James injured in defeat

Tracy McGrady scored 34 points, Yao Ming added 20 and the Houston Rockets didn’t have to contend with LeBron James after halftime during a 98-87 win on Wednesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland.

James didn’t play in the second half after bruising a bone near his left eye when he was accidentally struck in the face by Houston’s Dikembe Mutombo late in the first half.

James was moving across the lane when he was leveled by Mutombo, whose elbows have dropped more than a few NBA players over the years. James immediately dropped to the floor, covered his eyes and kicked his feet in obvious pain while lying face down as play continued.

When Houston scored, the officials stopped the action and Cleveland’s medical staff rushed out to help James, who had to be assisted off the court.

James, who turns 20 on Thursday, was coming off a 40-point performance in a win at Atlanta on Tuesday. He’s averaging 25.2 points but had a career-low three – all on free throws – before getting hurt.

McGrady scored 22 points in the second half and 12 in the fourth quarter, including the Rockets’ last seven over the final 2:03.

Pistons 107, Wizards 105: At Washington, Chauncey Billups hit a 14-foot jumper with 0.7 seconds left to give Detroit a come-from-behind victory over Washington.

The Pistons overcame a 19-point first-half deficit and trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter. Billups scored 10 of his season-high 32 points in the final five minutes, and Rasheed Wallace had 12 of his 23 in the final quarter.

Bucks 111, Magic 105: At Oralando, Fla., Michael Redd scored 29 points and short-handed Milwaukee got 15 points and a career-high 14 rebounds from Dan Gadzuric.

The Bucks had only 11 players in uniform because of injuries. Desmond Mason added 21 points. Steve Francis nearly had a triple-double for Orlando with 24 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Grant Hill added 26 points for the Magic, undone by 23 turnovers.

Pacers 74, Bobcats 71: At Charlotte, N.C., Jermaine O’Neal had 24 points and 17 rebounds, and Indiana won back-to-back for the first time in December.

In the three games he’s played since an arbitrator reduced his 25-game suspension to 15, O’Neal has 61 points and 35 rebounds. He will go before a federal judge today in New York, to learn if he can continue to play or must sit out the final 10 games of the suspension for his part in the Pacers-Pistons brawl last month.

Emeka Okafor had his 17th consecutive double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds for Charlotte.

Knicks 100, Timberwolves 87: At New York, Stephon Marbury took over down the stretch and finished with 32 points and 11 assists for New York as they defeated Minnesota.

Nazr Mohammed added 19 points, and Kurt Thomas limited Kevin Garnett to 17 — more than six below his average. Latrell Sprewell added 22 points for Minnesota.

Grizzlies 117, Celtics 109: At Memphis, Tenn., Pau Gasol had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Memphis rallied in the final period over Boston.

After trailing most of the game, the Grizzlies launched an 18-3 run to begin the fourth quarter and take a 101-97 lead. Memphis also got 18 points from Bonzi Wells.

Suns 107, Hornets 96: At New Orleans, Quentin Richardson broke a franchise record with nine 3s and finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix.

Steve Nash had 22 points and nine assists as the Suns improved their NBA-best record to 25-4. J. R. Smith scored a career-high 23 points for New Orleans, which also got 18 from Baron Davis and P.J. Brown.

Clippers 101, Jazz 90: At Los Angeles, Elton Brand had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Bobby Simmons and Corey Maggette each added 22 points and Los Angeles beat Utah, sending the Jazz to their third straight defeat.

Warriors 111, Raptors 105: At Oakland, Calif., Mike Dunleavy made the go-ahead shot with 37 seconds left and finished with a season-high 29 points as Golden State won their fourth straight in a victory over Toronto.

Hornets suspend Jackson

The New Orleans Hornets suspended Jim Jackson indefinitely for not reporting to the team, two days after he was acquired from Houston in a trade.