ATLANTA – Antoine Walker hit a fallaway jumper with 2.3 seconds left, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Orlando Magic 80-79 on Monday night despite blowing a 12-point lead in the final five minutes.
Walker shot 4-for-13 and scored only 12 points, but his jumper over Josh Howard helped the Hawks snap a four-game losing streak.
Steve Francis scored 24 points for Orlando and Grant Hill added 19, but Hill’s final shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
Tony Delk led the Hawks with 17 points, and Al Harrington added 16.
Fresh off a two-game sweep of Washington, the Magic struggled most of the night against the Hawks, who have the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Orlando barely topped its scoring low for the season, 78 points in a Jan. 24 loss at Houston.
76ers 89, Pacers 88
PHILADELPHIA – Kyle Korver made a go-ahead jumper with 6.5 seconds left, and Allen Iverson returned from a three-game absence to score 27 points in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 89-88 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
Korver hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Kenny Thomas scored 12 for the Sixers, who opened a four-game homestand.
Stephen Jackson scored 25 points and Jermaine O’Neal had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who lost their fifth straight.
Grizzlies 98, Hornets 91
NEW ORLEANS – Lorenzen Wright and Stromile Swift each scored 19 points and made key baskets down the stretch Monday night, sending the Memphis Grizzlies to a 98-91 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.
Jason Williams scored 14, including a 3-pointer that ended a 10-0 Hornets run in the fourth quarter, and Swift also grabbed 11 rebounds to help the Grizzlies win for the fourth time in five games.
Dan Dickau had 19 points and 12 assists for New Orleans, which trimmed a 12-point deficit to four late in the fourth quarter before Swift and Wright helped Memphis regain control.
Swift scored inside as he was fouled and Wright hit a baseline jumper before Swift’s dunk with about 1:30 left made it 92-83. After the Hornets pulled to 92-89 on J.R. Smith’s fast-break layup with 25 seconds left, Williams made a pair of free throws and the Grizzlies weren’t threatened again.
Mike Miller scored 13 points for Memphis but sat out much of the second half after a couple of hard collisions. Shane Battier scored 12, hitting three 3-pointers in the third period, when Memphis went ahead for good. Earl Watson had 11 points and 10 assists.
Memphis made nine 3-pointers and outscored New Orleans 27-9 on free throws.
Rodney Rogers had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, while P.J. Brown had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Chris Andersen scored 13.
Wright opened the fourth period with a couple of strong inside baskets, followed by Swift’s free throws, and a possession later Memphis took its largest lead when Watson’s third 3-pointer of the game made it 82-68.
The Grizzlies needed that cushion, however, because they went their next 10 possessions without a point. New Orleans, meanwhile, went on a 10-0 run that included two putbacks and a leaner off the glass by Andersen, pulling to 82-78 with a little more than 4:30 to go.
Williams then snapped the Grizzlies’ scoring drought with his second 3 of the game.
New Orleans took an early lead and led 37-30 after an 8-0 run that ended when Lee Nailon tossed up an alley-oop pass that Smith slammed in with one hand.
Consecutive 3s by Miller and Watson fueled a 10-4 run that helped Memphis get back within a point. But New Orleans maintained a slim lead throughout the rest of the second quarter, with Rogers’ double-clutch jumper at the buzzer giving the Hornets a 46-43 lead at halftime.
Notes: When Andersen made the second of two free throws in the first quarter, he broke a streak of seven misses in a row from the foul line. … Memphis is 12-3 in January. … After going his first 119 games without a double-double, Dickau has three in his last four games.
AP-ES-01-31-05 2300EST
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