Lin committed nine turnovers, tied for the most in the NBA this season, and the New York Knicks had their seven-game winning streak stopped with an 89-85 loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.
Lin scored 26 points, but his turnovers nearly doubled his five assists and the Knicks lost for the first time since Linsanity began, falling back below .500 at 15-16 heading into a matchup with the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Trevor Ariza scored 25 points for the Hornets, who have won three in a row after a 4-23 start.
In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 28 points in his third game back to Cleveland as a visitor, Dwyane Wade added 22 and Miami won its fifth straight — all on the road.
James, booed loudly every time he touched the ball by fans who haven’t forgiven him for leaving two years ago, scored 16 in the third quarter when the Heat opened a 34-point lead. James added four dunks, three 3-pointers, five rebounds, five assists and rested the entire fourth quarter.
Miami has won eight of nine and went 5-1 on its trip, winning by an average of 18.8 points.
In Philadelphia, Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and Dallas erased a 15-point deficit with a dominant second half against Philadelphia.
Dominique Jones added 12 points and Jason Kidd had nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists to help the Mavericks win their sixth straight game. Dallas snapped a tie early in the fourth with a 9-0 run, and that was more than enough with the 76ers losing their touch in the second half.
In Oklahoma City, James Harden scored 25 points, Kevin Durant added 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Oklahoma City completed a season sweep of Golden State.
Russell Westbrook scored 18 points for Oklahoma City, but the All-Star point guard left with 1:13 remaining in the third quarter with what the team said was a sprained right ankle.
In Memphis, Dante Cunningham tipped in Rudy Gay’s miss with less than a second left to lift Memphis over Denver.
Andre Miller’s inbounds pass with 0.2 seconds left was batted away at the rim, allowing Memphis to win its third straight despite blowing a 23-point second-half lead.
Gay had 20 points to lead six Grizzlies players in double figures. O.J. Mayo finished with 17, while
In Toronto, Reggie Williams scored a season-high 22 points to help Charlotte snap a 16-game losing streak by beating Toronto.
D.J. Augustin had 11 points and 10 assists, Kemba Walker scored 14 points and fellow rookie Bismack Biyombo had a career-high 13 rebounds as the Bobcats won for the first time since beating Golden State on Jan. 14. Corey Maggette added 16 points as Charlotte avoided becoming the 28th team in NBA history to drop at least 17 straight games.
In Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard had 26 points and 20 rebounds as Orlando rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Milwaukee.
It was Howard’s seventh 20-point, 20-rebound game of the season. Ryan Anderson added 23 points, including four 3-pointers, and Hedo Turkoglu had 14 points and seven assists.
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Rodney Stuckey scored a season-high 36 points and rookie Brandon Knight added 23 points and 10 assists to help Detroit rally past Sacramento.
Tayshaun Prince finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Stuckey was 12 for 20 from the floor and 11 for 12 from the free throw line.
In Houston, Kevin Love scored 33 points, including eight straight during a key fourth-quarter stretch, and Nikola Pekovic added a career-high 30 to lead Minnesota past Houston.
Love’s fourth 30-point outing in the last five games helped the Timberwolves improve to 3-1 against Houston this season. Ricky Rubio added 18 points and nine assists.
A big run by the Rockets at the beginning of the fourth cut Minnesota’s lead from 14 to one before Love took over. He scored eight points in a row, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers, to push Minnesota’s lead to 103-94 with 3 minutes left.
In Salt Lake City, Al Jefferson scored a season-high 34 points, including 26 in the first half, to lead Utah over Washington.
The Jazz, who had lost five of six, broke it open in the third quarter when they outscored the Wizards 38-28, fueled by runs of 8-0 and 20-8.
Jefferson had eclipsed his season high of 30 points with nearly 5 minutes left in the third as the Jazz led by as many as 28.
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 18 of his 36 points in the third quarter, Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and the Lakers handed the Phoenix Suns their fourth straight loss.
It was only the fourth time in 30 games this season that the Lakers reached the 100-point mark. Pau Gasol had 13 rebounds and 10 points, and Matt Barnes added 17 points off the bench along with seven boards in 25 minutes. Bryant had nine rebounds and six assists.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping attended the game, capping a four-day visit to the US. He entered the arena on a red carpet during the second quarter and observed the proceedings from the second tier of luxury suites above the official scorer’s table and the players’ benches.
