Clutch shot by Lue gives Hawks win
Tyronn Lue hit a 23-foot jumper at the buzzer to lift the Atlanta Hawks to a 101-99 overtime victory over the New Jersey Nets on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J., posting their first three-game road winning streak since December 2000.
Joe Johnson scored 37 points and Josh Smith atoned for a sub-par game, scoring six of his 14 points in overtime to help the Hawks win their ninth road game this season and exceed their entire total last year. Lue finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field.
The game-winning shot came after Vince Carter hit a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game at 99 with 2.9 seconds to play.
After a time out, Lue took the inbound pass, dribbled to the 3-point line and launched his game-winner with his foot on the line. The Hawks tackled him at halfcourt and celebrated in a pile as if they had just won a championship.
Vince Carter had 27 points to lead the Nets, who lost their third straight since returning from a West Coast road trip. It also marked their fourth loss late in a game in the past eight games.
Rookie Marcus Williams had 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and the overtime for New Jersey, while Jason Kidd added 13 points, 11 assists and five rebounds.
Raptors 122, Clippers 110: At Toronto, Chris Bosh had 27 points as six players reached double figures for Toronto, which had a season-high point total in a victory over Los Angeles.
Morris Peterson added 18 points for the Raptors, who have won three straight.
T.J. Ford, Anthony Parker and Jorge Garbajosa each added 17 points for Toronto, which shot 58.7 percent from the field.
Ford and Jose Calderon, Toronto’s two point guards, combined for 27 points and 19 assists. Calderon had 10 points and 12 assists and started in place of Ford, who has been bothered by a sore right ankle.
Cuttino Mobley scored 24 points and Elton Brand had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers.
Pistons 90, Cavaliers 78: At Cleveland, Chauncey Billups scored 18 points, Chris Webber and Rasheed Wallace had 15 apiece and Detroit reminded Cleveland who’s the boss in the NBA Central with a win over the Cavaliers.
Billups added 10 assists, Wallace 13 rebounds and the division-leading Pistons won their fifth straight regular-season game over the Cavaliers, who pushed them to seven games in last year’s playoffs.
LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 21 points, but the All-Star forward was only 9 of 22 from the field and had a few tough layups roll out. Larry Hughes added 14 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 12 with 11 rebounds for Cleveland.