The Hindu : Sport / Basketball : In the nick of time

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 16, 2005

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Sport - Basketball

In the nick of time

PHILADELPHIA, FEB. 15. Allen Iverson made a nifty pass to Marc Jackson for the winning lay-up with a second left, and the Philadelphia 76ers moved back to .500 and into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with a 106-105 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday night.

The Knicks had one last chance, but Nazr Mohammed's shot was off the mark and they lost for the eighth time in 10 games.

Iverson followed his career-high 60-point game against Orlando on Saturday night with 38 points against New York.

He also added 10 assists. Jackson finished with 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting.

Stephon Marbury led the Knicks with 32 points.

Trail Blazers 80, Bobcats 77

In Charlotte, North Carolina, Nick Van Exel hit a 29-foot desperation heave at the buzzer to give Portland a win over Charlotte.

It was the seventh consecutive loss for the Bobcats, and the second in a row on a three at the buzzer. On Sunday, Tim Thomas got a friendly roll on a 3-pointer to give New York a 102-99 victory.

Joel Przybilla scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Blazers, who ended a three-game losing streak. They won despite playing without leading scorer and re-bounder Zach Randolph.

Jason Kapono hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to tie the game.

Charlotte played without leading scorer and re-bounder Emeka Okafor, who sat out with a sprained left ankle.

Starting point guard Brevin Knight was out with a sprained right ankle.

Pistons 107, Bucks 83

In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Rasheed Wallace had 17 points and 10 rebounds, leading Detroit to a rout of Milwaukee.

The Pistons won for the eighth time in nine games and completed a dominant 3-0 home-stand. In five days, they beat the Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards and Milwaukee by an average of 22.3 points.

Milwaukee was missing Michael Redd for the second game in a row. The Bucks had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Chauncey Billups also scored 17 points for Detroit, which had six players in double figures. Ben Wallace had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Hornets 98, Wizards 96

In New Orleans, J.R. Smith scored 18 points and Dan Dickau hit a pair of go-ahead free throws with 4.5s left, sending New Orleans to a victory over Washington.

Gilbert Arenas had 34 points for Washington, but his three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim.

Chris Andersen had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, converting an alley-oop dunk and a tip-in on consecutive possessions to help New Orleans maintain a slim lead late in the fourth quarter.

Bostjan Nachbar added 15 points, P.J. Brown 13 and Rodney Rogers 12.

Antawn Jamison had 30 points and 12 rebounds for Washington, but the Wizards reserves were outscored by the Hornets' bench 39-12.

Suns 136, Jazz 128

In Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire had 42 points and 12 rebounds, Steve Nash matched a season high with 18 assists and Phoenix held off Utah.

Quentin Richardson added 22 points, including a three-pointer with 1:21 left that opened a 128-121 lead. Nash scored 19 to help Phoenix (41-12) move a half-game ahead of idle San Antonio for the NBA's best record.

Shawn Marion had 18 points for the Suns, who took three games from the Jazz to win the season series 3-1 for the first time since 1992-93.

Stoudemire scored 15 of Phoenix's 40 points in the third quarter to help the Suns overcome a four-point halftime deficit. Richardson's seventh three-pointer was Phoenix's last field goal, but the Suns held on from the foul line, finishing 33-of-42.

Both teams set a season high for points.

Raja Bell scored 22, Howard Eisley had 20 points and 11 assists, and Matt Harpring had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who lost Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko to injuries. — AP

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