NBA Wrap: Former Nets Sink Old Team

Jason Kidd and Antoine Wright celebrated the first anniversary of their trade from the New Jersey Nets a day early Wednesday, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 113-98 victory over their former team.

Kidd opened the game with three early 3-pointers and scored 23 points, one shy of his season high. He also had 10 assists and a quick-handed steal against Devin Harris — the youngster he was dealt for — during the game-breaking third quarter. Wright hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 of his 20 points in the period.

Josh Howard had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and nine rebounds for Dallas, 7-2 since Kidd was put in charge of the offense. New Jersey lost its fourth straight, all by at least 15 points.




Lakers 129, Warriors 121
At Oakland, California, Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, and Pau Gasol added 24 points and 13 rebounds, as Los Angeles rallied past Golden State for its 13th victory in 15 games.

Lamar Odom scored 22 points for the Lakers, who have improved the NBA's best record to 44-10 with back-to-back wins following the All-Star break. Los Angeles trailed late into the fourth quarter, but made a 17-3 run beginning with back-to-back 3-pointers by Trevor Ariza, who finished with 17 points.

Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette scored 24 points apiece for Golden State.



Hornets 117, Magic 85
At New Orleans, Chris Paul had 36 points and 10 assists as New Orleans handed Orlando its worst loss of the season.

Rasual Butler added 15 points, and David West had 14 for the Hornets, who've won their first two games following the All-Star break.

Rashard Lewis had 17 points, and J.J. Redick 14 for Orlando, which shot poorly from the field and free-throw line. Dwight Howard had 12 points and was a non-factor for most of the last three quarters, when he scored only two points.

Orlando's previous worst loss was by 19 points to Boston on Dec. 1.




Timberwolves 111, Heat 104
At Miami, Sebastian Telfair had 30 points and eight assists and Ryan Gomes added 20 points as Minnesota hit a season-high 14 3-pointers to spoil Jermaine O'Neal's debut in Miami.

Minnesota blew an 11-point lead with 10 minutes remaining, but recovered in time largely thanks to Telfair, who hit a 3-pointer with 1:26 left for a four-point lead — and the Timberwolves held on to snap a five-game slide.

Dwyane Wade finished with 37 points and 12 assists for Miami. O'Neal, who sustained a right eye injury in the third quarter and missed 13 minutes, had 13 points in his first game since being acquired from Toronto last week.




Cavaliers 93, Raptors 76
At Toronto, LeBron James had 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 22 points in Cleveland's win over Toronto.

Needing two rebounds and one assist in the final quarter for his 21st career triple-double, James had six points but only one rebound before leaving the game for good with just over 3 minutes remaining.

Mo Williams added 17 points for the Cavaliers, 6-2 in their last eight games. Joey Graham had 15 points for Toronto.




Nuggets 101, 76ers 89
At Philadelphia, Carmelo Anthony had 26 points and 14 rebounds and Chauncey Billups added 22 points as Denver downed Philadelphia for its third straight victory.

Billups scored 17 points in the third quarter — 13 during a 24-4 run that erased a 10-point deficit and gave Denver a 61-51 lead.

Andre Miller led Philadelphia with 17 points, but strained his right calf with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.




Suns 142, Clippers 119
At Los Angeles, Amare Stoudemire had 42 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 15-for-20 from the field as Phoenix beat the Los Angeles Clippers.

Steve Nash had 21 points and 12 assists for the rejuvenated Suns, who played their second game under interim head coach Alvin Gentry following Terry Porter's firing. Shaquille O'Neal had 16 points and six rebounds.



Bobcats 103, Pacers 94
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Gerald Wallace had 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Raymond Felton added 16 points as Charlotte beat Indiana.

Troy Murphy had 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Pacers. All-Star forward Danny Granger left after spraining his right foot early in the second quarter.


Bulls 113, Bucks 104
At Milwaukee, Kirk Hinrich scored a season-high 31 points, and Luol Deng added 21 for Chicago, playing with a short bench after trading four players to Sacramento.

Richard Jefferson tied a season high with 32 points for Milwaukee.


Hawks 105, Kings 100
At Sacramento, California, former Sacramento guard Mike Bibby scored 29 points to help Atlanta beat the short-handed Kings.

Kevin Martin had 32 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento.



Trail Blazers 94, Grizzlies 90
At Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy had 24 points, including two key layups in the final minutes to help Portland improve to 8-3 in its last 11 games.

Rudy Gay led Memphis with 20 points.