New Jersey gets Pierced

Paul Pierce hit a buzzer-beater Saturday night and the Boston Celtics rallied from an early 20-point deficit to beat the New Jersey Nets 92-90 and snap a five-game losing streak.

Al Jefferson had 29 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who trailed 22-2 in the first quarter. Pierce had 17 points and Delonte West 16.

Nenad Krstic lead the Nets with 20 points, and Vince Carter had 19 and 11 rebounds.

With Boston leading 90-88, Carter pulled the Nets even on a jumper with 43.7 seconds remaining. On the Celtics’ ensuing possession, Sebastian Telfair missed a layup and Jason Kidd came down with the rebound.

Eddie House missed a jumper with 12.3 seconds, setting the stage for Pierce’s shot as time expired.

Rockets 114, Wizards 109: At Washington, Yao Ming scored 23 of his season-high 38 points in the fourth quarter and Houston beat the Wizards.

Tracy McGrady had 28 points for Houston before leaving the game in the fourth quarter clutching his back. Rafer Alston added 12 points for the Rockets in their fourth straight victory over Washington.

Gilbert Arenas shook off a ragged start to finish with 41 points for the Wizards.

Knicks 115, Bucks 107: At New York, Eddy Curry powered his way to a career-high 36 points, leading the Knicks over Milwaukee.

Jamal Crawford, starting for the injured Steve Francis, added 25 points for the Knicks.

Mo Williams scored 33 points for the Bucks and Charlie Villanueva had 24.

Cavaliers 107, Pacers 75: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 27 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 15, leading the Cavaliers past Indiana.

Donyell Marshall added a season-high 17 rebounds for the Cavs, who outboarded Indiana 57-34.

Darrell Armstrong had 13 points and Danny Granger 12 for the Pacers.

Magic 86, 76ers 84: At Orlando, Fla., Dwight Howard scored 28 points and Grant Hill added 23, leading the Magic to a victory over Philadelphia.

Chris Webber had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers, while Andre Iguodala finished with 19 points.

Clippers 89, Grizzlies 82: At Memphis, Tenn., Elton Brand scored 26 points and had a strong defensive effort to help Los Angeles beat the Grizzlies.

Sam Cassell added 18 points for Los Angeles, while Chris Kaman finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and Cuttino Mobley scored 10 points.

Mike Miller led Memphis with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Timberwolves 91, Bulls 81: At Chicago, Kevin Garnett scored 18 points to help Minnesota beat the Bulls.

Ricky Davis and Mike James scored 15 apiece, and Marko Jaric added 12 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota.

Ben Gordon led Chicago with 21 points.

Mavericks 105, Nuggets 90: At Dallas, Josh Howard matched his career high with 30 points, and Dirk Nowitzki added 25 to lead the Mavericks over Denver.

Carmelo Anthony, who started the night as the NBA’s top scorer at 31.7 points per game, had 18 points on 8-for-26 shooting for Denver. J.R. Smith also scored 18 points for the Nuggets.

Warriors 101, Hornets 80: At Oakland, Calif., Don Nelson finally became the second coach in NBA history with 1,200 career wins on his fifth try when Golden State beat New Orleans.

Mickael Pietrus led Golden State with 22 points.

Desmond Mason topped the Hornets with 24 points.