USA - Suns shine against Mavericks

NEW YORK (NBA) - Brazil star Leandro Barbosa scored 29 points and the Phoenix Suns shot a blistering 65% from the field in a 126-104 thrashing of the league-leading Dallas Mavericks, who had their nine-game winning streak snapped.

Amare Stoudemire scored 24 points and Steve Nash added 23 and 11 assists for the Suns (55-18), who gained a split of the season series as they became the only team to beat the Mavericks (61-12) twice.

Germany superstar Dirk Nowitzki twisted his ankle and sat out the denouement of a game that lacked the quality of their previous meeting.

Phoenix pulled away as its offense looked unstoppable down the stretch. Barbosa made 10-of-17 shots, including four-of-seven from the arc.

The Toronto Raptors clinched their first play-off berth in five years, riding 24 points and 16 rebounds from All-Star Chris Bosh to a 107-94 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Toronto (41-32) opened a seven-game lead atop the Atlantic Division over second-place New Jersey (34-39) with nine games to play.  

After allowing Charlotte to narrow the deficit to 78-70 late in the third quarter, Toronto went on a 15-6 run to put the game out of reach with Jose Calderon leading the charge with six of his 14 points.

Delonte West sank two free throws in the waning seconds as the Celtics held on for a 98-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played without superstar LeBron James.

Gerald Green matched his career high with 25 points and Al Jefferson added 24 for Boston, who improved to just 3-23 without elbow victim Paul Pierce.

Larry Hughes scored 24 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 14 for the Cavaliers (44-30), who are one-half game ahead of Chicago (44-31) for second place in the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland fell four games behind Detroit for the top spot.

Mehmet Okur scored 20 points as Utah Jazz used a decisive fourth-quarter run to retain the fourth seed in the West with an 86-83 victory over the Houston Rockets.

German-born Carlos Boozer had 13 points and 10 rebounds and converted a huge bucket down the stretch for Utah (48-25), who are 1 1/2 games ahead of Houston (47-27) for the fourth spot in the Western Conference.

China superstar Yao Ming had 35 points and 16 rebounds for Houston, who shot just 39 percent (39-of-80).

Riding a fourth-quarter surge sparked by reserves Carlos Delfino and Antonio McDyess, the Detroit Pistons rallied for a 94-88 victory over the Miami Heat in a matchup of Eastern Conference powers.

Richard Hamilton scored 19 points and Chauncey Billups added 17 for the Pistons (47-26), who maintained their hold on the top spot in the East and beat the Heat for the second time in three meetings this season.

Detroit and Miami have met in the conference finals each of the last two years and could be on a collision course again this year. 

The Indiana Pacers' Jamaal Tinsley hit a layup with 1.1 seconds to play to lift the Pacers to a 100-99 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Tinsley scored 12 of his 20 points in the final quarter, dished out eight assists and grabbed four steals for Indiana, who snapped a four-game losing streak and pulled to within 1 1/2 games of Orlando (34-40) for the eighth and final play-off spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Washington Wizards moved back into first place, but lost All-Star forward Caron Butler to another injury.

Butler scored 19 points before leaving with a fractured right wrist with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter as the Wizards posted a 121-107 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Gilbert Arenas scored 19 points and handed out nine assists and Booth added 11 points for the Wizards, who snapped a three-game road losing streak.

Britain's Luol Deng scored 11 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter as the Chicago Bulls overcame a slow start to rally for a 105-97 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks.

Elsewhere Golden State beat Memphis 122-117, Minnesota needed overtime to see off Orlando 105-104, LA Lakers cruised to a 126-103 win over Sacramento and Seattle fell to Denver 114-103.

FIBA