News Story - NBA Capsules

NBA Capsules

By The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) Kobe Bryant scored 41 points while becoming the youngest player to reach 24,000, leading the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers to a 114-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.

Ron Artest had 19 points and seven assists in the fourth straight win for the defending NBA champions, who played without injured big men Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.

Lamar Odom managed just three points before fouling out on his 30th birthday, but Bryant carried the Lakers while reaching his latest scoring milestone 38 days before Wilt Chamberlain did. With a second-half surge, he even overtook Grizzlies guard Allen Iverson for 16th place on the NBA's career scoring list.

Cavaliers 100, Knicks 91

NEW YORK (AP) - LeBron James scored 33 points in his only visit to Madison Square Garden this season.

One night after managing just 42 second-half points in an ugly home loss to Chicago, the Cavaliers rang up 40 in the first quarter, leaving New York fans with little left to do besides cheer for the Yankees in attendance and enjoy another mesmerizing performance by James.

He added nine assists and eight rebounds, but fell just shy of passing Kobe Bryant as the active scoring leader at the Garden. James improved his average to 30.4 points, with Bryant averaging 30.5 in 11 visits, according to STATS LLC

James had scored 50 or more in two of his last three visits, joining Michael Jordan as the only visiting players with multiple 50-point games at the current building.

Trail Blazers 96, Spurs 84

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Brandon Roy had 24 points and five rebounds, Steve Blake added 15 points and the Portland Trail Blazers got a lift from their new-look lineup.

Richard Jefferson had 19 points, Manu Ginobili had 17, and Tim Duncan added 14 points and eight rebounds, but San Antonio lost Tony Parker to a sprained ankle and couldn't overcome a lethargic first half, playing one night after a loss at Utah.

The Spurs (2-3) haven't won on the road yet this season.

In an effort to shake up the Blazers' stagnant offense, coach Nate McMillan inserted Andre Miller into the starting lineup, placing him in an expanded backcourt along with Blake and Roy.

Clippers 118, Warriors 90

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Chris Kaman had 22 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes and Los Angeles ended a seven-game losing streak in the Oakland Arena.

Baron Davis scored 16 of his 25 points in the third quarter as the Clippers won their second straight after opening the season with four losses. Eric Gordon added 25 points for Los Angeles and DeAndre Jordan scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter. Sebastian Telfair also scored 13 points for the Clippers.

Anthony Morrow had 18 points and Stephen Jackson added 17 for the Warriors, who were coming off their first win of the season. Anthony Randolph had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Golden State, while Monta Ellis added 14 points and Kelenna Azubuike 13.

Suns 110, Celtics 103

BOSTON (AP) - Jason Richardson bounced back from his worst game of the season to score 34 points with 10 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns rebounded from their only defeat.

Kevin Garnett had a season-high 26 points for Boston - the most he's scored since missing the end of the 2008-09 season and the playoffs with strained ligaments in his right knee.

Steve Nash had 16 points with 12 assists for Phoenix, shaking loose to hit a 3-pointer with 51 seconds left after Boston closed an 11-point fourth-quarter gap to four points. Amare Stoudemire added 22 points, while Richardson finished 6 for 7 from 3-point range.

Magic 110, Pistons 103

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Dwight Howard had 22 points and 12 rebounds to help the Orlando Magic hold off Charlie Villanueva and Detroit.

Villanueva scored 22 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to get past the defending Eastern Conference champs, who led by 19 early and never trailed at all.

Matt Barnes had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Magic and Jameer Nelson also scored 18, with eight assists.

Orlando had lost 20 of 25 regular season games to the Pistons, including one earlier in the week.

The closest Detroit came on Friday night was 96-90 after a shot by Villanueva with about three minutes to play.

Bucks 87, Timberwolves 72

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Andrew Bogut bested Al Jefferson inside with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Luke Ridnour had 16 points off the bench and Milwaukee used a second-half surge to top Minnesota.

