CLEVELAND – On his bobblehead night, LeBron James again left everyone shaking their heads.
Cleveland’s high-flying rookie scored 24 points in three quarters and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 17, and the Cavaliers rolled to a 112-80 win Wednesday night over the Atlanta Hawks.
Knicks 88, 76ers 77
NEW YORK – Stephon Marbury saw Tim Thomas out of the corner of his eye and flicked a no-look pass for a resounding dunk, a key play as the Knicks pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 88-77 Wednesday night.
The dunk came during an 8-0 run midway through the final period as New York snapped a six-game losing streak.
‘Wolves 121, Mavs 97
MINNEAPOLIS – Kevin Garnett had 28 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 121-97 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
The Mavericks had won 19 of 23 games, but were playing without point guard Steve Nash for the second straight night. Nash missed the game with a stomach virus.
Bucks 105, Magic 97
ORLANDO, Fla. – Keith Van Horn scored 25 points and Damon Jones tied the NBA’s season high with 17 assists in leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their fourth straight victory, 105-97 over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
Michael Redd added 24 points, 16 after halftime, and Desmond Mason scored 22 for Milwaukee.
Wizards 84, Raptors 70
WASHINGTON – Gilbert Arenas scored 27 points and the Washington Wizards won for the fourth time in five games by beating the Toronto Raptors 84-70 Wednesday night.
Arenas just missed his third straight 30-point game for the Wizards, who moved within 41/2 games of the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Donyell Marshall scored 22 to lead Toronto, which snapped a nine-game losing streak Tuesday behind Vince Carter’s 27 points in his return to the lineup after a six-game absence.
Spurs 88, ‘Sonics 84
SAN ANTONIO – Tony Parker had 11 points and three steals in the fourth quarter to help the San Antonio Spurs hang on for an 88-84 win over the Seattle SuperSonics on Wednesday night.
For the second straight game, San Antonio squandered a double-digit lead in the fourth. The Spurs led 67-54 going into the final period Wednesday.
A 3-point play by Ray Allen made it 76-75 Spurs with 3:49 left.
, but layups by Hedo Turkoglu and Parker extended San Antonio’s lead to five points.
Ronald Murray, who scored 14 points in the fourth, made a pair of free throws and then two jumpers to cut the Spurs’ lead to 83-81 with 1:07 remaining.
Parker then made a 19-footer jumper with 47.9 seconds left, and he and Robert Horry combined for three free throws to build the lead to 88-81 before Allen hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Turkoglu led San Antonio with 18 points, going 4-for-5 on 3-pointers. Parker had 17 points and a career-high six steals, while Horry and Bruce Bowen each had 14 points. Rasho Nesterovic had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
San Antonio played a third straight game without Tim Duncan, who hurt his left leg last week in a loss in Dallas.
On Monday, the Spurs had a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter against Memphis, but ended up losing 81-80.
Murray led Seattle with 24 points and Allen scored 21 and Vladimir Radmanovic 14.
A corner 3-pointer by Bowen gave the Spurs a 11-2 lead in the game’s opening minutes, with Bowen accounting for seven of those points. San Antonio got its advantage into double digits at 20-9 late in the first when Manu Ginobili went inside to Kevin Willis for a dunk.
Allen, who scored only two points in the first, keyed a 16-6 run by Seattle to start the second.
With Bowen out for a rest, Allen hit a quick pair of jumpers while guarded by Ginobili and he kept scoring when Bowen returned. Allen’s 16-footer at 6:03 gave the Sonics their first lead of the game at 29-28.
Nesterovic made San Antonio’s last three baskets before the break, while Murray scored five of Seattle’s final seven points in a half that ended with the Spurs up 37-36.
Notes:The Spurs have beaten the Sonics six straight dating back to November 2002. … Antonio Daniels, a former Spur, did not dress for the Sonics after bruising ribs in Tuesday’s loss in Dallas. … Seattle, which lost Tuesday night in Dallas, is 7-10 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.
AP-ES-03-03-04 2318EST
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