Carlos Boozer added 20 points for Chicago, which led by
as many as 17 before the lead was trimmed to three. The Bulls closed the game
on a 17-6 run.
Dwight Howard led the Magic with 28 points and 15
rebounds.
The Bulls (7-1) are off to their best start since winning
12 of 13 to open the 1996-97 season. The latest victory began a brutal stretch
for Chicago that includes seven games in nine nights.
Orlando lost at home for the first time this season. It
was the Magic's first game against a 2010-11 playoff team since their opener at
Oklahoma City.
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant
scored 26 of his 39 points in a dynamic second half, Pau Gasol added 17 points
and 11 rebounds, and the weary Los Angeles Lakers gritted out a victory over
Golden State.
Matt Barnes had 16 points and six rebounds before fouling
out for the Lakers, who won their fifth straight home game while playing their
NBA-high ninth game in 13 days.
Los Angeles bounced back from a passionless first half
with another strong effort from Bryant, who has three straight 30-point games.
The Lakers outlasted the injury-depleted Warriors in the fourth quarter for
their fifth win in seven games.
Monta Ellis scored 18 points and David Lee had 15 points
and 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who have lost seven straight road games to
the Lakers.
Golden State played without high-scoring guard Stephen
Curry, who sprained his right ankle Wednesday in San Antonio, and center Andris
Biedrins, who also has an injured right ankle.
In Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant
scored 26 points, top reserve James Harden added 23 and Oklahoma City eased
into its only stretch of three games on consecutive nights by beating Houston.
The Rockets fell to 0-5 on the road this season but get a
rematch Saturday night on their home floor, where they've won their only two
games this season.
The Thunder bounced back after following their 5-0 start
with two straight losses and were able to rest all their starters during the
fourth quarter at the front end of a busy stretch on the schedule.
Durant played just under 28 minutes and fellow All-Star
Russell Westbrook logged about 25. Oklahoma City plays three in a row and five
games in six nights.
Kevin Martin and Terrence Williams scored 13 points
apiece for Houston.
Houston played without starting point guard Kyle Lowry
because of a right foot injury.
In Phoenix, Steve Nash made
all seven shots, two of them 3-pointers, and handed out nine assists before
sitting out the fourth quarter to watch Phoenix complete a rout of Portland.
Jared Dudley scored 18 points and Nash 17 for the Suns.
Marcin Gortat added 12.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 14 points for the Trail Blazers,
who shot 33 percent, 28 percent in the first half.
The Trail Blazers, entering the game with the best record
in the Western Conference at 5-1, played for the second night in a row and
third time in four nights.
Phoenix had three reserves in double figures: Shannon
Brown with 14 points, Markieff Morris 13 and Hakim Warrick 12.
In Charlotte, Atlanta went to
overtime for a second straight night, pulling out a victory over Charlotte
behind 23 points and 13 rebounds from Josh Smith.
The Hawks lost in triple-overtime to the Miami Heat the
night before, but made sure there wouldn't be multiple extra periods needed by
scoring the first seven points, with early 3-pointers by Jeff Teague and Joe
Johnson.
Marvin Williams added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Al
Horford scored 15 points for the Hawks (5-3).
D.J. Augustin led the Bobcats with 21 points and 12
assists, while Kemba Walker added 19 points and Byron Mullens had 17 off the
bench.
In Washington, Carmelo Anthony
made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 15.9 seconds to play and scored 37 points as New
York rallied to keep Washington winless.
Amare Stoudemire added 23 points and 12 rebounds, and
Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 15 boards in the Knicks' seventh straight
victory over the Wizards.
New York, which had lost four of five, trailed by 15
early in the second quarter before Anthony and Stoudemire went to work. They
scored 22 of the Knicks' 24 points in the quarter.
Nick Young scored 24 points and John Wall had 22 points
and nine assists for the Wizards in the closest loss during the worst start in
franchise history.
In Toronto, Deron Williams had 24
points and nine assists, Anthony Morrow also scored 24 and New Jersey snapped a
six-game losing streak by beating Toronto.
DeShawn Stevenson added 15 points for the Nets, who made
a season-high 15 3-pointers to win for the first time since their opener Dec.
26 at Washington.
New Jersey guard Jordan Farmar came off the bench to
score 10 points and ex-Raptor Kris Humphries matched a season high with 16
rebounds.
