Rockets give coach 300th win

Tracy McGrady had 17 points, including the winning basket with 25 seconds to play, as the Houston Rockets ended a five-game losing streak, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 77-76 in Houston on Saturday night.

It was Jeff Van Gundy’s 300th career coaching victory and came in his 100th game with the Rockets.

Marc Jackson, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, hit two free throws with 37 seconds left to put Philadelphia ahead 76-75. McGrady then hit a 20-foot jumper from above the left of the key to give Houston the final lead.

Jackson missed two shots, and Kyle Korver and Aaron McKie each missed one in the final 9 seconds, including McKie’s 10-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Nuggets 104, Heat 95: At Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points to surpass 2,000 for his career, and Denver controlled Shaquille O’Neal with constant double-teams to defeat Miami. Anthony shot 12 for 19 with five assists and four steals, Earl Boykins added 16 points, six assists and five steals and Kenyon Martin had 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. O’Neal finished with 12 points.

Pistons 92, Hornets 69: At New Orleans, Ben Wallace made nine of his first 10 shots and finished with 22 points to lead Detroit to an easy victory against Charlotte, which has yet to win at home in eight tries. Richard Hamilton scored 21 for Detroit, which shot 54.4 percent, while Tayshaun Prince added 14. Wallace also had two blocked shots and two steals, while Rasheed Wallace grabbed 10 rebounds.

Wizards 95, Bulls 88: At Washington, Gilbert Arenas scored a season-high 34 points, and Larry Hughes padded his NBA lead with seven of Washington’s 17 steals in its win over Chicago. The Bulls led most of the game despite committing a season-high 29 turnovers. Tyson Chandler had 15 points and a season-high 21 rebounds for the Bulls.

Spurs 104, Bucks 83: At Milwaukee, Tim Duncan’s 20 points led San Antonio to a victory over Milwaukee, improving the Spurs’ record to 15-3 for the best start in franchise history. The Spurs also got 13 points apiece from Tony Parker, Beno Udrih and Devin Brown and 12 from Manu Ginobili in winning their NBA-best seventh straight game.

Mavericks 109, Jazz 86: At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points and seven rebounds to lead Dallas over Utah. Jason Terry scored a season-high 19 points and added nine assists, and Jerry Stackhouse added 18 points for Dallas. Josh Howard contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds. Matt Harpring’s 22 points paced the Jazz.

Cavaliers 105, Raptors 97: At Cleveland, Drew Gooden scored 27 points and LeBron James had 27, his final field goal coming on a monstrous dunk that sent Cleveland to a win over Toronto. Gooden added 15 rebounds and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers.

Nets 109, Hawks 88: At East Rutherford, N.J., Eric Williams scored 21 points and New Jersey shot a season-high 54.4 percent, sending Atlanta to its ninth straight loss. The game matched the Nets’ league-worst offense (81.7 points) against the Hawks’ league-worst defense (102.3). Al Harrington had 17 points for Atlanta.

Bobcats 107, Knicks 101: At Charlotte, N.C., Steve Smith scored 20 points and hit two clutch shots in the final 3 minutes as Charlotte overcame a 41-point performance from Jamal Crawford to defeat New York. Emeka Okafor added 20 points and 18 rebounds – his sixth straight double-double.

Magic 96, Grizzlies 91: At Orlando, Grant Hill had 23 points and seven assists, and Orlando took advantage of Memphis’ sloppiness. Undone by a season-worst 23 turnovers, the Grizzlies lost for the sixth time in seven games.

Warriors 104, Pacers 96: At Oakland, Calif., Mickael Pietrus gave Golden State just the lift it needed, contributing 15 points and six rebounds off the bench as the Warriors ended a four-game losing streak with a win over Indiana. Troy Murphy had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors. Reggie Miller had 23 points in his season debut for the Pacers.

Timberwolves 107, Clippers 100 (OT): At Los Angeles, Sam Cassell scored eight of his 30 points in overtime and Kevin Garnett added 22 points and 15 rebounds, helping Minnesota beat Los Angeles. Eddie Griffin had 13 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for Minnesota. Corey Maggette tied a career high with 34 points for Los Angeles, but the Clippers committed 20 turnovers