EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Raymond Felton scored 22 points, Emeka Okafor added 21 and the new-look Charlotte Bobcats won for the fourth time in five games with a 95-87 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Friday night.

Boris Diaw and Felton hit clutch late baskets as the Bobcats held on after seeing a 15-point third-quarter lead dwindle to two points in the waning minutes.

Diaw, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, drove the lane for a basket with 3:01 to play after the Nets’ Devin Harris hit a layup to cut the Charlotte lead to 83-81.

Hornets 88, Rockets 79

NEW ORLEANS – Chris Paul had 26 points and 10 assists, and the New Orleans Hornets snapped a two-game skid with an 88-79 victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday night.

David West added 23 points for New Orleans, which led throughout. Tyson Chandler has 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Rasual Butler scored 13 for the Hornets.

Yao Ming had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Houston, which dropped its second straight game. Tracy McGrady was held to 11 points, missing nine of his 11 shots from the field.

Pistons 90, Thunder 88

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Allen Iverson’s off-balance runner with 0.2 seconds left gave the Detroit Pistons a 90-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.

Detroit has won eight straight against the Thunder, and haven’t lost to them at the Palace since the then-Supersonics won 93-72 on Dec. 12, 2003. The Pistons didn’t have an easy time Friday, though, struggling to beat an Oklahoma City team that fell to 3-27 with the loss.

After Iverson’s off-balance jumper, Jeff Green nearly tipped in a halfcourt alley-oop, but the ball bounced twice off the rim before falling harmlessly away.

Wolves 120, Knicks 107

NEW YORK – The Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a 13-game losing streak and won for the first time this season under Kevin McHale, getting a season-best 23 points from Rashad McCants in a 120-107 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night.

Al Jefferson added 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who rode the combination of Jefferson’s inside play and some sizzling 3-point shooting to win for the first time since beating Oklahoma City on Nov. 28. They had dropped their first eight games under McHale, who took over when Randy Wittman was fired Dec. 8.

Heat 90, Bulls 77

MIAMI – Dwyane Wade scored 28 points, Daequan Cook hit three big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as Miami pulled away, and the Heat eclipsed last season’s win total by beating the Chicago Bulls 90-77 on Friday.

Mario Chalmers had 16 points and six assists while Michael Beasley – the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, after the Bulls chose Derrick Rose – scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth for Miami (16-12), which won its fourth straight. Ben Gordon had 15 points for the Bulls, who shot just 37 percent. Larry Hughes scored 13 for Chicago and Rose finished with only 10 on 3-for-14 shooting.

Including the first-round sweep in the 2007 playoffs, the Bulls had won nine of their last 11 games entering Friday against the Heat, and averaged nearly 105 points in those wins.

They didn’t get anywhere near that Friday, falling for the 13th time in 16 road games this season.

It was close until the fourth, when Cook gave Miami a four-point lead by hitting a 3-pointer, then added two more in the next three minutes – the last of which put the Heat up 81-73 with 5:48 left.

That was more than enough, since the Bulls went 4-for-17 from the floor in the fourth.

Udonis Haslem tied a season-high with 14 rebounds, while Cook scored 12 points for the Heat. Aaron Gray had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls.

Chicago lost forward Luol Deng to a sprained left ankle with 7:52 left in the third quarter. He landed awkwardly, tumbled to the floor and grabbed the area just below his left knee. He was eventually helped off, while putting no weight on that leg, and immediately hobbled into the Bulls’ locker room.

The Bulls led 45-40 after a sluggish first half for both teams, who combined to shoot 37-for-94 (.394) in the game’s first 24 minutes.

And if anyone wanted to see a Rose-Beasley shootout, it was evident early that one simply wasn’t going to happen.

Rose missed his first five shots and was just 3-for-12 in the half. Beasley was 2-for-5 in the opening two quarters and spent more time in the locker room getting a bloodied arm tended to – he got scratched during play – than actually on the floor.

Chalmers and Wade combined for 18 of Miami’s 24 points in the third, a period where the Heat fell behind 49-42 early before rallying. Wade stole a pass by Rose and drove for an easy dunk midway through the third for a 52-51 Miami lead, the first time the Heat had been on top since the midpoint of the second quarter.

Miami put it away with an 18-6 run midway through the fourth, as the Bulls missed five straight shots.

Notes: Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro drew a technical foul for arguing a call against Rose with 1:29 left in the half – and got the call overturned. Rose was called for charging into Haslem, a whistle overturned when it was determined that Haslem was in the restricted area, but Mark Ayotte got Del Negro for the technical anyway. … Chicago only had three fouls in the first half, matching the lowest-ever in a half for a Miami opponent.

AP-ES-12-26-08 1926EST