Sports / Basketball |
Bobcats beat Lakers over three overtimes(Xinhua)Updated: 2006-12-31 08:42 Kobe Bryant scored 58 points, but committed two key errors in the third overtime to render the Charlotte Bobcats a 133-124 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. After fouling Derek Anderson on a 3-point attempt with 1:14 left, Bryant missed a long jumper and fouled on a charging call on the next possession to end his night. He hit 22 of 45 shots and his performance trailed only his 81-point game last January in Toronto and a 62-point effort last December in Dallas. Emeka Okafor had 22 points and a career-high 25 rebounds, Gerald Wallace scored 28 points and Matt Carroll added a career-high 27 for the Bobcats, who played their first triple-overtime game in franchise history. Raymond Felton added 22 points and 15 assists in 57 minutes for the Bobcats, who snapped a three-game losing streak. In Houston, Tracy McGrady showed no signs of his recent back problems, scoring 31 points in Houston's rout of Atlanta. Juwan Howard added 17 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and Dikembe Mutombo grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds as the Rockets won for the second time in three games since Yao Ming broke a bone under his right knee. Yao is out at least six weeks. McGrady was playing his third game since missing the previous seven with back spasms. He took over the game with an 18-point second quarter, then left in the third quarter with an apparently minor thumb injury. The Hawks have lost six in a row and 10 of their last 11. Atlanta shot 35 percent (25 of 72) from the field and went 0-for-11 from 3-point range. In Miami, New Jersey scored 21 consecutive points in the third quarter to beat the short-handed Heat 91-81, who were without Dwyane Wade. Wade was sidelined with a sore wrist he injured in a loss Wednesday. The Heat were also without Shaquille O'Neal, who has missed the past 23 games with a knee injury, and reserve forward James Posey, who served a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul. In Washington, Caron Butler made the go-ahead basket, a 16-footer from the baseline with 46 seconds remaining, Gilbert Arenas scored 14 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to guide Washinton Wizards to a 112-111 victory over Orlando Magic, taking sole possession of the Southeast Division lead. Washington has won a season-high five straight and has made up a six-game deficit to the Magic since the start of December. The Magic have lost four straight and seven of nine. In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 32 points in his final game as a 21-year-old player, Donyell Marshall scored a season-high 29, and Cleveland snapped Milwaukee's six-game winning streak with a score of 109-99. In Detroit, Darrell Armstrong made a free throw with 0.9 seconds left to give Indiana the 93-92 victory over Detroit. The Pistons also lost Chauncey Billups to a strained right calf in the final minute of the game. His status for Sunday's game against Phoenix is unknown. In Toronto, Luol Deng scored 25 points and Ben Gordon added 22 to lead Chicago to its 15th straight victory over Toronto in 107-97. Deng had 19 points in the second half for the Bulls, who shot a season-high 59.7 percent. Chicago has not lost to Toronto since December 6, 2002, when it ended a 16-game losing streak to the Raptors. In Minneapolis, Ricky Davis scored 24 points and Mark Blount added 18 to lead Minnesota past the sleepy SuperSonics 101-82. Kevin Garnett never got going. He barely extended his double-digit scoring streak to 349 games, reaching 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting with a short turnaround midway through the fourth quarter. In Phoenix, Steve Nash and Raja Bell scored 20 points apiece, and Phoenix coasted past New York 108-86 in the opener of a five-game road trip. In Oakland, Baron Davis had 27 points and nine assists, and Mickael Pietrus matched his season high with 26 points to lead Warriors past Boston Celtics 110-100. In Portland, Andre Igoudala scored a career-high 32 points to lead Philadelphia over Portland 98-95. Brandon Roy led the Blazers with 15 points, but Portland's bid for a comeback victory was denied in the final seconds. Andre Miller appeared to foul Roy on Roy's trip to the hoop. No call was made, Miller got the rebound and made a free throw with 0.5 seconds remaining to seal the win. In Los Angeles, Elton Brand scored 22 points, reserve Corey Maggette added 21 and Los Angeles snapped a 14-game losing streak to Sacramento by a score of 102-93. In Oklahoma City, Rasual Butler scored 20 points, including a big three-point play in the closing minutes, to lead New Orleans over Denver 99-89 in a matchup of depleted teams. The victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Hornets, who were without four of their top five offensive players due to injury. Denver also was four players short, including Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith, who are serving suspensions. Allen Iverson scored 21 points but was just 6-of-22 from the field.
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