USA - Houston left reeling by loss of Yao

HOUSTON (NBA) - Chinese star Yao Ming's injury nightmares returned to compound the Houston Rockets' 98-93 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Yao had to be helped off the court early in the game with what was later revealed to be a broken leg, and the Clippers took advantage of the void left by the giant center.

Tim Thomas had 21 points and Chris Kaman collected 15 and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who snapped a six-game losing streak.

Rockets trainer Keith Jones announced after the game that Yao, who leads Houston in points and rebounds this season, had suffered a small fracture on the front of his right knee and will be out a minimum of six weeks. 

It comes on the back of a litany of injuries last season which ruled the All-Star out for 25 games.

"It's tough to deal with," Houston guard Rafer Alston said. "You're shocked, disappointed. (Yao's) worked so hard, he was carrying this team."

Shane Battier scored a season-high 28 points for Houston, who shot just 40% (30 of 75).

Houston are five wins off the Western Conference Southwest Division leaders the San Antonio Spurs who saw off the New Orleans Hornets 112-77, led by France's Tony Parker and Argentina's Manu Ginobili.

Parker scored 19 points, Ginobili added 17 and Bruce Bowen 15 for the Spurs, who won for the sixth time in seven games as the Spurs shot 63% (44 of 70) from the floor.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said: "We've always been an unselfish team, but when you spread the ball around, shoot like we did and play defence, we are a pretty good basketball team."

 - Okur wins it for Utah

The Utah Jazz top the Western Conference Northwest Division thanks to some late sharp-shooting from Mehmet Okur.

The Turkey forward nailed the go-ahead three-pointer with 37 seconds left and Carlos Boozer collected 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Jazz used a decisive fourth-quarter run to post a 100-97 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Okur had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who shot just 43% (33 of 76) from the field, but nailed 31-of-35 foul shots.

Trailing, 97-92, Utah scored the game's final eight points - five by Okur.  The forward nailed a wide-open shot from the arc and capped the run with two free throws to make it 100-97 with 2.5 seconds left.

Mike Miller scored 28 points for Memphis, who shot 48% (30 of 63) and have dropped eight of their last nine contests.

Spain's Pau Gasol continued his comeback from a broken foot with 12 points in just under 26 minutes.

The Orlando Magic stayed top of the Eastern Conference Southeast Division despite an 86-83 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

LeBron James scored 19 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his team's final 11 points to seal the victory and end a three-game losing streak.

Lithuanian Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored a season high 22 points and had 10 rebounds and Drew Gooden added 14 and 12 for Cleveland, who shot 40% (34 of 85) from the field.

Dwight Howard collected 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Magic, who shot almost 44% (30 of 69) from the floor.

 - Mohammed stars for Detroit

Cleveland trail leaders the Detriot Pistons by two wins after Nazr Mohammed scored a season-high 19 points as the Pistons broke the game open in the third quarter and breezed to a 108-81 victory over the depleted Atlanta Hawks.

Speedy Claxton, Zaza Pachulia and Josh Smith all were sidelined with injuries for Atlanta, joining a growing list that already included Josh Childress and Tyronn Lue. 

That left the Hawks without four of their six leading scorers.

The Pistons, with Richard Hamilton, Mohammed and Tayshaun Prince combining for 28 of the 35 third-quarter points, carried an 81-56 cushion into the final 12 minutes.

Sandwiching Detroit and Cleveland are the Chicago Bulls, who blew away the Charlotte Bobcats with a record 115-76 win, helped by Argentina's Andres Nocioni.

Ben Gordon scored 23 points off the bench, including 18 in the second quarter, while Nocioni had 21 points and 11 rebounds and rookie reserve Switzerland's Thabo Sefolosha had a season-high 14 points for Chicago.

"As a unit we are playing much better right now," Nocioni said.

The 39-point loss was the worst ever for Charlotte, for whom reserve Melvin Ely scored 13 points and Raymond Felton and Primoz Brezec each had 10.

 - Allen returns to lead Seattle

The Toronto Raptors stay top of the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division even though Seattle Supersonics snapped a six-game losing streak with a 110-97 win.

On his return from an ankle injury, Ray Allen scored 28 points, Luke Ridnour had 18 points and six assists and Nick Collison collected 15 points and eight rebounds for Seattle, who ended their longest losing streak in nearly 18 years. 

While the Sonics missed the injured Rashard Lewis, Allen, the team's leading scorer at 25.3 points per game, returned after sitting out nine games with a bruised ankle bone. 

In his first game back, the All-Star guard did not miss a beat, shooting nine of 15 from the floor and five of six from the arc.

TJ Ford had 24 points and nine assists for the Raptors, who shot 47% (40 of 86) and had their two-game winning streak snapped.

The New Jersey Nets, who lie second in the division, were beaten by the Milwaukee Bucks 115-104.

Australia's Andrew Bogut collected 18 points and 10 rebounds for Milwaukee, which shot 55% (43-of 78) from the field for their sixth straight win at the Bradley Center.

"Anytime you win six in a row it (confidence) gets high," said Team USA international Michael Redd, who hit 21 points. "We have some tough games coming up on the road, so we needed this push."

Eddie House scored 22 points for the Nets, who shot 42% (39 of 93) to absorb their second straight loss.

Elsewhere, Kevin Garnett collected 29 points and 19 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a four-game losing streak with a 78-71 comeback victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Andre Iguodala scored 20 points and Chris Webber collected 18 points and nine rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers took advantage of porous defense and sloppy play to rout the sluggish New York Knicks 98-77 for their second straight win.

Jason Kapono scored a career-high 27 points and Dwyane Wade added 18 as the Miami Heat posted a 105-92 victory over the road-weary Golden State Warriors.

PA Sport