Kenyon Martin had 23 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and four blocks, and New Jersey Nets tied the longest winning streak in the NBA this season — 13 — with a 97-84 victory Saturday over the New Orleans Hornets in East Rutherford, N.J.
The victory was the Nets' 12th straight under coach Lawrence Frank, extending his league record for best coaching start and tying the North American mark for the best start in professional sports.
Joe Morgan took over the Boston Red Sox from John McNamara in 1988 and won a dozen. Jim Price won that many after taking over the baseball New York Giants in 1884.
Richard Jefferson added 21 points and Lucious Harris broke a nine-game double- digit drought with 13 points as New Jersey won its seventh straight at home.
Jason Kidd finished with 11 points, nine assists and nine rebounds to just miss out on his 59th career triple-double, which would have tied him with Larry Bird.
Jamal Mashburn led the Hornets with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Baron Davis added 17 points. Neither shot well, though, as they combined to go 17-for-48 from the field.
San Antonio and Detroit also won 13 in a row this season.
While the Nets have done nothing but win since Frank replaced Byron Scott as coach of the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions, this game looked like it might be a problem.
New Orleans, which had won three in a row, had not played since Wednesday. The Nets were playing their second game in as many nights, having returned home early Saturday after winning at Toronto.
The Nets overcame the potnial problem by playing good team basketball while New Orleans relied mostly on Davis and Mashburn to carry the load.
New Orleans, which fell behind by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, used a 13-6 run at the start of the second half to pull even.
Martin, who was limited on Friday night by a sinus infection, then took over by scoring six points in a 10-0 run that gave New Jersey a 69-59 lead.
New Jersey entered the final quarter with a 74-68 lead, then put the game away with a 10-2 spurt that Martin capped with a three-point play. He had five points in the run, which came with Kidd on the bench.
Martin capped his night from jumping out to the corner to block a 3-point attempt by Darrell Armstrong.
MAVERICKS 97, ROCKETS 88: At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks recovered from a 16-point first-quarter deficit..
Michael Finley contributed 19 points and Antoine Walker added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavericks, who began a stretch of five consecutive home games against Western Conference teams.
Houston opened the game with a 19-3 run and was in front by 14 at the end of the first quarter against a lethargic Dallas defense. But the Mavericks began to run, finishing with a 24-4 advantage in fast-break points for their sixth victory in eight games.
HEAT 97, NUGGETS 81: At Miami, Dwyane Wade outplayed fellow rookie Carmelo Anthony, scoring 28 points, and Lamar Odom had 12 of his 21 points in the third quarter as Miami matched a season-best four-game winning streak.
Anthony finished with 16 points, ending a streak of nine straight games with at least 20 points, and shot just 3-for-20 — his worst effort since the third game of the season.
Andre Miller scored 15, former Heat guard Voshon Lenard had 14 and Nene scored 10 for the Nuggets, who have lost six of their last eight road games.
Miami trailed by as many as seven early in the third quarter and was down 54-48 with 9:03 left before a 22-6 run put the Heat in control. Odom had 10 points during the burst, during which Miami held Denver without a field goal for more than six minutes.
TRAIL BLAZERS 105, CELTICS 84: At Portland, Ore., Zach Randolph had 27 points and 15 rebounds and Portland scored the game's first 22 points in a victory over Boston.
GRIZZLIES 105, BULLS 98: At Chicago, Kirk Hinrich and the Bulls gave Memphis a scare in the second half, but the Grizzlies wouldn't let up.
Memphis has won four straight and eight of nine to move 11 games above .500 (33-22) for the first time in franchise history.
CLIPPERS 105, BUCKS 103: At Milwaukee, Elton Brand scored 31 points and blocked four shots to help Los Angeles spoil Keith Van Horn's Milwaukee debut.
Van Horn led the Bucks with 23 points.