Devin Harris and the New Jersey Nets had a lot to celebrate in the desert.
Harris scored 21 of his career-high 47 points in the fourth quarter, and New Jersey ended a 14-game losing streak in Phoenix with a 117-109 victory Sunday night.
The Nets’ only other win at US Airways Center came in their first visit in 1993.
“Fourteen years! Fourteen years!” New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank said. “That’s it, this conversation is over. We haven’t won here in 14 years!
“That game could have gone south a bunch of different times. Our guys showed great guts. And you can’t say enough about the effort of Devin. He was phenomenal.”
Harris broke his previous high of 38 set this season against Detroit, going 14-of-25 from the field and making 17 free throws without a miss. On Saturday night in Utah, he had 34 points in the Nets’ 105-88 victory.
“I was just in attack mode,” said Harris, acquired from Dallas in February in the deal that sent Jason Kidd to the Mavericks. “That’s the key to my pull-up jumper. Before in my career, I wasn’t able to hit it with any consistency.”
es Lakers 112, Toronto 99; Denver 104, Houston 94; Chicago 103, Philadelphia 92; and Portland 96, Detroit 85.
In Phoenix, Vince Carter added 28 points to help New Jersey win for the fifth time in six games. Yi Jianlian had 14 points, and Brook Lopez 12.
Steve Nash, back after missing Phoenix’s loss to Miami on Friday night because of a thigh contusion, led the Suns with 26 points and nine assists.
Amare Stoudemire had 25 points and 11 rebounds before being ejected with his second technical foul with 3:24 remaining and Phoenix leading 100-98.
“The rule states that I’m allowed to react as long as I don’t continue the verbal (assault) towards the official,” Stoudemire said. “It was a simple reaction and I got ejected for something like that. I’ve seen players do a lot worse and not even get a technical foul. It’s tough to deal with …”
The Nets outscored the Suns 19-9 after the ejection.
“He lost his cool,” said Harris, the former Wisconsin star in his fifth NBA season. “That was the key for us when he went out. He was killing us.”
Harris’ basket with 2:11 left put the Nets ahead for good at 102-100. Down 11 points after three quarters, New Jersey scored 43 points in the fourth.
Harris became the second player in two games to score more than 40 against the Suns. Miami’s Dwyane Wade had 43 on Friday night.
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Lakers 112, Raptors 99
At Los Angeles, Pau Gasol had 24 points and nine rebounds, and Kobe Bryant had 23 points and seven assists before sitting out the fourth quarter to help Los Angeles improve to an NBA-best 14-1.
Bryant came 15 points shy of reaching the 22,000-point mark faster than any other player. Had he done it, he would have beaten Wilt Chamberlain to that total by one day, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Anthony Parker led Toronto with 19 points.
Nuggets 104, Rockets 94
At Denver, Chauncey Billups scored 28 points, 11 in a 19-7 third-quarter run for Denver, and Carmelo Anthony had only two points to end his NBA-best streak of consecutive games in double figures at 221.
Yao Ming led Houston with 18 points. The Rockets played their third straight game without Tracy McGrady, sidelined by a sore left foot.
Cleveland’s LeBron James is the new double-digit streak leader at 134 games.
Bulls 103, 76ers 92
At Philadelphia, Ben Gordon scored 21 points, Drew Gooden had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Chicago rallied for a victory.
Derrick Rose, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, had 18 points and 10 assists for the Bulls in the final stop on a seven-game, 12-day trip.
Elton Brand had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Philadelphia.
Trail Blazers 96, Pistons 85
eg Oden had a career-high 13 rebounds and added 10 points for Portland.
Richard Hamilton had 18 points for Detroit, which is 0-4 on Sundays and 10-2 during the rest of the week. The Pistons are 6-6 since Allen Iverson joined the team.
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