn Jamison scored a season-high 27 points and had 10 rebounds.
Magic 100, Pacers 98, OT
In Indianapolis, Dwight Howard had 24 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks, and Orlando beat Indiana in overtime.
Howard blocked a potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation, then altered what would have been a tying shot in the closing seconds of overtime.
Rashard Lewis scored 23 points for the Magic, Jameer Nelson added 22 points and nine assists in Orlando’s fifth straight win.
Pacers.
Spurs 119, Jazz 94
In San Antonio, Roger Mason scored 29 points and San Antonio made 15 of 25 3-pointers.
Playing without the backcourt of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs still managed to hit eight of their first nine 3-point attempts.
Tim Duncan added 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes.
Utah (8-5) got 17 points from Ronnie Brewer and 16 from CJ Miles.
Hawks 88, Bobcats 83
In Atlanta, Joe Johnson scored 30 points, Marvin Williams added 22 and Atlanta pulled away in the closing minutes for a sloppy victory over Charlotte.
Rookie D.J. Augustin led the Bobcats with a career-best 26 points.
Gerald Wallace, with 17 points, was the only other Charlotte player in double figures. The Bobcats hit only 42 percent (33-of-78) from the field.
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