By The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. – Paul Pierce scored 37 points, Wally Szczerbiak added 25, and the Boston Celtics beat the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers 102-96 Friday night.

Ryan Gomes added 13 points and a season-high 17 rebounds for the Celtics.

Rookie Martell Webster had 17 of his season-high 24 in the first half to lead the Blazers.

Portland’s eighth loss in nine games came after a tumultuous couple of days where representatives of billionaire owner Paul Allen went public with projections of big fiscal losses and the Blazers traded unhappy forward Ruben Patterson.

To make matters worse, rookie point guard Sebastian Telfair began a two-game league suspension for carrying a loaded gun on team flight two weeks ago in Boston.

Portland was playing with just nine players. Centers Theo Ratliff and Joel Przybilla were injured, and newly acquired forward Brian Skinner (Sacramento) and guard Voshon Lenard (Denver) are unavailable until Sunday.

Zach Randolph had 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Blazers. Darius Miles had 16 points.

Pierce was averaging 32.4 points this month entering the game, tops in the NBA, but the Celtics have gone 3-6. One of those games was a 35-point effort in a 115-83 rout of Portland on Feb. 10.

Representatives of the Blazers met with Portland Mayor Tom Potter and other local officials Friday after telling The Associated Press the day before that the team was hemorrhaging money and would be unable to survive without some sort of “public-private partnership.”

Wizards 102, Cavs 94

CLEVELAND – Gilbert Arenas scored 26 points, and the Washington Wizards shut down LeBron James in the second half to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-94 Friday night.

James finished with 25 points, but went 0-for-8 from the field and 4-for-12 from the foul line in the second half as Cleveland dropped its second straight after winning three in a row.

The All-Star game MVP missed his final seven from the line – and was even booed in the final minutes. After missing a shot from the wing with 5 seconds left, he angrily ripped off his headband, threw it into the crowd and walked off the court.

Antawn Jamison scored 25 points and Caron Butler added 24 as Washington snapped a four-game road losing streak. The Wizards have won 15 of their last 21 overall.

Nets 94, Knicks 90

NEW YORK – The Steve Francis era got off to a slow start in New York.

The Knicks allowed the first 10 points, trailed the rest of the way, and were frequently booed during the second half of a 94-90 loss to the New Jersey Nets on Friday night.

Francis, acquired from the Orlando Magic on Wednesday for Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza, was received warmly by the New York crowd when announced in pregame introductions. He started in the backcourt alongside Stephon Marbury.

Magic 102, Sonics 89

ORLANDO, Fla. – Dwight Howard had 23 points and 16 rebounds against a Seattle team with only seven available players, and the Orlando Magic beat the SuperSonics 102-89 Friday night to snap an eight-game losing streak.

Grant Hill had 19 points and shot 8-of-11 in his first start in more than a month. Carlos Arroyo, obtained a week ago from Detroit, came off the bench and had a season-high 18 points and four assists.

Damien Wilkins led Seattle with 21 points and Chris Wilcox had a season-high 20. Rashard Lewis added 14.

Nuggets 102, ‘Wolves101

MINNEAPOLIS – Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer in overtime, to give the Denver Nuggets a 102-101 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.

After Minnesota took the lead with the help of two straight steals, Anthony hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 3.4 seconds left.

Andre Miller had 19 points and 13 assists for Denver, which has won four of five. Kenyon Martin, who sat out Denver’s last game with an injured left knee, scored 18 off the bench and DerMarr Johnson tied a season-high with 17.

Hawks 117, Pacers 112

INDIANAPOLIS – Joe Johnson matched his career high with 40 points, including a 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers 117-112 Friday night.

Johnson also had 13 assists for Atlanta, which beat Indiana for the third time in three games this season. The game featured 18 ties and 24 lead changes, with neither team leading by more than eight points. Atlanta (17-36) overcame a season-high 34 points by Indiana’s Peja Stojakovic with the help of 22 points from Al Harrington and an 18-point, 11-rebound effort from reserve Josh Childress.

Spurs 83, Grizzlies 80

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Tim Duncan scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds Friday night, and the San Antonio Spurs survived a furious last-minute Memphis comeback attempt to beat the Grizzlies 83-80.

The Spurs led 78-70 with 40 seconds left before the Grizzlies connected on back-to-back 3-pointers by Mike Miller and Shane Battier to pull within 78-76 with 19 seconds remaining.

Another 3-pointer by Miller cut it to one point, and Memphis trailed 81-79 when Hakim Warrick went to the line with 2.5 seconds left.

But the rookie from Syracuse could convert only one, and Nazr Mohammed hit a pair of free throws for the final margin.