NBA | Marbury sinks 27 as Knicks paste Portland to win at home
New York Knicks coach Larry Brown had a feeling that Stephon Marbury was ready for a breakout game.
And so he was. Marbury scored a season-high 27 points yesterday to help New York beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 103-92, giving Brown his first Knicks victory at Madison Square Garden.
“I thought Steph was phenomenal,” Brown said. “I loved the way he was being aggressive. I told people before the game he would play great.”
Marbury’s cousin Sebastian Telfair scored a career-high 27 points for the Blazers in his return home.
Channing Frye added 20 points and Jamal Crawford had 19 for New York. Zach Randolph had 17 points and Darius Miles added 16 for the Blazers.
Raptors 107, Heat 94
TORONTO - Toronto won its first game of the season by beating first-place Miami, ending the Raptors’ longest losing streak since 2003.
Chris Bosh had a season-high 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Raptors, who opened the season 0-9. Mike James added 25 points for Toronto.
Clippers 113, Warriors 101
LOS ANGELES - Elton Brand had 32 points and 10 rebounds and Corey Maggette scored 24 points as Los Angeles beat Golden State.
Cuttino Mobley had 22 points for Los Angeles and Sam Cassell added 14 points and 10 assists. The Pacific Division-leading Clippers improved to 8-2, the best start in the franchise’s 36-year history, and pulled back to a tie with defending champion San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference.
Baron Davis had 21 points and 13 assists for the Warriors. Jason Richardson scored 20 points, but hardly put a dent in a 17-point lead the Clippers built in the third quarter.
Golden State led by as many as eight before the Clippers pulled ahead for good on a layup by Zeljko Rebraca.
Pacers 85, Rockets 74
INDIANAPOLIS - Ron Artest scored 24 points to help Indiana beat Houston.
Yao Ming led the Rockets with 24 points and 13 rebounds but was 8 for 21 from the field.
The Pacers (6-3) won their second in a row heading into a Thanksgiving night showdown with Cleveland.
The shorthanded Rockets (3-7) lost their third game in a row. Their top scorer, Tracy McGrady, missed the game because of a strained back.
SuperSonics 106, Kings 104
SEATTLE - Ray Allen scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half Seattle won its third straight, over Sacramento.
Sacramento center Brad Miller missed two free throws with 26.8 seconds remaining and the Sonics ahead, 103-101. Then Luke Ridnour made his two free throws seconds later to give Seattle a four-point lead.
Peja Stojakovic led Sacramento with 25 points - all in the first half - before a third-period hand injury let Allen and Seattle take over the game.
Nuggets 99, Grizzlies 83
DENVER - Marcus Camby had 21 points and 21 rebounds in 34 minutes to help Denver beat Memphis.
Carmelo Anthony added 21 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes, and Earl Boykins had 18 points for Denver (6-5), which moved over .500 for the first time this season.
Memphis got 24 points and 12 rebounds from Pau Gasol and 20 points from Shane Battier.
Bulls 96, Lakers 93
LOS ANGELES - Chris Duhon scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Chicago beat Los Angeles despite 43 points by Kobe Bryant.
Michael Sweetney, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds, made a free throw with 24.8 seconds remaining to give the Bulls a 94-93 lead, and Bryant missed badly from close range about 10 seconds later.
Duhon was fouled and made two free throws with 11 seconds left to complete the scoring. Bryant and Lamar Odom each missed three-pointers before time expired.
Los Angeles played without starting forward Kwame Brown, who is expected to be sidelined up to two weeks by a strained right hamstring. Forwards Slava Medvedenko and Luke Walton are sidelined with injuries as well, leaving the Lakers very thin up front.
Kirk Hinrich had 16 points and eight assists and Luol Deng scored 14 for the Bulls. Duhon also had eight assists. Tyson Chandler had 15 rebounds to lead Chicago to a 48-38 advantage in that department.
Chris Mihm added 13 points for the Lakers.
