Dwyane Wade played a poor game. Allen Iverson made a poor decision.
Both rebounded in a big way Friday night.
Wade scored a season-high 43 points, and the Miami Heat beat the Phoenix Suns 107-92 in the first matchup between the teams since the Shaquille O’Neal for Shawn Marion blockbuster trade last February.
Wade was coming off his worst game of the season, a season-low, 12-point outing in a 106-68 loss to Portland two nights earlier.
“I was on a mission to bounce back from my last game,” Wade said. “My shot was there and I just wanted to focus tonight. I focused all the way through tonight. I haven’t been doing that (recently).”
Playing as a reserve for the first time this season, Iverson scored 17 points in the Detroit Pistons’ 107-97 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. He was benched for the start of the game by coach Michael Curry as punishment for missing practice on Thanksgiving.
“With everything going on, I wanted to play well,” Iverson said. “I just wanted to play well. Especially for my teammates because I let them down by not being here.”
8; Cleveland 112, Golden State 97; Minnesota 105, Oklahoma City 103; Charlotte 115, Indiana 108 in overtime; San Antonio 109, Memphis 98; Utah 120, Sacramento 94; Portland 101, New Orleans 86; and the Los Angeles Lakers 114, Dallas 107.
Detroit started Rodney Stuckey, who finished with 12 points, a career-high four steals and five assists in 23 minutes.
“He was fast. There was a chance I might not play at all,” Iverson said.
Iverson made a quick impact when he did get in with 2:24 left in the first quarter. He scored his first basket just 39 seconds after he entered the game, led the Pistons with 10 points at halftime and hit three baskets within a two-minute period in the fourth quarter that put away the Bucks.
“I thought he would come in and want to play well,” Curry said. “He wants to do well. And he will. We want him to be aggressive, and he was aggressive.”
At Phoenix, neither O’Neal nor Marion was much of a factor. O’Neal scored 12 points and Marion had 10 in the game dominated by the unstoppable Wade.
“We got a good win,” Marion said. “We just rode his coattails.”
The Suns played without All-Star point guard Steve Nash, sidelined with a right thigh contusion. Phoenix committed 21 turnovers without its floor leader, which Miami turned into 19 points.
nce we get rid of our turnover problems on a consistent basis, we’ll be all right. We’ve been very careless with the ball.”
Cavaliers 112, Warriors 97
LeBron James scored 23 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas added a season-high 21, and Cleveland matched the best home start in franchise history.
Cleveland (13-3) has won 12 of 13 and is a league-best 9-0 at home, equaling its top home start, first set in 1976-77 and repeated in 1991-92.
The Warriors (5-11) have lost five straight, including the first four on their current road trip. Golden State is 2-7 away from home and ends its trip in New York on Saturday night.
Spurs 109, Grizzlies 98
At San Antonio, Tony Parker had 15 points and seven assists in his first game in three weeks, and the healthy Spurs won their fourth straight.
O.J. Mayo scored 32 points for Memphis, which lost for the second time this week to resurgent San Antonio. Since starting the season 1-4, the Spurs have won eight of 10.
Lakers 114, Mavericks 107
At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 35 points, and the Lakers used a 17-0 run in the second half to beat Dallas and improve the NBA’s best record to 13-1.
Andrew Bynum, playing on a sore right foot, had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Lakers’ sixth straight victory. Bryant was 14-for-26 from the field.
two MVPs, but Dallas’ five-game winning streak was snapped.
Trail Blazers 101, Hornets 86
Brandon Roy had 25 points and 10 assists, and Portland used a 17-point, second-half run to improve to 7-0 this season at the Rose Garden, its best start at home since it went 9-0 in the 1998-99 season.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Blazers (11-6), who are off to their best overall start since they opened the 2000-01 season 12-6.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Hornets (9-6), who were led by Peja Stojakovic with 21 points. New Orleans was playing the second game of a back-to-back after edging the Denver Nuggets 105-101 on Thursday night.
Raptors 93, Hawks 88
At Toronto, Chris Bosh had 30 points and 10 rebounds, Jason Kapono scored 16 points, and Jose Calderon picked up 11 assists.
Mike Bibby scored 24 points for Atlanta, Joe Johnson had 18 and reserve Maurice Evans added 17.
Celtics 102, 76ers 78
At Boston, Ray Allen scored 23 points and Kevin Garnett added 16 to lead the Celtics to their seventh straight victory.
Elton Brand scored 18 points and Louis Williams added 15 for the 76ers, who had their lowest-scoring game of the season and lost their third straight.
Timberwolves 105, Thunder 103
ft baseline with 0.1 seconds left, and Minnesota handed the Thunder a franchise record-tying 14th straight loss.
Kevin Durant and Jeff Green led Oklahoma City with 22 points apiece.
Jazz 120, Kings 94
At Salt Lake City, Deron Williams had nine of his 15 assists during a 44-point third quarter, Utah’s biggest since it scored 46 in the second period against the Kings on Jan. 19, 1992.
C.J. Miles scored 16 of his 18 in the third, including a dunk off an alley-oop from Williams during a 3-on-none break as the Jazz blew open the game after letting the Kings tie it at 50 at halftime.
Bobcats 115, Pacers 108, OT
At Indianapolis, Raymond Felton tied a career high with 31 points, while Emeka Okafor had 14 points and 20 rebounds.
Danny Granger had a season-high 35 points, and Marquis Daniels and T.J. Ford each scored 20 for the Pacers (6-9).
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