NHL Hockey Betting

BOSTON 105, NEW JERSEY 85

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey Ray Allen and Brian Scalabrine keyed an 18-2 game-opening run
and the Boston Celtics never looked back in a 105-85 rout of the New Jersey Nets.

Allen finished with 25 points and Rajon Rondo had eight, 14 assists and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who have rebounded from their recent woes to win four straight games.

Kevin Garnett added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Paul Pierce scored 13 for Boston, which had lost four straight to close a 2-7 slide but got healthy against the Nets, beating them for the seventh straight time and the fifth in a row in New Jersey. The Celtics rolled to a 118-86 rout of the Nets on Wednesday.

Brook Lopez scored 28 points for the Nets, who have lost three straight and four of their last five games.

Boston jumped to a 16-point lead within the first seven minutes of the game behind nine points from Allen and seven from former Net Scalabrine, who started at center. Included in the run was a conventional three-point play by both, with Scalabrines capping the run with 5:12 left in the first quarter.

Boston made 10-of-14 shots (71 percent) from inside the arc in the quarter, finishing with a 29-15 lead.

The Nets hung around for the first half of the second quarter, closing within 42-30 when Trenton Hassell made a pair of free throws with 5:35 left, but then the Celtics quickly wiped out New Jersey with a 17-1 burst in just 2:09.

Rondo started it with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to beat the expiring shot clock. Garnett dunked on a fast break, and Rondo set up Allen for a 3-pointer off a steal.

Vince Carter tried to interrupt the run at the four-minute mark with a free throw, but Rondo fed Pierce for a pair of long-range bombs around Garnetts jumper to close the outburst and leave Boston with a 59-31 lead with three minutes left.

Allen hit a 17-footer with a half-second left to make it 68-39 at the intermission. Boston was 14-of-21 (67 percent) from the floor in the second quarter, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.

The Celtics built the lead as high as 30 points in the opening half, shooting 64 percent (25-of-39) while holding New Jersey to 40 percent (14-of-35).

ORLANDO 106, DENVER 88

DENVER The Orlando Magic defeated the Denver Nuggets, 106-88, to complete a perfect four-game road trip and run their overall surge to seven games.

Hedo Turkoglu paced Orlando with 31 points, including a fadeaway from beyond the arc at the end of the third quarter that opened the lead to 79-70.

The Magic built their advantage throughout the fourth quarter, with the final margin being their biggest lead.

Orlando trailed 48-47 at halftime and was down 54-49 with 10:12 remaining in the third quarter after Chauncey Billups jumper.

From there, the Magic and Turkoglu took control, finishing the quarter on a 30-16 run. Turkoglus 3-pointer at the buzzer gave him 12 for the quarter.

Denver, which finished a season-long, seven-game homestand at 5-2, would not get any closer.

CHARLOTTE 102, PORTLAND 97 (OT)

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina Emeka Okafor scored six of his 22 points in overtime and got a key rebound late in the game to lift the Charlotte Bobcats to a 102-97 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Raymond Felton scored the games winning points for the second straight game for Charlotte, which has put together its first three-game winning streak under coach Larry Brown and have now won five of seven.

Portland has lost two of the last three on its East coast road trip and three straight to the Bobcats.

After a Travis Outlaw basket, Okafor scored the next four points as Charlotte took a 94-92 lead. Felton jumper in the lane put the Bobcats up for good at 99-97. Okafor grabbed an offensive rebounds with 31 seconds left in overtime which allowed the Bobcats to run more clock and seal the victory.

NEW ORLEANS 91, DETROIT 85

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan Chris Paul hit a jumper with 3:19 left to give the New Orleans Hornets the lead en route to dealing the Detroit Pistons their fifth straight loss, 91-85.

Paul had 23 points and 14 assists. His 16-foot jumper broke an 81-81 tie in the defensive struggle before James Posey bumped the lead to four with a 15-foot jumper.

Antonio McDyess split a pair of free throws to make it 87-83, but Paul sandwiched a pair of foul shots and a driving layup around a layup by Rip Hamilton to give New Orleans an 89-84 advantage.

Detroit had numerous chances in the final half-minute but couldnt convert until Hamilton was fouled by Peja Stojakovic with 7.8 seconds left. He hit 1-of-2 to make it 89-85.

David West, who scored 20 points, hit two fouls shots to ice the game with 3.2 seconds left.

Hamilton scored 19 points as the Pistons placed six players in double figures.

PHILADELPHIA 107, NEW YORK 97

NEW YORK Andre Iguodala has been hitting from all over the court and the Philadelphia 76ers have put forth one more thing for their city to be proud of.

