EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Jason Kidd hit a go-ahead basket early in overtime, and the Nets denied former coach Byron Scott a win in his return to New Jersey with a 94-91 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.

The Nets rallied from a seven-point deficit with 2:10 to play in the fourth quarter and sent the Hornets to their season-high ninth straight loss and 17th in 18 games.

Richard Jefferson scored 24 points and Eric Williams added 19 for the Nets, who had 30 turnovers.

Heat 92, Grizzlies 84

MIAMI – Dwyane Wade narrowly missed a triple-double and Shaquille O’Neal scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, awakening just in time to help lift the Miami Heat to an 92-84 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

O’Neal made four of his five shot attempts and added two assists in the final 12 minutes, a stark difference from the middle two quarters when the Grizzlies held him scoreless and he missed the only three shots he tried.

76ers 93, Bulls 88

CHICAGO – Allen Iverson had 22 points and 10 assists to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 93-88 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night.

Samuel Dalembert had 13 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots in his first start of the season for the 76ers, who ended an eight-game road losing streak despite scoring just two points in the final 4:46.

Wizards 106, Knicks 104

WASHINGTON – Brendan Haywood atoned for two missed free throws by converting a three-point play off the Wizards’ 27th offensive rebound with 7.1 seconds remaining Friday night, giving Washington a 106-104 victory over the New York Knicks.

Haywood’s first points of the second half came after he missed a pair from the line with 55 seconds remaining. The Knicks had two final chances, but Nazr Mohammed missed a tough shot in traffic and Kurt Thomas failed to put in the rebound as time expired.

Nuggets 101, Raptors 87

TORONTO – Carmelo Anthony had 28 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and Nene had a season-high 21 points in the Denver Nuggets’ 101-87 rout of the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

Kenyon Martin added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have won four straight.

T-wolves 113, Kings 105

MINNEAPOLIS – Kevin Garnett scored a season-high 35 points with 18 rebounds and nine assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied to beat the Sacramento Kings 113-105 Friday night.

Hawks 88, Pistons 72

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Rookie Josh Smith replaced Kenny Anderson at point guard and had career highs of 12 points and four blocks in his first NBA start as the Atlanta Hawks stunned the Detroit Pistons 88-72 Friday night.

Bucks 95, Pacers 86

MILWAUKEE — Michael Redd scored 21 points and Mike James added 16 Friday night as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated Indiana 95-86 to hand the Pacers their sixth straight loss.

Milwaukee, which had lost nine of its previous 11 games, also got 13 points from Maurice Williams and 12 from Desmond Mason.

Suns 115, Bobcats 106

PHOENIX – Amare Stoudemire came close to the first triple-double of his career with 36 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, leading the Phoenix Suns past the Charlotte Bobcats 115-106 Friday night.

The victory was the Suns’ fourth in a row.

, 13th in their last 14 games and gave them a 17-3 record – tying Seattle for the best in the NBA – on the one-year anniversary of Mike D’Antoni taking over as head coach.

Shawn Marion and Quentin Richardson each added 20 points for Phoenix, which exceeded its NBA-high average of 108.6 points per game. Joe Johnson scored 12 points and Steven Hunter 10, with Steve Nash contributing nine points and 14 assists.

The expansion Bobcats were led by former Phoenix point guard Brevin Knight’s season-high 17 points. Primoz Brezec had 16 points, and Keith Bogans and Kareem Rush each scored 15.

Phoenix now has won 12 straight games when playing an expansion team for the first time. Its only loss to an expansion team was to fellow first-year franchise Milwaukee in the 1968-69 season.

Stoudemire scored 20 points in the first half, including nine straight for Phoenix late in the second quarter as the Suns raced to a 64-55 lead. He shot 8-for-12 and grabbed eight rebounds.

The Suns used an 11-0 run during a two-minute span of the first period to take the lead for good, 15-8. Phoenix led by as many as 11 points six times during the half and Charlotte never came closer than four.

Richardson, who hit consecutive 3-pointers during the spurt that carried the Suns from an 8-4 deficit into the lead, finished the half with 14 points.

Knight surpassed his previous season high of 14 points in the first half, scoring 15 on 6-of-8 shooting.

The Bobcats helped themselves stay in contention by committing only one turnover in the half. However, they couldn’t keep up with the running Suns, who outscored them 15-0 on fast-break points.

Charlotte sliced the deficit to three points, 65-62, early in the third period, but the Suns responded quickly with a 12-2 surge, higlighted by 3-pointers by Johnson and Marion.

Marion finished the quarter with 15 points and Phoenix led 93-79 after three. The highlight of the period, though, was a scintillating finger-roll dunk by Stoudemire.

Notes: Suns center Jake Voskuhl was placed on the injured list after undergoing emergency appendectomy surgery Friday, and guard Yuta Tabuse, sidelined since Nov. 8 with a right quadriceps injury, was activated. … Phoenix’s 113-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night drew the Suns’ highest television rating (8.0) in nearly two years. … Okafor is the first NBA rookie to be averaging a double-double since Elton Brand in 1999-2000, and his 11.2 rebounds per game are the most by a first-year player since Tim Duncan averaged 11.9 in 1997-98. … Nash and Marion are the only players on the same team to be averaging a double-double. No Suns team has finished a season with two players averaging a double-double since Connie Hawkins and Paul Silas in 1969-70, the franchise’s second season. … The Bobcats’ starting lineup of Okafor, Jason Kapono, Primoz Brezec, Knight and Keith Bogans was their ninth different opening combination this season.

AP-ES-12-10-04 2320EST