The loss was the 13th straight on the road this season for the Wizards (6-18), who played without top overall draft pick John Wall and forward Andray Blatche , both of whom sat out the game with knee problems.

The Nets, who led by 23 points in the second quarter, got 12 points and 17 rebounds from Kris Humphries, the fourth straight game he collected 10 or more boards.

Reserve Nick Young led the Wizards with 22 points, while Gilbert Arenas had 19 and Al Thornton added 18.

The 23-point lead was the biggest New Jersey has enjoyed at any stage of a game this season.
 
In Boston, Kevin Garnett had 17 points and 14 rebounds — one of three Boston players with a double-double — to lead the Celtics to their 12th straight win.

Paul Pierce had 15 points and 10 assists and Glen “Big Baby” Davis had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Ray Allen scored 18 points and Nate Robinson had 14 for the Celtics (21-4).

Marvin Williams had a season-best 26 points and Jeff Teague scored 18 for the Hawks.

Boston point guard Rajon Rondo missed the game after spraining his left ankle in Wednesday’s win at New York. He’s expected to be sidelined at least a week. Center Shaquille O’Neal was also out, missing his fourth straight game with a sore right calf.
 
In Denver, San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili hit a running bank shot in the final seconds then drew the foul that negated Carmelo Anthony’s possible game-winning basket.

Ginobili’s shot with 4.2 seconds left put the Spurs ahead 113-112.

After a timeout, Anthony got the inbounds pass from Ty Lawson and drove the lane. He ran over Ginobili as he made a buzzer-beater and the crowd went crazy. But the officials called off the basket for an offensive foul.

It was the second game-winner in as many days for Ginobili, who hit a fallaway jumper as time expired Wednesday, lifting San Antonio over Milwaukee 92-90.

San Antonio improved to an NBA-best 22-4 while dropping the Nuggets to just their second loss in 13 home games. Tim Duncan had 28 points and Tony Parker added 24 for the Spurs.

Anthony led Denver with 31 points and Arron Afflalo scored 20.
 

Meantime, Yao Ming’s NBA career is in serious jeopardy after the Houston Rockets confirmed Thursday that the giant Chinese center has a stress fracture in his left ankle and will be out indefinitely.

The 2.25-meter (7-foot-6) Yao has been out since Nov. 10 with what had been called a bone bruise in the same ankle. An MRI performed Thursday revealed the stress fracture.

Yao, a seven-time All-Star, sat out last season after surgery to repair his broken left foot. The Rockets said his current injury is related to the old one, and was discovered during his current rehabilitation.

“I have been working hard to get back on the court, so today’s news was very disappointing for me,” Yao said in a statement. “I will need some time to speak with my doctors to figure out my options moving forward, but I want to thank all those who have expressed their support for me during this time. I will wait on commenting further until we have a set plan.”

Yao was the top overall draft pick in 2002 and first began to have injury problems in the 2005-06 season.

His left foot has been the main problem. He first broke a bone in the foot with four games left in the 2005-06 season.

He broke his right leg in the 2006-07 season, forcing him to sit out 32 games, before a stress fracture in his left foot in February 2008 forced him to miss the playoffs. He had pins inserted and rushed his rehabilitation to play for China in the Beijing Olympics.

Yao played 77 regular-season games in 2008-09 and had no problems with his foot until the second round of the playoffs, when he injured it again. That injury proved to be the most serious, when the hairline fracture didn’t heal and he was forced to undergo complex surgery.