NBA – Karl has to wait for 1000th win after Nuggets fall in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE (NBA) - Denver boss George Karl returned to North Carolina where he played college basketball for the Tar Heels looking for his 1000th win as an NBA coach but instead, the Charlotte Bobcats edged his Nuggets 100-98.

Team USA's Chauncey Billups missed a potential game-tying jumper in the waning seconds for the Nuggets (13-7) on Tuesday night as they had their seven-game winning streak snapped by the Bobcats (8-13).

Billups ended up with a game-high 25 points and also came up with four steals while Stephen Jackson poured in 23 points, corralled nine rebounds and handed out seven assists for Charlotte.

Larry Brown, the Charlotte coach, also played college basketball at Carolina and he remembered returning to the school while still a player in the old ABA to play pickup games with a young Karl.

"He was cocky as hell, and he hasn't changed," Brown said with a smile.

Both men are close friends now.

Karl, who missed the first couple of months of this season while battling cancer, led the Dean Smith-coached Tar Heels to the NCAA Final Four in 1972.

Both Karl and Brown have coached Team USA.

Karl was at the helm of the team that lost in the Quarter-Finals of the 2002 FIBA World Championship and Brown led them two years later when they captured a bronze medal at the Athens Olympics.

Argentina’s Luis Scola had a season-high 35 points and 12 rebounds as the Houston Rockets beat the Detroit Pistons 97-83.

Scola, who was a member of the all-tournament team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, is averaging 20.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

Houston are 8-13 and Detroit 7-15.

The Atlanta Hawks (15-8) remained hot with a 116-101 home triumph over New Jersey.

Atlanta have now won seven of their last eight games.

Josh Smith led Atlanta again with 34 points and he also dished out seven assists and swatted a couple of shots.

Atlanta beat the Orlando Magic 24 hours earlier in Florida.

The Nets (6-16) have lost five games in a row.

The Philadelphia 76ers (7-14) are getting some wins now after a frustrating start to the season.

On Tuesday, they rolled to a 117-97 victory at Cleveland (7-14) - their fourth triumph in five games.

Thaddeus Young turned on the style for Doug Collins' team, scoring 26 points and hauling in 11 boards.

The Cavs had a promising start to the campaign but have now fallen in nine of their last 11 games.

Dallas (17-4) claimed a 105-100 home win over Golden State (8-13) after a 25-point, four-block night for Germany's Dirk Nowitzki.

The Mavs have now prevailed in 10 consecutive games.

Ian Mahinmi, the young France international center that played at the FIBA World Championship this summer, got a rare chance to play for the Mavs and made the most of it with his first career double-double.

He scored 12 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, came up with two steals and blocked a shot in a season-high 21 minutes.

Mahinmi got extra court time with Team USA's Tyson Chandler out of action with a stomach bug.

Pat Mills of Australia also got an extended run with the Portland Trail Blazers and had nine points with seven assists in a 106-99 victory over Phoenix.

Portland improved to 10-11 and the Suns fell to 11-10.

The two-time defending NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers (15-6) prevailed 115-110 over Washington (6-14) after getting 21 points, 14 boards, eight assists and five blocks from Spain international Pau Gasol.

Kobe Bryant had a team-high 32 points and fellow Team USA star Lamar Odom 21 for the Lakers.

FIBA