Fifteen of New Jersey's 31 field goals were from beyond
the arc.
Jose Calderon scored a season-high 19 points but the
Raptors couldn't extend their winning streak to three games.
In Philadelphia, Spencer Hawes had
16 points and 14 rebounds, Jodie Meeks scored 21 points and Philadelphia beat
Detroit.
In front of Hall of Famer Julius Erving and their new
owners, the Sixers dominated the fourth quarter to win their home opener.
Majority owner Joshua Harris and CEO Adam Aron promised sweeping changes to the
fan experience, slashing ticket prices, revamping the lighting, and even
mingling with fans for more feedback.
The biggest change, though, is at center, where Hawes has
suddenly morphed from accessory piece to regular double-double threat. He had a
crowd of nearly 20,000 fans chanting his name in the third quarter after a
string of big shots and dominated a short-handed Pistons team on the boards.
Meeks scored nine points in 54 seconds in the fourth to
stretch the lead to 16 and put it out of reach.
Greg Monroe had 22 points for the Pistons. Ben Gordon was
absent because of personal reasons and Rodney Stuckey sat out with a sore
groin.
In Boston, Danny Granger had 15
points and Roy Hibbert scored 11 with 12 rebounds to lead Indiana past Boston.
It was the Pacers' first win in Boston since 2007.
Ray Allen returned after missing one game with an illness
and scored 23 points for the Celtics, who for the first time this season lost a
game with their starting lineup intact. Paul Pierce, who missed the first three
games - all losses - scored 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting as Boston shot just
39 percent.
The Pacers were coming off a 35-point loss to the Miami
Heat in which Granger shot 2 for 13.
The Celtics scored just 25 points in the first half,
tying a franchise low. Boston shot 26.5 percent in the half, making the Pacers'
33.3 percent seem good by comparison.
In Minneapolis, Antawn
Jamison had 22 points and six rebounds to help Cleveland beat Minnesota.
Kyrie Irving had 14 points, five assists and five
rebounds and former Timberwolves guard Ramon Sessions had 11 points, seven
rebounds and six assists for the Cavaliers, who held Minnesota to three
fast-break points.
Kevin Love had 29 points and 14 rebounds for the
Timberwolves, who have taken two major steps backward since beating Dallas and
San Antonio on successive nights to start the week.
They lost to Memphis on Wednesday night and then never
really were in it Friday thanks to an uninspired effort against the Cavs.
Minnesota fell to 2-3 on a five-game homestand.
The game pitted Irving, the No. 1 overall pick, against
Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams, the second pick and a player the Cavs
considered taking in June. Williams finished with 12 points.
In New Orleans, Danilo Gallinari
scored 23 points and Denver went on a 19-0 run spanning the end of the third
quarter and the start of the fourth to beat New Orleans.
The Nuggets scored the last eight points of the third
quarter and took the lead for the first time, 64-63, on Andre Miller's shot in
the lane to start the fourth. They scored on their first five possessions of
the fourth while the Hornets did not get off a shot, committing four
consecutive turnovers.
Al Harrington had 14 points off the bench for the
balanced Nuggets, who won their fourth in a row. Ty Lawson had 12 points and
eight assists.
Greivis Vasquez had 16 points off the bench for the
Hornets, who lost their fifth in a row.
New Orleans played without Eric Gordon, who will be out
two to three weeks after experiencing swelling in the same right knee that
forced him to miss four consecutive games earlier this season. Trevor Ariza sat
out his second straight game with a right groin strain.
In Salt Lake City, Al Jefferson
had 20 points and nine rebounds and the Utah reserves outscored their Memphis
counterparts by 30.
Paul Millsap scored 14 and Josh Howard had 13 points and
a key steal in the fourth quarter to help Utah stay unbeaten at home in four
games. Earl Watson had 11 points and five assists as Jazz reserves outscored
the depleted Memphis bench 41-11.
The Jazz harassed the Grizzlies into 6-for-33 shooting in
the fourth quarter and finished with 10 blocked shots, boosting their
NBA-leading average of 7.5 per game.
Marc Gasol and Tony Allen both scored 21 points but the
Grizzlies had 20 turnovers and appeared bothered by Utah's rugged style of
defense.
