Rockets win 14th in a row
Tracy McGrady had 25 points and 6 assists, and the host Houston Rockets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 116-95 on Friday night to extend their winning streak to 14, the longest streak in the NBA this season.
The Rockets are 1 victory shy of the longest winning streak in franchise history, reached twice -- the last time coming in their championship season of 1993-94. It was Houston's 18th win in the last 19 games and its second straight win since losing all-star center Yao Ming for the season with a stress fracture in his left foot.
The Grizzlies have lost seven straight.
Mavericks 115, Kings 106: Jason Kidd, benched the final 34 seconds of a pivotal game the previous night in part because he was reluctant to shoot, scored a season-high 21 points and was an assist shy of his 100th triple-double.
Kidd shot 9 of 18 and grabbed 11 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki continued to flourish off feeds from Kidd, getting 34 points and 10 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse tied his season high with 23 points -- the second time since Kidd arrived he's done so. Josh Howard added 20 points and 9 rebounds for Dallas and Erick Dampier had 13 rebounds and 3 points.
Beno Udrih and Kevin Martin each scored 25 points for the Kings, who lost their fourth straight and seventh in their last nine road games.
Hornets 110, Jazz 98: Chris Paul had 24 points and 16 assists, and host New Orleans held off Utah.
David West had 25 points and 13 rebounds for New Orleans, which built a 27-point lead in the first quarter, then survived a late surge to beat the Jazz for the first time in three meetings this season.
The game matched two of the best young point guards in the game in Paul and Deron Williams, the runner-up and champion, respectively, in the all-star skills challenge here a couple weeks ago.
Neither disappointed. Paul darted through crowds of defenders on the dribble, setting up everything from open 3-pointers to alley-oop dunks.
Williams whipped passes around the perimeter or made crisp flips to teammates cutting inside for easy layups and jams. Williams, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, also hit several big baskets as the Jazz tried to claw back.
Cavaliers 92, T'wolves 84: LeBron James had 30 points and 13 assists, showing no effects after spraining his right ankle Wednesday night, as host Cleveland beat Minnesota.
Devin Brown scored 13 points for the Cavaliers. Delonte West added 12 while Damon Jones and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 11 and 10, respectively.
Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Pacers 122, Raptors 111: Mike Dunleavy matched his career high with 36 points, Kareem Rush added 23 and Indiana beat host Toronto, which lost all-star Chris Bosh to a sore knee in the first quarter.
Troy Murphy scored 18 and Stephen Graham had 16 as the Pacers won for just the second time in their past seven games.
Andrea Bargnani had 27 points but fouled out with 1:42 remaining.
Celtics 108, Bobcats 100: Ray Allen scored 22 points, and Kendrick Perkins added 19 as host Boston earned its fourth straight victory by beating Charlotte.
Rajon Rondo had a career-high 16 assists for the Celtics, who avenged their only double-digit defeat of the season, a 95-83 loss on Jan. 9. Kevin Garnett scored 17 points and Paul Pierce had 13.
Raymond Felton had 22 points and 10 assists for the Bobcats, who were 1-11 in February.
Hawks 99, Knicks 93: Mike Bibby set up a go-ahead, alley-oop dunk by Josh Smith with 1:12 left, and host Atlanta overcame a shaky start to the fourth quarter to beat New York.
Bibby, playing his second home game since his trade to Atlanta, had his second straight double-double with 11 points and 10 assists. Smith had 25 points and 9 rebounds, and rookie Al Horford and Joe Johnson each added 20 points.
he Hawks had no defensive answer for Zach Randolph, who had 29 points and 17 rebounds. Jamal Crawford added 21 points for the Knicks.