NBA
Nets rally past Hawks; Kidd has triple-double ATLANTA (AP) – Jason Kidd had 10 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds for his ninth triple-double of the season, and the New Jersey Nets opened the fourth quarter in the midst of a 15-0 run and beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-107 on Saturday night.
Kidd’s second triple-double in two games came in New Jersey’s fifth straight win, moving the Nets (17-16) above .500 for the first time since November.
Atlanta, which led 79-76 entering the final quarter, suffered its fourth straight loss. The Hawks (15-16) led after each of the first three quarters but could not hold off the Nets’ balanced attack late.
The Nets scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter and led 91-79 before Al Horford scored the Hawks’ first basket of the final quarter.
The Hawks made a late charge. Following a basket by Josh Smith, the Hawks pulled to 105-103 on Anthony Johnson’s drive with 1:06 left.
Vince Carter answered with a long jumper for New Jersey. Smith missed for Atlanta, and Josh Boone’s jam with 20 seconds left just beat the shot clock while pushing the Nets’ lead back to six points.
Carter’s 29 points led six New Jersey scorers in double figures. Richard Jefferson had 21, Boone had 17 with 12 rebounds and Bostjan Nachbar hit four 3-pointers on his way to 16. Sean Williams added 15.
Smith led Atlanta with 34 points. Marvin Williams added 18 points and eight rebounds. Josh Childress had 16 and Anthony Johnson added 14 with 10 assists.
Joe Johnson was held to nine points on 4-of-16 shooting, the second straight single figure scoring game for the Hawks’ leading scorer. Johnson, who had eight points on 3-of-11 shooting in Friday night’s loss at Indiana, fouled out with 4:24 left.
Nachbar made three 3-pointers in the first 5 minutes of the second period, and Marcus Williams added another 3 before Carter nailed a fallaway jumper for the Nets’ first 2-pointer of the period.
The Nets pulled to 53-47 on a powerful one-handed jam by Jefferson over Shelden Williams. Jefferson scored on Kidd’s 10th assist.
The Hawks led 57-50 at halftime but the Nets took the lead with a 17-4 run to open the third quarter. A hook shot by Sean Williams gave the Nets a 60-59 lead, their first lead since the first quarter.
Celtics 92, Pistons 85
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The Eastern Conference finals in June might look a lot like a matchup did in January.
Glen Davis scored a career-high 20 points, giving Boston’s Big Three a huge lift in a 92-85 win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night in a marquee game that lived up to its billing.
For the first time since 1981, two NBA teams entered a game on January 5 with a combined 54 wins. For the first time since 2000, two teams played with each riding at least an eight-game winning streak.
The Celtics extended their winning streak, which started after losing to Detroit at home, to nine games and snapped Detroit’s streak at 11 games.
Boston (29-3) topped the Pistons (26-8) after overcoming a 12-point deficit and foul trouble.