Nash's 30 points lift Suns past Cavaliers
PHOENIX: Steve Nash scored 30 points and had 10 assists and the Phoenix Suns - playing without Amare Stoudemire - rallied from a 12-point second-quarter deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-92 on Sunday.
Stoudemire, the Suns' All-Star center, was sidelined because of soreness in his right knee. He had arthroscopic surgery on the knee October 2. Coach Mike D'Antoni said Stoudemire was day to day.
Shawn Marion had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns. Leandro Barbosa scored 14 points, and Boris Diaw, who started in place of Stoudemire scored 16. Nash had 22 points in the second half.
LeBron James scored 27 points, 21 in the second half, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden each scored 22. Gooden had 14 rebounds and Ilgauskas 13.
At Toronto, Ray Allen made the winning three-pointer with less than three seconds to play, finishing with 33 points as Boston won 98-95, without coach Doc Rivers at the helm.
Kevin Garnett scored 10 of his 23 points in overtime and added 13 rebounds, giving him double-doubles in both of his games for Boston this season.
Paul Pierce added 13 points for Boston (2-0), and James Posey had 11. T.J. Ford led Toronto (2-1) with 32 points, and Chris Bosh had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Chauncey Billups hit a free throw with 1.7 seconds left to give Detroit a come-from-behind 92-91 victory over Atlanta.
The Pistons trailed in their home opener by nine points entering the fourth, but dominated the first 11 minutes of the final period before a late Hawks rally.
Billups finished with 22 points and Richard Hamilton added 21 in his season debut.
In Los Angeles, Corey Maggette scored 27 points and Tim Thomas made three three-pointers during a one-minute span late in the fourth quarter to lead the Clippers over the Sonics 115-101.
Thomas finished with 20 points, Cuttino Mobley added 17 and Chris Kaman had 15 rebounds for the Clippers, who were coming off a season-opening 120-114 win against Golden State on Friday night.
At Miami, Jason Richardson scored 29 points and Charlotte wasted a 16-point fourth-quarter lead before rallying to beat Miami 90-88.
At Denver, David West overcame a slow start to score 17 points and help New Orleans remain undefeated, beating the Nuggets 93-88.
In New York, Jamal Crawford scored 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and New York won its home opener for the first time in six years, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 97-93.
Later in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored six of his 33 points in the final 4 1/2 minutes after blocking an attempted dunk by Andrei Kirilenko, and the Lakers beat the Jazz 119-109.
Bryant was 13-for-19 from the field and fellow guard Derek Fisher added 19 points, including a career-high 13 free throws. Andrew Bynum had 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench before fouling out with 55 seconds to play.
Agencies
(China Daily 11/06/2007 page24)
