CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kobe Bryant scored 58 points, but committed two key errors in the third overtime and the Charlotte Bobcats outlasted the Los Angeles Lakers 133-124 on Friday night.
After fouling Derek Anderson on a 3-point attempt with 1:14 left, Bryant missed a long jumper and fouled on a charging call on the next possession to end his night. He hit 22 of 45 shots and his performance trailed only his 81-point game last January in Toronto and a 62-point effort last December in Dallas.
Emeka Okafor had 22 points and a career-high 25 rebounds, Gerald Wallace scored 28 points and Matt Carroll added a career-high 27 for the Bobcats, who played their first triple-overtime game in franchise history and snapped a three-game losing streak.
NETS 91, HEAT 81: At Miami, New Jersey scored 21 consecutive points in the third quarter to beat the short-handed Heat, who were without Dwyane Wade, who was sidelined with a sore wrist. The Heat were also without Shaquille O'Neal, who has missed the past 23 games with a knee injury. Vince Carter had 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Nets.
WIZARDS 112, MAGIC 111: At Washington, Caron Butler made the go-ahead basket, a 16-footer from the baseline with 46 seconds remaining, Gilbert Arenas scored 14 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, and Washington took sole possession of the Southeast Division lead. Washington has won a season-high five straight. The Wizards have scored 106 or more points in 13 straight games, more than compensating for the fact that they're last in the league in scoring defense. They haven't been in first place this late since the 1978-79 season.
Dwight Howard, Keyon Dooling and Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points apiece for the Magic, who have lost four straight and seven of nine. Dooling missed a tough, running 15-footer at the buzzer.
CAVALIERS 109, BUCKS 99: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 32 points in his final game as a 21-year-old, Donyell Marshall scored a season-high 29, and Cleveland snapped Milwaukee's six-game winning streak. Larry Hughes emerged from a shooting slump with 26 points for the Cavaliers, who blew most of a 21-point lead in the second half before hanging on to win their seventh in a row at home against Milwaukee.
Marshall made seven 3-pointers, including three in the final 8:11, as Cleveland improved to 13-3 at home.
Michael Redd led Milwaukee with 24 points, Mo Williams had 21 and Ruben Patterson 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who battled back and pulled within 93-89 on Williams' free throw with 4:15 left.
PACERS 93, PISTONS 92: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Darrell Armstrong made a free throw with 0.9 seconds left to give Indiana the victory over Detroit. The Pistons also lost Chauncey Billups to a strained right calf in the final minute of the game. His status for Sunday's game against Phoenix is unknown. Jermaine O'Neal missed Indiana's previous game with flu-like symptoms, but returned with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Al Harrington added 16 points for Indiana, while Jamaal Tinsley had 14 points and nine assists.
Billups led Detroit with 23 points and a career-best 12 rebounds before the injury. Hamilton, coming off a career-high 51 points in Wednesday's triple-overtime loss to the Knicks, finished with 22 on 7-of-18 shooting.
BULLS 107, RAPTORS 97: At Toronto, Luol Deng scored 25 points and Ben Gordon added 22 to lead Chicago to its 15th straight victory over Toronto. Deng had 19 points in the second half for the Bulls, who shot a season-high 59.7 percent. T.J. Ford had 20 points for the Raptors, who fell to 6-5 without leading scorer Chris Bosh (injured left knee.) Bosh has missed 11 straight games and is expected to miss one more game before returning Jan. 3 against Phoenix.
TIMBERWOLVES 101, SUPERSONICS 82: At Minneapolis, Ricky Davis scored 24 points and Mark Blount added 18 to lead Minnesota past the sleepy SuperSonics. Kevin Garnett never got going. He barely extended his double-digit scoring streak to 349 games, reaching 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting with a short turnaround midway through the fourth quarter. Mark Madsen subbed for him the next time the clock stopped.
Ray Allen returned for Seattle after missing Thursday night's game following the birth of his son to his fiancee, but neither he nor the rest of his teammates really showed up. The Sonics shot a season-low 35.2 percent from the field and trailed by as many as 28 points with less than 10 minutes left. Allen finished with 14 points.
SUNS 108, KNICKS 86: At Phoenix, Steve Nash and Raja Bell scored 20 points apiece, and Phoenix coasted past New York in the opener of a five-game road trip for the Knicks. Six players reached double figures for the Suns in their 20th win of the season, but just their second in the past four games. Phoenix, a 101-99 loser at Dallas on Thursday night, blew open a 21-point lead in the first quarter and the Knicks never got it to single digits after that.
Leandro Barbosa scored 16, Shawn Marion 14, Kurt Thomas 12 and Amare Stoudemire 11 for the Suns.
Jamal Crawford scored 21 for the Knicks. Eddy Curry added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Channing Frye had 12 points.
ROCKETS 94, HAWKS 68: At Houston, Tracy McGrady showed no signs of his recent back problems, scoring 31 points in Houston's rout of Atlanta. Juwan Howard added 17 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and Dikembe Mutombo grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds as the Rockets won for the second time in three games since Yao Ming broke a bone under his right knee. Yao is out at least six weeks.
McGrady was playing his third game since missing the previous seven with back spasms. He took over the game with an 18-point second quarter, then left in the third quarter with an apparently minor thumb injury.
The Hawks have lost six in a row and 10 of their last 11. Atlanta shot 35 percent (25 of 72) from the field and went 0-for-11 from 3-point range.
76ERS 98, TRAIL BLAZERS 95: At Portland, Andre Igoudala scored a career-high 32 points and Philadelphia beat Portland. Brandon Roy led the Blazers with 15 points, but Portland's bid for a comeback victory was denied in the final seconds. Andre Miller appeared to foul Roy on Roy's trip to the hoop. No call was made, Miller got the rebound and made a free throw with 0.5 seconds remaining to seal the win. Miller had 25 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
WARRIORS 110, CELTICS 100: At Oakland, Baron Davis had 27 points and nine assists, and Mickael Pietrus matched his season high with 26 points in Golden State's fourth victory in five games. Andris Biedrins scored 20 points and matched his career high with 17 rebounds for the Warriors, who got back above .500 (16-15).
HORNETS 99, NUGGETS 89: At Oklahoma City, Rasual Butler scored 20 points, including a big three-point play in the closing minutes, to lead New Orleans in a matchup of depleted teams. The Hornets, without four of their top five offensive players due to injury, ended a three-game losing streak. Denver also was four players short, including Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith, who are serving suspensions. Allen Iverson, who scored 21 but was just 6-of-22 from the field, made two free throws with 2:24 left to bring the Nuggets within one. Then Butler converted his three-point play for a 91-87 lead.
L.A. CLIPPERS 102, KINGS 93: Elton Brand scored 22 points, reserve Corey Maggette added 21 and the Clippers snapped a 14-game losing streak to their Pacific Division rival Sacramento. It was the Clippers' first victory over the Kings since Jan. 18, 2003, when they won 112-107 in Los Angeles. The Kings' string of victories was the third-longest overall in the league.