Iguodala scored 28 points and the Sixers ran their season-high winning streak to seven games with a 107-97 victory over the New York Knicks.

Andre Miller added 27 points for Philadelphia (20-20), which reached .500 for the first time since November 17, when it was 6-6 following a one-point home win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Al Harrington scored 17 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for New York, which was within one with just over five minutes remaining but was outscored, 16-7, down the stretch.

HOUSTON 93, MIAMI 86

HOUSTON Yao Ming collected 26 points and 10 rebounds and Rafer Alston added 22 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 93-86 victory over the Miami Heat.

Von Wafer added 17 points for the Rockets, who were without stars Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest.

Houston shot 56 percent (39-of-69) from the floor and dominated on the boards, 43-34. Yao was the biggest reason for the field-goal success, going a perfect 12-of-12 from the floor.

Dwyane Wade scored 29 points to lead the Heat, who had two starters - Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony - finish without a point.

DALLAS 115, UTAH 108

DALLAS Dirk Nowitzki scored 39 points as the Dallas Mavericks snapped a four-game losing streak with an impressive 115-108 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Jason Kidd had 11 points and 15 assists and Jason Terry added 23 points off the bench for the Mavericks, who will embark on a four-game road trip through the Eastern Conference.

Utahs Deron Williams hit 1-of-2 free throws to cut his teams deficit to 106-102 with 2:02 left. That was as close as the Jazz got.

Antoine Wright flipped in a nifty shot in the lane before Terry drilled a back-breaking 3-pointer from the left wing for Dallas to make it 111-102 with 52 seconds left. Two ticks later, Kidd added two free throws to forge an insurmountable 11-point lead.

Nowitzki, who tweaked both his elbow and ankle in the fourth quarter, shot 16-of-20 from the field and added eight rebounds.

Williams had 30 points and nine assists and Mehmet Okur added 23 and 11 rebounds for the Jazz.

SAN ANTONIO 92, CHICAGO 87

CHICAGO The San Antonio Spurs kept sprinting away from the Chicago Bulls and letting them back in the game before finally using a late spurt to post a 92-87 victory.

The Spurs enjoyed a 77-71 lead in the fourth quarter before the Bulls ran off six unanswered points to knot the game on Andres Nocionis layup with 4:18 left.

The Bulls moved in front, 82-81, when Drew Gooden hit a hook shot and completed a three-point play with just over three minutes left.

Tony Parker gave the lead back to San Antonio with a pretty spinning drive that made it 83-82.

Manu Ginobili then drilled the dagger, hitting a 3-point basket with 1:05 left. He added a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left to make it 88-82.

Gooden closed the gap to 88-84 with a pair of foul shots but they were offset by a pair from the line by Ginobili.

Parker then fouled Andres Nocioni on a 3-point shot as the Spurs continued to flirt with disaster. Nocioni hit all three free throws.

Nocioni then returned the favor, fouling Ginobili outside the arc as the 24-second clock ticked down. Ginobili hit 2-of-3 to ice the game.

Ginobili led the Spurs with 21 points. Parker added 20 and Tim Duncan chipped in with 18 and 13 rebounds.

LA CLIPPERS 101, MILWAUKEE 92

LOS ANGELES Mardy Collins had 12 points and 11 assists as the Los Angeles Clippers finally revisited the win column, snapping their 12-game losing streak with a 101-92 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Marcus Camby had 18 points and 11 rebounds before leaving with a left ankle injury in the fourth quarter for the Clippers, who had all five starters score in double figures.

Los Angeles was last victorious against the Indiana Pacers on December 19, when we had yet to sit down for Christmas dinner or ring in the new year. Two days removed from inaugurating a new president, Los Angeles secured its ninth win of the season.

In fact, the Clippers dont even resemble that club from a month ago thanks to a rash of injuries. Leading scorers Baron Davis (tailbone) and Zach Randolph (left knee) both are sidelined.

Camby, the squads remaining star, took a gruesome spill at the start of the fourth, forcing the club to persevere with a

makeshift lineup. The former Defensive Player of the Year returned to the bench after having the ankle taped but never came back into the game.

Camby may have stayed away with the contest in hand, as Los Angeles held a 94-83 lead with 4:42 remaining.

But remember, these are the Clippers.

They allowed for one final push by the Bucks, who pulled within 95-90 on Richard Jeffersons free throw with 2:03 left. Ricky Davis responded with a layup and Al Thornton hit two free throws to push the lead back to nine, force Milwaukees 20-second timeout and effectively seal the win.