EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Richard Jefferson had 27 points and 10 rebounds and the Nets posted their ninth straight win — eighth in a row under new coach Lawrence Frank, rallying to beat the Detroit Pistons 89-78 on Tuesday night.
Jason Kidd added 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a gritty 43-minute performance as New Jersey overcame a 13-point first-quarter deficit and improved to 8-0 under Frank. The 33-year-old replaced Byron Scott more than two weeks ago as the coach of the two-time defending Eastern Conference champs.
The record ties Pistons coach Larry Brown (Denver Nuggets, 1974-75) for the second best coaching start, and it is one shy of the record shared by Kurt Rambis (Los Angeles Lakers, 1998-99) and Buddy Jeannette (Baltimore Bullets, 1947-48).
Kenyon Martin added 13 points and eight rebounds and Kerry Kittles had 17 points as the Nets posted their ninth straight double-digit win and sent the Pistons to their fourth straight loss. Chauncey Billups had 23 points and Richard Hamilton added 19 for Detroit, which made only 18 field goals in the final three quarters after making 12 in the first, when they shot 54.5 percent in taking a 29-16 lead.
LAKERS 98, HEAT 83: At Miami, Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and Derek Fisher came off the bench to score eight of his season-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, helping Los Angeles beat Miami.
O'Neal scored 19 of his points in the second half, and the Lakers overcame an early 14-point deficit to post consecutive wins for the first time since mid-January.
Dwyane Wade had 19 points for Miami, which dropped its fifth straight — the team's worst slide since opening the season with seven consecutive losses. Miami (21-32) is now a season-worst 11 games under .500, and dropped two games behind idle Boston in the race for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.
Lamar Odom narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for Miami. Eddie Jones also had 13 for the Heat.
TIMBERWOLVES 96, CLIPPERS 84: At Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett was one rebound short of a double-double in the first quarter and finished with 31 points and 16 rebounds, leading Minnesota to victory over the Clippers. Garnett set the tone for this one with 14 points in the opening period, and the Timberwolves built a lead as big as 17 in the first half.
Helping Minnesota make up for Sunday's 99-98 last-second loss to Memphis, Garnett had his fifth 30-point performance in six February games and Gary Trent scored 15 points.
Corey Maggette had a season-high 34 points for the Clippers, who lost their third straight. Elton Brand added 12 points.
KINGS 124, BUCKS 117: At Milwaukee, Peja Stojakovic scored 31 points and sank all four of his free throws in the final 20 seconds to help Sacramento hold off Milwaukee.
The Bucks took a 115-114 lead on Michael Redd's layup with a 1:02 left, but Vlade Divac's wide-open 15-foot jumper gave the Kings the lead for good 20 seconds later and sparked a game-ending 10-2 run.
The Bucks had a chance to send the game into overtime after Stojakovic's two free throws made it 120-117 with 17 seconds left. But Desmond Mason fired a hurried-up, off-balance 3-pointer that missed badly with 8 seconds left.
Brad Miller then sank four free throws in the final seven seconds.
Mike Bibby scored 24 points and Miller 21 for the Kings.
MAVERICKS 105, KNICKS 90: At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Michael Finley added 25 points and 10 rebounds for the surging Mavericks, who stopped New York's season-high five-game winning streak.
Rookie Josh Howard had 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Dallas, which won for the 13th time 16 games.
Stephon Marbury's 24 points and 11 assists, Keith Van Horn's 20 points and nine rebounds, and Shandon Anderson's 19 points paced the Knicks in the matchup between the league's top two all-time winningest coaches. New York's Lenny Wilkens has 1,301 wins; Dallas' Don Nelson is next with 1,129.
PACERS 103, BULLS 84: At Chicago, Ron Artest scored 26 points to warm up for his first All-Star game appearance and Indiana rolled to their league-high 39th win.
Artest, traded from Chicago two years ago, hit 10 of 16 shots from the field and scored 18 of his points in the first half. Jermaine O'Neal added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana, which does not play again before this weekend's All-Star game.
Chicago, coming off a 1-6 road trip, got a fifth straight game of 20 points or more from Eddy Curry, who finished with 23.
WARRIORS 106, SUPERSONICS 97: At Seattle, Jason Richardson had 22 points and Brian Cardinal added 20, and Golden State rebounded from tying an NBA record for futility two days ago with a 106-97 win over Seattle.
The Warriors, who tied the record for fewest points in a quarter by scoring only two points in the fourth period of their previous start, won for just the sixth time in 26 road games.
Clifford Robinson had 18 points, Speedy Claxton added 17 and Erick Dampier pulled down 12 rebounds.
Rashard Lewis led the Sonics with 20 points, Ronald Murray had 19 and Vitaly Potapenko added a season-high 17 for Seattle, which lost for the fourth time in five games.
RAPTORS 101, SUNS 94: At Phoenix, Vince Carter scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half and Morris Peterson matched his career high with seven 3-pointers in Toronto's victory over Phoenix.
Carter, 2-for-10 shooting in the first half, made 10 of 15 in the second as the Raptors improved to 2-0 on their trip West with one stop left Thursday in Seattle. Peterson was 7-for-11 from 3-point range for a season-high 27 points. Donyell Marshall added 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points and Joe Johnson 19 for the Suns, who have lost four in a row — all at home — and 10 of 12.