USA - Darko dazzles as Magic stop the rot against Bulls

NEW YORK (NBA) - Serbia center Darko Milicic had arguably his finest game as an NBA player on Monday night when he scored 14 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic to a 94-87 win over the Chicago Bulls.

Milicic, who will be on show with his national side at the EuroBasket in Spain this summer, helped the Magic end a four-game losing streak.

"This is a big win for us in a tough place to win," Milicic added. "From now on, we have to start playing better."

The win has left the Magic in sole possession of the final play-off spot in the Eastern Conference, one-half game ahead of New Jersey in the first of four straight away contests against teams fighting for places in the post-season.

Magic coach Brian Hill said: "Darko was huge for us tonight, not just from scoring but his defensive energy and rebounding was really big.

"We don't win tonight without him."

Dwight Howard of Team USA had 21 points and 16 rebounds while Jameer Nelson scored 18 points and Grant Hill added 15.

London-born Ben Gordon scored 32 points and Great Britain international Luol Deng added 23, six rebounds and six assists for Chicago, who lost their second straight game.

Deng, who also came up with six steals, said: "We didn't play well and they wanted it more than we did.

“We were slow the whole game but I am not taking anything away from Orlando, they came in here and got a win."

Brazil’s Nene joined up with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson to combine for 85 points as the Denver Nuggets snapped their own four-game losing streak with a 111-107 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Anthony scored 33 points, Nene tied a career high with 27 and Iverson added 25 as the Nuggets moved into seventh place in the Western Conference standings, one-half game ahead of New Orleans.

Iverson provided the impetus in a fourth-quarter rally, scoring eight points - including a pair of three-pointers - in a 10-2 run to help the Nuggets take a 102-97 lead with 5:03 to play.

Memphis fought back to tie it at 103-103 on a foul-line jumper by Pau Gasol with 3:29 left, but the Grizzlies managed just one point until Rudy Gay connected from the arc with two seconds left.

Nene finished 10 of 16 of the field and grabbed nine boards to help the Nuggets to a 45-39 edge on the glass.

"What can you say about what he did tonight? Nene played a great game and we're going to need that night in and night out," Iverson said.

"There are going to be nights where myself or Carmelo is going to struggle or both of us are going to struggle and somebody else has got to pick up the slack. Tonight, Nene definitely did that.

"From the end of the second quarter through most of the third quarter I was struggling out there, and he picked up the slack."

Nene’s performance also drew praise from Grizzlies’ forward Mike Miller, who had 21 points for Memphis.

"Nene hasn't been healthy for awhile, so people don't understand how good he was before he hurt his knee," Miller said.

Spain big man Gasol added 21 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis.

Tim Duncan had 24 points and 16 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs extended their winning streak to six games with an easy 107-91 victory to cool off the Toronto Raptors.

France star Tony Parker played a spectacular game as well with 27 points and nine assists for San Antonio, who shot 58% (25 of 43) and held a 27-16 edge on the backboards as they opened a 62-38 halftime lead.

Argentina’s Manu Ginobili added 13 off the bench for the Spurs.

Toronto’s Team USA forward Chris Bosh was shut down in the first 24 minutes, with six points and three rebounds in the opening half, and finished with 14 points.

The Raptors got 17 points from Italian rookie Andrea Bargnani and a season-high 16 from former Spur Rasho Nesterovic of Slovenia.

Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki poured in 27 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 110-87 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

The win gave the league-leading Mavs (47-9) their third 12-game winning streak of the season.

Josh Howard scored 20 points before leaving the game with an ankle injury and Jason Terry added 21.

Shaquille O’Neal became the 14th player in NBA history to amass 25,000 points but it was not enough as the Miami Heat loss 99-93 to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Stephon Marbury scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Eddy Curry collected 28 points and 11 rebounds as the Knicks recorded their sixth straight home win.

O’Neal finished with 20 points.

Kobe Bryant scored 35 points for the Los Angeles Lakers en route to a 102-94 win over the Utah Jazz.

Smush Parker scored 25 points, including a critical three-pointer, while Lamar Odom added 19, 14 rebounds and nine assists for the Lakers.

Playing for the first time in three games due to back spasms, Utah’s Turkish star Mehmet Okur struggled, scoring just nine points on three of 19 shooting.

Paul Pierce scored 28 points as the Boston Celtics avoided a 13th consecutive road loss with a 77-72 win over the Houston Rockets.

Corey Maggette scored 25 points and Cuttino Mobley added 16 as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Charlotte Bobcats 100-93, while Rashard Lewis had 29 points to lead the Seattle SuperSonics to a 97-73 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Samuel Dalembert collected 20 points and 17 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Sacramento Kings 89-82.

Ian Parker
FIBA