Last Updated on November 6, 2009 11:02 pm by admin
NEW YORK (AP) -LeBron James scored 33 points in his only visit to Madison Square Garden this season, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 100-91 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night.
One night after managing just 42 second-half points in an ugly home loss to Chicago, the Cavaliers rang up 40 in the first quarter, leaving New York fans with little left to do besides cheer for the Yankees in attendance and enjoy another mesmerizing performance by James.
He added nine assists and eight rebounds, but fell just shy of passing Kobe Bryant as the active scoring leader at the Garden. James improved his average to 30.4 points, with Bryant averaging 30.5 in 11 visits, according to STATS LLC
James had scored 50 or more in two of his last three visits, joining Michael Jordan as the only visiting players with multiple 50-point games at the current building.
Suns 110, Celtics 103
BOSTON (AP) – Jason Richardson bounced back from his worst game of the season to score 34 points with 10 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns rebounded from their only defeat.
end of the 2008-09 season and the playoffs with strained ligaments in his right knee.
Steve Nash had 16 points with 12 assists for Phoenix, shaking loose to hit a 3-pointer with 51 seconds left after Boston closed an 11-point fourth-quarter gap to four points. Amare Stoudemire added 22 points, while Richardson finished 6 for 7 from 3-point range.
Magic 110, Pistons 103
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Dwight Howard had 22 points and 12 rebounds to help the Orlando Magic hold off Charlie Villanueva and Detroit.
Villanueva scored 22 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to get past the defending Eastern Conference champs, who led by 19 early and never trailed at all.
Matt Barnes had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Magic and Jameer Nelson also scored 18, with eight assists.
Orlando had lost 20 of 25 regular season games to the Pistons, including one earlier in the week.
The closest Detroit came on Friday night was 96-90 after a shot by Villanueva with about three minutes to play.
Bucks 87, Timberwolves 72
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Andrew Bogut bested Al Jefferson inside with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Luke Ridnour had 16 points off the bench and Milwaukee used a second-half surge to top Minnesota.
Rookie Brandon Jennings had his first clunker for the Bucks, putting up nine points on 4 for 16 shooting, but his backup Ridnour helped counter a career-high 20 points by Timberwolves rookie Jonny Flynn.
Milwaukee outscored Minnesota 31-14 in the third quarter.
Jefferson, still trying to find his groove after a knee injury knocked him out last winter, went 3 for 12 from the floor and finished with a season-low nine points.
Heat 96, Nuggets 88
MIAMI (AP) – Dwyane Wade scored 22 points, Jermaine O’Neal added 18 and Miami dealt Denver its first loss of the season.
Mario Chalmers scored 16 points, Quentin Richardson added 13 and Udonis Haslem finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who are 5-1 for only the third time in their 22 seasons and beat Denver for the first time since Dec. 17, 2004.
Denver (5-1) got 30 points from Carmelo Anthony, and little from anyone else: Take away Anthony, and the high-powered Nuggets shot only 12 for 35 through the first 36 minutes, getting outscored 14-0 over a 6-minute stretch spanning the second and third quarters.
Reserve Arron Afflalo scored 18 for the Nuggets, who were held more than 27 points below their season average.
Pacers 102, Wizards 86
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Tyler Hansbrough scored 13 points in his pro debut.
The first-round draft pick from North Carolina missed the preseason and the first four regular-season games with a right shin injury.
Danny Granger scored 22 points and T.J. Ford added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who raised a banner honoring late co-owner Mel Simon before the game. He died in September at age 82.
Caron Butler led the Wizards with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Brendan Haywood had nine points and 19 rebounds. Gilbert Arenas, who had averaged 28 points, finished with 13 and took only 10 shots.
76ers 97, Nets 94
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Andre Iguodala scored 16 points, including a late 3-pointer to give Philadelphia the lead.
Lou Williams scored 18 points and Jason Kapono had 14 for Philadelphia, which rebounded from a 31-point loss to Boston three days earlier.
Brook Lopez led the Nets with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Trenton Hassell had 17 points and 12 rebounds. New Jersey fell to 0-6, the worst start in franchise history.
The Nets were without six players due to injury and had only a four-man bench.
After Lopez tied the game at 92 with a pair of free throws, Iguodala made a 3-pointer to put the 76ers up with 2:03 left.
Raptors 107, Hornets 90
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Chris Bosh scored 27 points and Toronto used a 27-4 run in the third quarter to take control.
the game away. Bosh’s 3 gave them the lead for good, 57-56, and Hedo Turkoglu and Andrea Bargnani both hit three 3s in the next 7 minutes as Toronto went ahead 81-63.
Turkoglu and Jose Calderon both had 16 points for Toronto, while Bargnani added 14.
Chris Paul led New Orleans with 21 points and a season-high 18 assists, while Bobby Brown added 16 points.
Bobcats 103, Hawks 83
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Raja Bell scored 24 points and the Charlotte Bobcats looked nothing like the NBA’s lowest scoring team against road-weary Atlanta.
Bell hit 9 of 12 shots, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, Flip Murray added 15 points in his Charlotte debut, and Gerald Wallace offset a poor shooting night with 18 rebounds in the Bobcats’ second straight win.
The Hawks struggled defensively and had their two-game winning streak snapped at the end of a difficult trip that also took them to Los Angeles, Portland and Sacramento. Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford each scored 13 points, but combined to shoot 10 of 27 from the field.