New Orleans cruised to its seventh straight win against a
Hawks team that shot 29 percent and barely beat the franchise record for fewest
points. As it was, the home team did eclipse the previous scoring low since
moving to Atlanta 42 years ago, a 73-63 loss to Cleveland in 1996.
Only Jordan Crawford's 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining
kept Hawks from their worst offensive effort ever - a 57-point game in 1955
when the team was in St. Louis.
David West and Marco Belinelli both scored 15 points and
Emeka Okafor pulled down 12 rebounds.
At Denver, Kobe Bryant gave the
Pepsi Center crowd little to cheer about as he led Los Angeles past Denver.
Bryant scored 14 of his 18 points in the decisive third
quarter and was one of five Lakers to score at least 17.
Ron Artest had a season-best 19 as did Pau Gasol. Lamar Odom
added 18 and Andrew Bynum 17.
After frittering away double-digit leads in their last three
games, the Lakers never let up after grabbing a 10-point advantage in the third
quarter.
Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 23 points after missing shoot
around to attend to a personal matter, and Arron Afflalo chipped in 22.
At Boston, Kevin Garnett scored 21
points, Paul Pierce added 20 and Rajon Rondo had 12 assists to lead Boston to
its fifth straight win.
Deron Williams had a season-low five points for the Jazz,
who have lost three in a row. Earl Watson scored 12 for Utah, while Paul
Millsap, Gordon Hayward and Andrei Kirilenko had 11 apiece.
Glen Davis scored 15 and Semih Erden had a career-high 14
points for the Celtics.
At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 21
points and 16 rebounds as San Antonio extended its winning streak to eight
games.
Tony Parker added 21 points and 13 assists as the Spurs
avenged one of just six losses this season. That was in New York earlier this
month, when the Knicks wore out the NBA's top team and put up a season-high 128
points on San Antonio.
Raymond Felton led the Knicks with 23 points.
At Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard
had 31 points and 19 rebounds to lead Orlando to the easy win over Toronto.
Ryan Anderson added 21 points for Orlando, which avenged a
four-point home loss to the Raptors in November. Howard earned his 31st
double-double of the season, J.J. Redick scored 12 points and Brandon Bass
finished with 10.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 16 points. Andrea
Bargnani scored all 11 of his points in the first half as Toronto picked up its
sixth consecutive loss.
At Washington, Channing Frye scored 25
points and led a third-quarter 3-pointer run, helping Phoenix to its
season-high fifth consecutive victory.
Frye made four of the Suns' six 3-pointers during a third
quarter in which Phoenix outscored Washington 31-18. Steve Nash had six of his
14 assists in the period and also finished with 17 points and five turnovers,
the wily veteran holding his own against up-and-comer John Wall.
Nick Young scored 25 points for the Wizards and Wall had 11
points, 14 assists and five turnovers.
At Memphis, Tennessee, Zach
Randolph had 29 points and 19 rebounds, and Rudy Gay added 22 points as Memphis
snapped a seven-game losing streak to Houston.
Randolph scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, Mike Conley
finished with 17 points and O.J. Mayo added 13 for Memphis.
Kevin Martin led the Rockets with 32 points, and Luis Scola
had 19.
At Newark, New Jersey, Anthony Morrow
scored all of the points during a key second-half run in his first game since
mid-December, leading New Jersey to the victory.
Brook Lopez had 15 points, Devin Harris added 12 and nine
assists, and Kris Humphries had 11 points and 12 rebounds for New Jersey.
Tayshaun Prince had 16 points for Detroit, which was limited
to 14 points in the final quarter.
At Cleveland, Andrew Bogut scored
23 points and Corey Maggette added 20 as Milwaukee took its turn beating up
Cleveland, which lost its 15th straight with no end to their slide in sight.
The Bucks came in as the NBA's lowest-scoring team at 91.2
points per game, but they passed that with 7:35 remaining and easily sent the
Cavs to their 25th loss in 26 games.
Cleveland hasn't won since Dec. 18 and there's no easy games
on the upcoming schedule.
Antawn Jamison and Ramon Sessions scored 22 apiece for
Cleveland, which got a combined four points from starters J.J. Hickson, Manny
Harris and Alonzo Gee.
At Oakland, California, Monta
Ellis scored 28 points, including a tying jumper in the final second of
regulation as Golden State stunned Sacramento in overtime again.
Stephen Curry had 34 points and David Lee finished with 22
points and 10 rebounds to help the Warriors win four straight for the first
time in three seasons. They also beat the Kings in overtime in their previous
meeting.
Tyreke Evans had a career-high 35 points and DeMarcus
Cousins scored 21 in the latest setback in a miserable season for the Kings.
They have lost seven of eight and own the Western Conference's worst record at
9-32.
