Mavericks 102, Cavaliers 95
DALLAS (AP) - Tim Thomas took Dirk Nowitzki's spot in the starting lineup and did a nice impression with 22 points, helping the Dallas Mavericks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-95 Sunday night to spoil LeBron James' 500th career game.
The Cavs had won five straight and their previous four against the Mavericks, but they trailed the entire second half. They pulled to 84-83 midway through the fourth quarter, but Dallas answered with a 12-4 spurt capped by 3-pointers from Jason Kidd and Jason Terry.
Nowitzki was recovering from a gruesome collision with Houston's Carl Landry on Friday night in which Landry lost five teeth, two of them becoming embedded in Nowitzki's right elbow. He needed several stitches to close the wound and was still too sore Sunday. He's hoping this will be the only game he has to miss.
Terry scored 19 points, Kidd had 10 points and 11 assists, and both Drew Gooden and Shawn Marion had 12 points and eight rebounds. Josh Howard added 14 points for the Mavs.
James had 25 points, six assists and three rebounds, but didn't get enough help. Mo Williams scored only eight points and Shaquille O'Neal was just 1 of 7 for five points.
Lakers 93, Pistons 81
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Kobe Bryant scored 28 points as Los Angeles closed a five-game trip with a four-game winning streak and an NBA-best 22-4 record.
Andrew Bynum scored 16 points, Ron Artest had 14 points and nine assists, and Pau Gasol added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers.
Rodney Stuckey scored 16 points, Swedish rookie Jonas Jerebko had 15 and rookie reserve Austin Daye added 10 points for the undermanned Pistons.
Celtics 122, Timberwolves 104
BOSTON (AP) - Paul Pierce scored 29 points and hit all six of his 3-point attempts, and Boston finished with a season high in points two nights after snapping an 11-game win streak.
Kendrick Perkins had 14 points to go with 11 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 15 assists as the Celtics beat the Timberwolves for the sixth consecutive time since acquiring Kevin Garnett in an unprecedented 7-for-1 deal during the summer of 2007.
Jonny Flynn scored 21 points for Minnesota.
Grizzlies 102, Nuggets 96
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Zach Randolph had 32 points and a career-high 24 boards, the highest rebound total in the league this season.
Rudy Gay added 19 points for Memphis, which snapped an eight-game losing streak to Denver. Marc Gasol had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley scored 11 apiece.
Carmelo Anthony finished with 41 points for Denver.
Trail Blazers 102, Heat 95
MIAMI (AP) - Brandon Roy scored 11 of his 28 points late in the fourth quarter and LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 for Portland, which trailed by six with 51/2 minutes remaining.
Dwyane Wade scored 28 points and had 10 assists for the Heat, but he was 13 of 31 from the field and didn't have a rebound for only the fourth time in his career. Quentin Richardson shot 7 for 7 from 3-point range, tying a Heat record, and added 22 points for Miami.
Raptors 98, Hornets 92
TORONTO (AP) - Chris Bosh had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Andrea Bargnani had 13 points and 11 boards.
Jarrett Jack had 15 points and Hedo Turkoglu scored 14 for the Raptors, who held the Hornets to 39 percent shooting.
David West had 21 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans, which lost for the 11th time in 13 road games. Chris Paul, who had 30 points and a season-high 19 assists in Friday's 98-92 victory over Denver, finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Knicks 98, Bobcats 94
NEW YORK (AP) - Wilson Chandler scored 26 points, and Danilo Gallinari added 21 points and a huge blocked shot in the closing seconds.
David Lee finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who won for the sixth time in eight games.
Raymond Felton had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Bobcats.