Celtics equal mark with win over Pacers

Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics tied the NBA record for the best single-season turnaround with a 92-77 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.

With the league's best record at 60-15, the Celtics have 36 more wins than last season when they finished 24-58, the NBA's second worst mark. The only other team to improve by that much was the San Antonio Spurs, who went from 20-62 in 1996-97 to 56-26 the next season, Tim Duncan's first.

The Celtics added Garnett in the offseason and have won 60 games for the first time in 22 years. They were 67-15 in 1985-86, when they won the most recent of their 16 NBA championships. That was their sixth 60-win season in a seven-season stretch.

Boston won its fifth straight and increased its Eastern Conference lead to 6½ games over Detroit, which was idle. The Celtics lowered their magic number for clinching the No. 1 seed to two.

Bucks 110, Wizards 109: Gilbert Arenas made a surprise return Wednesday night after 66 games away, but Ramon Sessions provided the Arenas-like dramatics with a 19-foot jumper at the buzzer to give visiting the victory over Washington.

Cavaliers 118, Bobcats 114: LeBron James scored 29 points before fouling out for the only the third time in his career and wasn't on the floor when visiting Cleveland snapped a six-game road skid by beating Charlotte.

Anderson Varejao had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Ilgauskas added 16 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland.

Hornets 106, Heat 77: Tyson Chandler was a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor, and his 20-point, 10-rebound effort helped visiting New Orleans remain atop the Western Conference standings with a win over Miami.

David West scored 22 points and Chris Paul added 14 points and 10 assists for the Hornets, who finished 5-1 on their six-game road trip through the East.

Grizzlies 130, Knicks 114: Javaris Crittenton scored 23 points, Rudy Gay added 21, and host Memphis had its best offensive performance this season in a win over New York.

Michael Conley added 18 points, Juan Carlos Navarro had 16 and Mike Miller 15 as eight Grizzlies reached double figures.

Hawks 127, Raptors 120 (OT): Mike Bibby hit a tying 3-pointer in regulation, Josh Smith made 2 in overtime, and host Atlanta beat Toronto.

The Hawks increased their lead for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot to 4 games over Indiana.

Jazz 117, Timberwolves 100: Mehmet Okur made four 3-pointers and scored 22 points in a win for Utah over viwsitingMinnesota.

Deron Williams had 19 points and 14 assists for his 49th double-double of the season as the Jazz won for the 24th time in 25 home games and improved to 34-4 at EnergySolutions Arena this season.

Mavericks 111, Warriors 86: Dirk Nowitzki unexpectedly returned to the starting lineup and scored 18 points after missing four games with a high ankle sprain, and host Dallas beat Golden State.

Jason Terry equaled his season high with 31 points and Josh Howard added 28 for the Mavericks.