DENVER: The Phoenix Suns matched a season-high fourth straight win with an impressive 109-97 victory at Denver on Wednesday, inflicting a rare home defeat on the NBA Northwest Division-leading Nuggets.
Amare Stoudemire had 20 points and 17 rebounds, and Jason Richardson added 20 for the Suns.
Nene and J.R. Smith each scored 15 points for the Nuggets, who had won nine straight at home, but were finally made to pay for the absence of injured star Carmelo Anthony, who was sitting out a sixth straight game with a sprained ankle.
Lakers 99, Bobcats 97: In Los Angeles, the hosts narrowly beat Charlotte to give Phil Jackson the most wins ever by a Lakers coach.
Jackson passed Pat Riley with his 534th win with the Lakers. The Hall of Famer also won 545 games and six titles in nine seasons with Chicago before winning four more rings in his first nine seasons with the Lakers.
Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Lamar Odom scored 19 for the Lakers, who returned from an eight-game trip to improve the NBA’s best home record to 24-3 with their eighth consecutive victory at Staples Center.
Stephen Jackson scored 30 points for the Bobcats, who played without injured All-Star Gerald Wallace in the finale of a six-game trip.
Jazz 118, Trail Blazers 105: In Salt Lake City, Utah made it seven straight wins with victory over Portland.
Deron Williams had 13 points and 13 assists, and rookie Wesley Matthews had 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting for the Jazz.
LaMarcus Aldrdige had 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Blazers, playing their eighth straight game without scoring leader Brandon Roy.
Celtics 107, Heat 102: In Boston, Rajon Rondo had 22 points and 14 assists for Boston in his second straight outstanding game against Miami.
Rondo hit a 3-pointer to make it 60-58 early in the third quarter and the Celtics never trailed after that, although Miami stayed close.
The previous time the teams met, Rondo’s layup a split-second before the buzzer sent the game into overtime.
Miami lost for the fifth time in six games despite 30 points and 13 assists from Dwyane Wade.
Thunder 103, Hornets 99: In New Orleans, Kevin Durant scored 30 points to lead Oklahoma City over New Orleans.
After the Hornets cut it to 101-99, Durant hit a pair of free throws with 8.5 seconds left, finally putting away a New Orleans team playing without injured All-Star point guard Chris Paul.
Russell Westbrook had 26 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for Oklahoma City.
Marcus Thornton scored 22 points for New Orleans before leaving with a cut lower back after a hard fall in the fourth quarter.
Hawks 103, Clippers 97: In Atlanta, the hosts scored just nine points in the fourth-quarter but still beat Los Angeles.
Joe Johnson scored 34 points and Jamal Crawford added 22 for the Hawks, who closed within 1-1/2 games of the Southeast Division lead.
Chris Kaman and Eric Gordon each scored 17 points for the Clippers.
Mavericks 110, Warriors 101: In Dallas, the home team extended Golden State’s losing streak to seven games. Jason Terry had 21 points and Dirk Nowitzki scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for the Mavericks.
Monta Ellis, who scored a career-high 46 points, drove for a layup to bring the Warriors to 95-92 with 5:11 left.
Spurs 115, Kings 113: In Sacramento, California, George Hill had 23 points and nine assists as San Antonio piped Sacramento.
Tim Duncan added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs, who played their third straight game without injured point guard Tony Parker.
76ers 106, Bulls 103, OT: In Philadelphia, Elton Brand scored 26 points to help Philadelphia to a comeback overtime win over Chicago.
Andre Iguodala had 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the 76ers, who won despite Allen Iverson skipping the game because of his child’s illness.
Derrick Rose scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime for Chicago, whose road-winning streak was ended at five games.
Knicks 107, Wizards 85: In New York, the hosts won their first game in four, comfortably defeating Washington.
Nate Robinson scored 23 points and had eight assists and six rebounds, while David Lee had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks.
Randy Foye and Nick Young each scored 15 points for the Wizards.
Raptors 108, Nets 99: In Toronto, undermanned Toronto overcame hapless New Jersey to make it five wins in six games.
Chris Bosh scored 20 points and Sonny Weems set career highs with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors.
Yi Jianlian and Devin Harris each scored 15 points for New Jersey, which has lost four straight to drop to a miserable 4-44. They are 1-24 on the road.
