Hawks shock Pistons
Rookie Josh Smith replaced Kenny Anderson at point guard and had career highs of 12 points and four blocks in his first NBA start as the Atlanta Hawks stunned the Detroit Pistons 88-72 Friday night in Detroit.
The Hawks, who led by as many as 29, won for the second time in 12 games and held Detroit to a franchise record for fewest points in a home game.
Tony Delk and Predrag Drobjnak had 16 points each for Atlanta, which had five players in double figures.
Richard Hamilton led all scorers with 24.
Detroit played without two key big men – Rasheed Wallace (hamstring) and Antonio McDyess (calf) – and spent most of the game with Ben Wallace as its only veteran inside player. Darko Milicic was forced to play a career-high 24 minutes, scoring four points.
The Hawks replaced Anderson in the starting lineup with the 6-foot-9 Smith, and Boris Diaw was Atlanta’s shortest starter at 6-8. The big lineup paid immediate dividends, as Smith blocked three shots in the first quarter and the Hawks shot 66.7 percent on their way to a 32-20 lead.
Atlanta removed any hopes of a Pistons’ rally by moving the lead to 68-40 at the midpoint of the third quarter. Smith, who turned 19 this week, punctuated the rout with two spectacular dunks early in the period.
Nuggets 101, Raptors 87: At Toronto, Carmelo Anthony had 28 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and Nene had a season-high 21 points.
Kenyon Martin added 14 points and 12 rebounds for Denver, who has won four straight.
Rafer Alston had 25 points for Toronto, who has lost six straight.
Heat 92, Grizzlies 84: At Miami, Dwyane Wade narrowly missed a triple-double and Shaquille O’Neal scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as Miami beat Memphis.
Wade had 26 points, nine assists and nine rebounds – coming up just short in a bid for what would have been the fifth triple-double in Heat history and just the second in the last 10 seasons.
Nets 94, Hornets 91 (OT): At East Rutherford, N.J., Jason Kidd hit a go-ahead basket early in overtime, and New Jersey denied former coach Byron Scott a win in his return to New Jersey.
The Nets rallied from a seven-point deficit with 2:10 to play in the fourth quarter and sent New Orleans to their season-high ninth straight loss and 17th in 18 games.
Timberwolves 113, Kings 105: At Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett scored a season-high 35 points with 18 rebounds and nine assists.
Playing before its largest crowd of the season, Minnesota trailed for most of the first three quarters before using a 18-3 burst in the fourth to turn a four-point deficit into a 109-98 lead with 2:57 remaining.
Wizards 106, Knicks 104: At Washington D.C., Brendan Haywood atoned for two missed free throws by converting a three-point play off the team’s 27th offensive rebound with 7.1 seconds remaining, giving Washington a victory over New York.
76ers 93, Bulls 88: At Chicago, Allen Iverson had 22 points and 10 assists for Philadelphia, who ended an eight-game road losing streak despite scoring just two points in the final 4:46.
Bucks 95, Pacers 86: At Milwaukee, Michael Redd scored 21 points and Mike James added 16 as Milwaukee defeated Indiana to hand the Pacers their sixth straight loss.
Suns 115, Bobcats 106: At Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire came close to the first triple-double of his career with 36 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, leading Phoenix past Charlotte.
Magic 113, Warriors 109: At Oakland, Calif., Steve Francis scored a season-high 36 points and also finished with eight rebounds and eight assists in Orlando’s fifth win in six games over Golden State.
Jazz 92, Trail Blazers (OT): At Salt Lake City, Matt Harpring scored 17 points, including six in overtime, to lift Utah past Portland, snapping a six-game losing streak.
Zach Randolph led the Blazers with 23 points. Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 19 and Derek Anderson 15 for Portland, which has dropped three of its last four games.
The Jazz and Blazers play again in Portland on Sunday.