Phoenix runs past Heat
The Phoenix Suns added the Miami Heat to the growing list of NBA teams they have run past this season.
Amare Stoudemire scored 34 points and the Suns won their seventh straight, and 18th in 19 games, 122-107 over the Heat on Tuesday night at Phoenix in a matchup of the teams with the best record in the West and East.
All five Suns starters hit double figures – in the first half – and Phoenix improved its NBA-best record to 31-4, the sixth-best start for a team with four losses in league history.
Shawn Marion added 26 points and 11 rebounds, Steve Nash 16 points and 16 assists, and Joe Johnson 24 points and nine rebounds for the Suns, who topped 120 points for the second game in a row and seventh time this season.
Shaquille O’Neal had 34 points and 11 rebounds, but the Heat – beaten at Seattle on Sunday – lost two in a row for the second time this season.
Cavaliers 100, Bobcats 98 (OT): At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 29 points and helped Cleveland rally from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter for its fifth straight victory.
Brevin Knight tied a career high with 20 assists for Charlotte, which lost for the eighth time in nine games.
Drew Gooden scored nine of Cleveland’s final 15 points, including seven in overtime. He finished with 17 and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 22 for the Cavaliers, who improved to 14-3 at home.
Hornets 88, Knicks 82: At New York, Baron Davis had 21 points and 10 assists to give New Orleans its first winning streak of the season.
Lee Nailon had 18 points, and P.J. Brown and former Gonzaga point guard Dan Dickau added 17 points each for the Hornets. New Orleans looked nothing like the NBA’s worst team down the stretch as it held New York’s comeback attempt at bay to end a 15-game road losing skid.
Pistons 89, Nets 80: At East Rutherford, N.J., Rasheed Wallace had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Detroit beat New Jersey in the Nets’ first game without injured star Richard Jefferson.
Jefferson, dressed in all black, watched from the bench as the Nets got 19 points from Vince Carter, 16 from Travis Best and 13 from Jason Kidd while losing for the fourth time in five games.
Hawks 103, Bucks 80: At Atlanta, Tyronn Lue scored a season-high 18 points to lead seven Atlanta players in double figures as the Hawks snapped a six-game losing streak.
Al Harrington had 14 points, including 12 in the first quarter, for Atlanta. Predrag Drobnjak added 13, while Jason Collier and Josh Childress each scored 12. Mike James led Milwaukee with 14 points.
Pacers 86, Grizzlies 85: At Memphis, Tenn., Jermaine O’Neal capped a 35-point night by making two free throws with 4.6 seconds left to snap Memphis’ six-game winning streak.
Jamaal Tinsley added 19 points and six assists for Indiana. Pau Gasol had 31 points and four blocks for Memphis.
Kings 109, Nuggets 100: At Sacramento, Calif., Peja Stojakovic scored 27 points, Mike Bibby added 18 and short-handed Sacramento extended Denver’s losing streak in Sacramento to 17 games.
Andre Miller had 16 points and 11 assists for the Nuggets, who lost their fifth straight and 11th in 12 games.
Jefferson out for season
New Jersey Nets leading scorer Richard Jefferson will miss the rest of the regular season with a wrist injury that he claims resulted from a dirty play by Detroit guard Chauncey Billups.
Nets president Rod Thorn said that Jefferson would not be ready to play again until the second half of May, effectively ending his season.
The durable Jefferson insisted the injury happened when Billups undercut him on a layup attempt in Detroit on Dec. 27, causing him to fall on his wrist.
Francis frustrated about trade
Steve Francis became close with Cuttino Mobley during their six seasons as teammates, so the Orlando star was upset when the Magic shipped his friend to Sacramento.
“They shouldn’t have traded him,” Francis said after a 119-101 loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday night, adding that he was emotionally drained and distracted during the game.
Mobley was dealt shortly before tipoff with forward Michael Bradley to the Kings for guard Doug Christie.