Morrison steps up
Adam Morrison decided to relax a little bit after putting too much pressure on himself in the first few games of his career.
The idea paid off as Morrison scored 27 points, surpassing his career high from one night earlier, and the Charlotte Bobcats beat the San Antonio Spurs 95-92 in overtime Wednesday night in San Antonio.
“The coaches were telling me I was putting too much pressure on myself,” Morrison said. “Everyone was expecting so much out of me, especially at the (NBA draft) pick I went (third overall).”
Morrison started the season shooting 32 percent, including 10 of 43 (23 percent) through five straight games before Tuesday. But he has hit 21 of 41 the past two nights in Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
“This is a big win for us,” Morrison said. “We’ve been in all those games we lost, so to finally get one is exciting.”
Emeka Okafor added 19 points for Charlotte, which had lost four straight. It was the first victory over the Spurs in Bobcats franchise history after four previous tries.
Tony Parker scored 25 points and Tim Duncan added 24 and 13 rebounds for the Spurs, who had won five straight games.
Morrison, a rookie from Gonzaga, scored 21 points Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
He made his third start of the season Wednesday, and responded by hitting 12 of 23 from the floor, including 2 of 3 3-pointers.
He hit six of his first seven shots in the opening quarter while the rest of the Bobcats shot 3 of 15 to start the game.
“He is a basketball junkie,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s a scoring machine. He’s a fantastic young talent.”
Kings 115, Grizzlies 111: At Sacramento, Calif., Mike Bibby had 32 points and 10 assists to lead the Kings past Memphis.
Cavaliers 100, Trail Blazers 87: At Cleveland, LeBron James had 32 points, seven assists and seven rebounds to help the Cavaliers turn away Portland.
Knicks 102, Wizards 82: At New York, rookie Renaldo Balkman scored a season-high 18 points, and the Knicks used their best defensive performance of the season to beat Washington.
Nets 100, Bucks 87: At East Rutherford, N.J., Jason Kidd scored a season-high 25 points to pick up the slack for an ailing Vince Carter, leading New Jersey over Milwaukee.
Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva sprained his left elbow late in the second quarter and did not return.
Celtics 114, Pacers 88: At Boston, Paul Pierce scored 32 points and Wally Szczerbiak added 20 to lead the Celtics past Indiana.
Ryan Gomes had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Boston, which won for just the second time in eight games.
Hornets 100, Pistons 99: At Auburn Hills, Mich., rookie Hilton Armstrong made a free throw with 3 seconds left, then got a key offensive rebound to help New Orleans beat Detroit.
Magic 108, Nuggets 99: At Orlando, Fla., Keyon Dooling scored 25 points, keying a big third-quarter run to lift the Magic over Denver.
“Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin will miss the rest of the season because of a bad right knee.
Martin had surgery Wednesday, and Denver said the operation “revealed more significant damage” than originally thought.
NBA leads Kings’ effort
The NBA will take the lead in the Sacramento Kings’ long-running effort to get a new arena, the league announced. Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof met with commissioner David Stern to discuss the change in tactics after a ballot proposal for a sales-tax increase to help fund a potential new arena was defeated by Sacramento County voters last week.
The NBA will be in charge now of seeking a public/private funding deal.