No Place Like Home for Duncan

Tim Duncan came home Friday night and it was like he had never left.

Duncan had 21 points and 13 rebounds for San Antonio, which won its fourth game in a row and 16th of its last 18, 76-71, at Charlotte.

Duncan was an All-American at Wake Forest and was more than familiar with the Charlotte floor.

“It was a lot of fun being back here, just having a lot of people I knew, a lot of friends out here,” said Duncan, who was greeted with a rousing ovation during player introductions.

“To go out and have a response like that in the beginning, and knowing that I have people here that I want to play well in front of, it was real special.”

Avery Johnson added 16 points for the Spurs, and Jaren Jackson and Will Perdue each had 13.

Matt Geiger tied his season high with 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Hornets, who lost their third game in a row.

Portland 96, Utah 86--Isaiah Rider, pulled from the starting lineup for being late to practice, at Portland, scored 22 points in the second half and the Trail Blazers ended a five-game losing streak.

Utah, which has lost all three of its games with Portland, saw its seven-game winning streak end. The Jazz hadn’t lost since Portland beat it in Salt Lake City, 102-91, on Dec. 27.

Rider finished with 28 points for the Trail Blazers.

Chicago 96, Milwaukee 86--Michael Jordan scored 27 points and Scottie Pippen added 21 for the Bulls, who beat Milwaukee for the 11th consecutive meeting.

Jordan had 10 points in the fourth quarter, including eight down the stretch at Milwaukee to keep the Bulls comfortably ahead.

Ray Allen led the Bucks with 27 points, including a club-record seven three-point baskets.

Minnesota 116, Houston 115--Tom Gugliotta scored 33 points, including a five-footer off an alley-oop inbounds pass with less than a second left in overtime, as the Timberwolves won a Houston.

The victory extended Minnesota’s winning streak to four games and put the Timberwolves (20-16) four games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.

The Timberwolves called time out with 1.7 seconds to play in overtime after Charles Barkley rebounded a miss by Eddie Johnson and put it back in for a 115-114 Houston lead.

Atlanta 102, Golden State 89--Steve Smith scored 20 points, reaching that figure for the eighth consecutive game, to help the Hawks, who won their sixth game in a row, this in Atlanta.

Golden State, which has the fourth-worst record in the league (7-28), dropped its ninth in a row. The Warriors have failed to score 100 points in 14 consecutive games.

Phoenix 111, Orlando 86--Steve Nash scored 12 of his 16 points in the decisive second quarter and added nine assists for the Suns, who won in Phoenix.

Danny Manning had 23 points and Cliff Robinson had 17 points and three of the Suns’ 11 steals to help end a two-game losing streak. It was Phoenix’s most lopsided victory of the season.

Indiana 117, Sacramento 92--Largely without Reggie Miller, who was limited to nine points because of foul trouble for most of the night, the Pacers recorded their highest point total of the season in winning at Indianapolis.

Reserve Jalen Rose scored 23 points and Rik Smits had 20 for Indiana, which took command early and shot 64% and led, 35-26, in the first quarter. It was the Indiana’s most productive quarter of the season.

Washington 112, Vancouver 110--Chris Webber blocked Blue Edwards’ layup at the buzzer and the Wizards rallied from a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win in Washington.

The Wizards snapped a three-game losing streak, and Vancouver lost its 13th game in a row.

The Grizzlies set team records for most points in a quarter (40), most field goals in a quarter (18) and most points in a first half (72) and still lost.

Cleveland 99, Denver 74--Wesley Person scored 20 points and Shawn Kemp had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who coasted at Denver in handing Denver its 19th consecutive loss.

The Nuggets are only four games shy of the NBA record for the longest losing streak in a season. Vancouver set the mark of 23 consecutive losses in 1996.