Rookie Brandon Jennings had his first clunker for the Bucks, putting up nine points on 4 for 16 shooting, but his backup Ridnour helped counter a career-high 20 points by Timberwolves rookie Jonny Flynn.

Milwaukee outscored Minnesota 31-14 in the third quarter.

Jefferson, still trying to find his groove after a knee injury knocked him out last winter, went 3 for 12 from the floor and finished with a season-low nine points.

Heat 96, Nuggets 88

MIAMI (AP) - Dwyane Wade scored 22 points, Jermaine O'Neal added 18 and Miami dealt Denver its first loss of the season.

Mario Chalmers scored 16 points, Quentin Richardson added 13 and Udonis Haslem finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who are 5-1 for only the third time in their 22 seasons and beat Denver for the first time since Dec. 17, 2004.

Denver (5-1) got 30 points from Carmelo Anthony, and little from anyone else: Take away Anthony, and the high-powered Nuggets shot only 12 for 35 through the first 36 minutes, getting outscored 14-0 over a 6-minute stretch spanning the second and third quarters.

Reserve Arron Afflalo scored 18 for the Nuggets, who were held more than 27 points below their season average.

Pacers 102, Wizards 86

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Tyler Hansbrough scored 13 points in his pro debut.

The first-round draft pick from North Carolina missed the preseason and the first four regular-season games with a right shin injury.

Danny Granger scored 22 points and T.J. Ford added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who raised a banner honoring late co-owner Mel Simon before the game. He died in September at age 82.

Caron Butler led the Wizards with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Brendan Haywood had nine points and 19 rebounds. Gilbert Arenas, who had averaged 28 points, finished with 13 and took only 10 shots.

76ers 97, Nets 94

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Andre Iguodala scored 16 points, including a late 3-pointer to give Philadelphia the lead.

Lou Williams scored 18 points and Jason Kapono had 14 for Philadelphia, which rebounded from a 31-point loss to Boston three days earlier.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Trenton Hassell had 17 points and 12 rebounds. New Jersey fell to 0-6, the worst start in franchise history.

The Nets were without six players due to injury and had only a four-man bench.

After Lopez tied the game at 92 with a pair of free throws, Iguodala made a 3-pointer to put the 76ers up with 2:03 left.

Raptors 107, Hornets 90

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Chris Bosh scored 27 points and Toronto used a 27-4 run in the third quarter to take control.

The Raptors trailed 56-51 before hitting a barrage of open 3-pointers to put the game away. Bosh's 3 gave them the lead for good, 57-56, and Hedo Turkoglu and Andrea Bargnani both hit three 3s in the next 7 minutes as Toronto went ahead 81-63.

Turkoglu and Jose Calderon both had 16 points for Toronto, while Bargnani added 14.

Chris Paul led New Orleans with 21 points and a season-high 18 assists, while Bobby Brown added 16 points.

Bobcats 103, Hawks 83

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Raja Bell scored 24 points and the Charlotte Bobcats looked nothing like the NBA's lowest scoring team against road-weary Atlanta.

Bell hit 9 of 12 shots, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, Flip Murray added 15 points in his Charlotte debut, and Gerald Wallace offset a poor shooting night with 18 rebounds in the Bobcats' second straight win.

The Hawks struggled defensively and had their two-game winning streak snapped at the end of a difficult trip that also took them to Los Angeles, Portland and Sacramento. Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford each scored 13 points, but combined to shoot 10 of 27 from the field.

Rockets 105, Thunder 94

HOUSTON (AP) - Trevor Ariza and Carl Landry scored 21 points apiece and the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak over the Oklahoma City franchise to 11.

Luis Scola added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets.

Russell Westbrook scored 33 points and Kevin Durant added 27 for the Thunder, who've lost nine straight games in Houston.

Westbrook and Durant scored 16 of Oklahoma City's first 19 points in the final quarter to keep the Thunder in it, but never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead.

Updated November 7, 2009