Celtics embarrass Heat
BOSTON -- Kevin Garnett scored twice before Miami made a basket, and the Boston Celtics held the Heat to an NBA-record low 17 field goals, coasting to an 88-62 victory Sunday.
The matchup of the NBA's best team and its worst was even more lopsided than anticipated. Boston was up 27-4 after 10 minutes and Celtics coach Doc Rivers started subbing for his starters just 7:10 into the game. Boston's backups finished the first quarter, handled most of the second and all of the fourth as no starter played more than 25 minutes.
Leon Powe had 17 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, and Garnett finished with 12 points, five assists and eight rebounds in 21 minutes.
Ricky Davis had 14 points and six rebounds and Chris Quinn had scored 14 with eight assists for the Heat (13-60), who lost their third straight and sixth out of seven as they solidify their hold on the worst record in the NBA. Miami coach Pat Riley skipped his fourth game to resume his college scouting tour, and assistant Ron Rothstein ran the bench.
The previous record for fewest field goals in a game came against Miami in April 1999, when Chicago managed only 18.
Lakers 126, Wizards 120
LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant scored six of his 26 points in overtime, and Los Angeles snapped a two-game losing skid.
Sasha Vujacic scored 20 points, Luke Walton added 19, Vladimir Radmanovic 18 and Lamar Odom had 10 points and 13 rebounds as the Lakers notched their 50th victory for the 29th time in franchise history.
Rookie Nick Young led the Wizards with a career-high 27 points and DeShawn Stevenson matched him. Caron Butler had 17 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, and Antawn Jamison added 17.
Trailing by a point with a minute left in overtime, the Lakers went to Bryant, who two days ago scored 53 in a 114-111 loss to Memphis.
He hit three consecutive free throws to put them ahead for good. The Wizards were scoreless over the final 1:18.
Warriors 114, Mavericks 104
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Monta Ellis scored 30 points and Kelenna Azubuike hit two clutch shots down the stretch to help Golden State create a three-way tie for seventh place in the ultracompetitive Western Conference.
With nine games remaining, Dallas, Golden State and Denver are all even at 45-28. If the season ended today, the Warriors would be on the outside looking in at the playoffs because they have lost two of three to both the Nuggets and Mavericks. But if Golden State manages to beat Denver and Dallas in their final meetings, the Mavericks would be the odd team out in a three-way tie.
Dallas fell to 1-2 without injured MVP Dirk Nowitzki, with the two losses coming to Denver and Golden State.
Josh Howard scored 36 to lead Dallas in his third straight 30-point game since Nowitzki went down with the injury.
Spurs 109, Rockets 88
SAN ANTONIO -- Tony Parker and Michael Finley scored 22 points apiece and the San Antonio Spurs cruised to its seventh straight victory.
The much-hyped matchup between the Southwest Division rivals turned out to be more of a dud. The Spurs had the lead for nearly the entire game and led by as many as 25 points.
Luis Scola scored a season-high 24 points for the Rockets, and Tracy McGrady and Rafer Alston each had 13 points after shooting a combined 9-of-38.
After two wins against sub-.500 teams that were closer than the Spurs would have liked, San Antonio had no problem with the Yao Ming-less Rockets.
Houston came into San Antonio having won two in a row and 29 of its last 33 games -- highlighted by its 22-game winning streak.
Timberwolves 110, Jazz 103
MINNEOLIS -- Al Jefferson had 22 points and eight rebounds and Rashad McCants scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half for Minnesota.
Corey Brewer tied a career high with 16 points and had seven rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have now beaten the Jazz at home twice this season,.
Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the short-handed Jazz, who are nearly unbeatable at home but just 16-22 on the road this year. The Jazz were missing Andrei Kirilenko (calf) and Mehmet Okur (illness).
Deron Williams had 15 points and 13 assists for Utah.
Hawks 114, Knicks 109
ATLANTA -- Marvin Williams scored 27 points and Joe Johnson had 23 to help Atlanta win its third straight.
The Hawks increased their lead over New Jersey to 2ˆ½ games for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
New York dropped to 7-29 on the road and has lost two straight and seven of eight overall.
Jamal Crawford led the Knicks with 39 points -- 19 coming in the third quarter.
Johnson also had a season-high 13 assists for the Hawks.
Hornets 118, Raptors 111
TORONTO -- David West scored 32 points and Chris Paul had 20 points and 16 assists to lead New Orleans to its 50th victory.
Peja Stojakovic scored 25 and Tyson Chandler had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Hornets bounced back from a 20-point loss in Boston on Friday night to win for the sixth time in seven games.
The Hornets reached 50 wins for the first time since the 1997-98 season.
Chris Bosh scored 21 points and Carlos Delfino added 18 as Toronto's two-game winning streak came to an end.
Cavaliers 91, 76ers 88
CLEVELAND -- LeBron James made a twisting bank shot with 19.3 seconds left to put Cleveland ahead to stay.
James finished with 26 points, and a day after he made 4-of-17 shots in Saturday's loss to Detroit, was 11-of-18 from the field with nine rebounds and nine assists.
Andre Iguodala, who led the 76ers with 19 points, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Trailing 86-82, Cavaliers guard Delonte West hit two 3-pointers to tie the game at 88 with 1:13 to play. West finished with 18 points.
Kings 120, SuperSonics 107
SEATTLE -- Kevin Martin scored 31 points, Ron Artest had 29 and Sacramento broke away in the final period.
Francisco Garcia also contributed 21 points for Sacramento (33-40), which had lost four of its previous five games.
Kevin Durant scored 25 points to lead Seattle, which hasn't beaten the Kings in Seattle since Nov. 20, 2005, a five-game losing streak.