WASHINGTON — Kwame Brown had career highs of 30 points and 19 rebounds while playing all 48 minutes Wednesday night as the Washington Wizards snapped a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Sacramento Kings 114-108.
Brown shot 12-for-16 from the field and 6-for-7 from the line, including two free throws with 23.6 seconds left to give the Wizards a 113-105 lead.
Gilbert Arenas had 27 points, 10 assists, a career-high eight steals and five rebounds. He also played the full game for Washington, which had lost at New York in overtime on Tuesday night.
Peja Stojakovic scored 25 points and Mike Bibby added 20 as the Kings lost their third in a row.
CELTICS 104, NUGGETS 100: At Boston, Paul Pierce had 28 points and 11 rebounds, and Mark Blount and Chucky Atkins also had double-doubles Wednesday night as the Celtics improved to 12-1 when playing at home on St. Patrick's Day.
Wearing green road uniforms, green socks and green headbands to celebrate the holiday, Blount had 17 points with 15 rebounds and Atkins had 21 points and 10 assists. Pierce also had seven assists for the Celtics, who remained in ninth place in the East.
Carmelo Anthony had 20 points and nine rebounds, Nene had 12 and 10 and Voshon Lenard scored 19 for the Nuggets, who are struggling to hold onto the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race.
PACERS 80, TRAIL BLAZERS 71: At Indianapolis, Ron Artest scored 21 points to help give Rick Carlisle his third straight 50-win season in his third season as a head coach.
Reggie Miller added 18 points for the Pacers, who overcame a big disparity at the free-throw line to improve the NBA's best record to 50-17.
Carlisle won exactly 50 games in his first two seasons coaching the Detroit Pistons before being replaced by Larry Brown last summer. He was hired by Pacers president Larry Bird in September and appears headed for much more than 50 wins this season.
HORNETS 104, 76ERS 80: At New Orleans, rookie David West hit all seven of his shots for a career-high 15 points and fueled a momentum-changing third-quarter surge in New Orleans' victory over Philadelphia. Baron Davis added 20 points, hitting a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer and two more early in the fourth as the Hornets pulled away. Jamaal Magloire had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Robert Traylor added 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Allen Iverson led the Sixers with 20 points but shot only 8-of-23. Aaron McKie added 15 and Kenny Thomas 11 as Philadelphia lost its third straight.
HAWKS 111, MAVERICKS 110: At Dallas, Stephen Jackson scored 36 points, including 31 in the first half, and Atlanta led by as many as 26 before holding off Dallas to snap the Mavericks' nine-game home winning streak. Atlanta opened a big lead behind Jackson's 12-for-16 shooting before Dallas used a 34-21 fourth quarter to nearly pull off the biggest comeback in franchise history. But Steve Nash failed to hit the rim on a fading left-handed runner at the buzzer, giving the Hawks their eighth road win. Nash scored 30 points, 25 in the second half, and Dirk Nowitzki added 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavericks, who began the night with a league-best 29-4 home record.
WARRIORS 110, MAGIC 85: Oakland, Troy Murphy came off the bench for 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors won back-to-back games for the first time in more than a month.
Tracy McGrady had 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Magic. He played only seven minutes in the fourth quarter and failed to get his first triple-double of the season.
Golden State's Erick Dampier had 13 points and 15 rebounds, notching his 37th double-double before halftime. Cliff Robinson added 20 points for the Warriors, who split the season series with the Magic.
The Warriors scored 100 points for the first time since beating Phoenix 110-99 on Feb. 11 — the last time they won consecutive games.
LAKERS 106, CLIPPERS 103: At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant had 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and four teammates scored in double figures. Shaquille O'Neal had 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots before fouling out with 1:52 left, and Karl Malone had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists in his fourth game since missing nearly three months with a knee injury.
The win was the seventh in nine games for the Lakers (45-23), who moved a season-high 22 games over .500 and within four games of the Sacramento Kings.
Elton Brand led the Clippers with 26 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. The Clippers got a final chance when the Lakers committed a turnover with 10.8 seconds to play, but Corey Maggette and Keyon Dooling missed 3-pointers.