TORONTO, 26 March 2005 — Tracy McGrady collected 31 points and outplayed LeBron James as the Houston Rockets beat the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers 99-80 to seize their ninth win in 12 games Thursday.
Mike James had 15 points and Yao Ming added 13 points and eight rebounds for the host Rockets, who followed up their victory over league-leading Miami by handing the Cavaliers their 10th straight road defeat. Drew Gooden led Cleveland with 20 points and six rebounds while James recorded 19 points and eight assists.
In Orlando, rookie Emeka Okafor notched his 36th double-double of the season and Gerald Wallace posted 22 points to lead the Charlotte Bobcats to a 108-94 triumph over the Magic, who lost for the ninth time in 10 outings.
Okafor had 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Bobcats landed their third road win of the season. Brevin Knight also contributed a double-double to the Charlotte cause with 15 points and 15 assists.
Grant Hill had a game-high 28 points for the Magic, who were without Steve Francis as he served the final game of his three-game suspension for kicking a cameraman.
In Denver, Earl Boykins claimed 21 points and DerMarr Johnson chipped in with 20 to spark the surging Nuggets to a 117-96 demolition of the Los Angeles Lakers, who suffered their seventh consecutive defeat.
Despite missing the injured Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin, the Nuggets eased to their fifth straight win. The Lakers are in the middle of their worst losing slump in 11 years and are in danger of failing to reach the playoffs. Kobe Bryant had 18 points for Los Angeles.
In Salt Lake City, Gilbert Arenas scored 29 points and Larry Hughes produced the game-winner with 46 seconds to play, helping the Washington Wizards edge the Utah Jazz 85-84.
Hughes finished with 25 points but it was his last two which were the most important as the Wizards earned their first success in Salt Lake since 1997. It was a costly defeat for the Jazz, who could be without Andrei Kirilenko for the remainder of the season after the All-Star forward crashed to the floor early in the opening quarter and broke his left wrist.
In East Rutherford, Lorenzen Wright and Jason Williams each notched 20 points to power the Memphis Grizzlies to a 105-96 victory over the New Jersey Nets and bring their season-high, five-game winning run to a halt. Vince Carter paced the Nets with 22 points while Nenad Krstic added 21 and Jason Kidd had a double-double with 12 points and 12 assists.
In Sacramento, Peja Stojakovic amassed 38 points and nine rebounds to carry the Kings past the Dallas Mavericks 109-101.
Dirk Nowitzki piled up 35 points for Dallas.
In Seattle, Damien Wilkins collected 21 points and Ray Allen returned from a sprained ankle to contribute 19 as the SuperSonics overcame the Portland Trail Blazers 96-91.
Meantime, Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Hamblen has accused his once all-conquering team of giving up during their seventh consecutive loss on Thursday night.
“The second half, I thought our guys quit to some degree,” Coach Frank Hamblen told the Los Angeles Times after a 117-96 defeat at Denver. It was the first time since April 1994 that the Lakers have lost seven games in a row. Kobe Bryant, who scored only four points in the second half, denied the team had stopped trying.
“I felt that we played pretty hard,” said Bryant, who had 18 points for the game.
“We got down by 20-something points, we might have hung our heads a little bit, but I felt like we battled hard. They just played much better than we did.
