Spurs Get Caught in Swarm of Hornets

David Wesley scored 21 points, including six in overtime, to propel the Charlotte Hornets to an 88-84 victory over the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night at Charlotte, N.C.

The victory was Charlotte’s sixth in a row to tie a season high, while San Antonio’s four-game winning streak came to an end.

Charlotte (19-9) is off to its best start in franchise history.

“It would be nice to turn some heads nationally--I said nationally,” Wesley said. “But I hate to start talking about the best start in franchise history. The last time we did that, we went on a five-game losing streak.”

Jamal Mashburn also scored 21 points, while second-year point guard Baron Davis contributed 16--most of them coming in clutch situations.

Tim Duncan paced the Spurs with 29 points and 16 rebounds. David Robinson and Derek Anderson added 12 points each.

Miami 86, New Jersey 80--At East Rutherford, N.J., Eddie Jones scored 31 points for the second night in a row and the Heat held off a second-half rally to hand the Nets their fourth consecutive loss.

Jones, who scored 31 on Friday in a 103-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, had 21 points in the first half and then added six in the final minutes.

Stephon Marbury had 37 for the Nets, who shot just 37 percent and didn’t have the firepower to catch the Heat.

Utah 98, Minnesota 92--John Stockton keyed a late rally for the Jazz, who overcame an 11-point deficit in the final quarter to defeat the Timberwolves at Minneapolis.

Stockton had 21 points and Karl Malone added 19 for the Jazz, who took only their second lead of the game late in the fourth and held off Minnesota for the win.

Atlanta 91, Indiana 87--Lorenzen Wright scored 22 points and Jason Terry added 21, including a tie-breaking basket with 1:27 remaining to lead the Hawks past the Pacers at Atlanta.

Terry’s driving basket gave the Hawks an 89-87 lead and Roshown McLeod added the final basket on a 10-footer from the right baseline with 22.1 seconds left.

Portland 87, Washington 70--Rasheed Wallace had 25 points and 13 rebounds as the Trail Blazers recovered from their ugliest loss of the season to beat the Wizards at Portland.

Arvydas Sabonis added 16 points and Damon Stoudamire had 15 for the Blazers, who gave up a season-high 116 points in losing by 20 at Denver.

Orlando 111, Cleveland 92--John Amaechi had 26 points to lead six players in double figures at Orlando, Fla., as the Magic won their third in a row.

Amaechi had 22 points in the first half on 11-of-12 shooting. He scored 10 of his team’s first 14 points of the game and finished the first quarter with 16.

Golden State 95, Houston 87--Antawn Jamison scored 26 points and Larry Hughes had 22 as the Warriors ended a seven-game road losing streak with a win over the undermanned Rockets at Houston.

The Rockets played without their top two scorers, Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley. Francis has a sprained ankle and Mobley has a hyperextended elbow.

Sacramento 97, Seattle 92--Chris Webber had 23 points and 11 rebounds as the Kings overcame a fourth-quarter deficit and improved the NBA’s best record to 19-7 with a victory over the SuperSonics at Sacramento.

Vlade Divac, recently criticized by his teammates for poor play, had 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Kings won their eighth consecutive home game.

Phoenix 102, Denver 93--Jason Kidd had his fourth triple-double of the season with 14 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds and Tony Delk matched his career-high with 26 points at Phoenix as the Suns snapped the Nuggets’ four-game winning streak.

Milwaukee 104, Boston 99--Glenn Robinson scored 28 points, including seven in a row in the final period, and Tim Thomas added 16 at Milwaukee as the Bucks won for the 11th time in 14 games.

Detroit 106, Chicago 93--Jerry Stackhouse had 25 points and eight assists while Chucky Atkins added 22 to lead the Pistons at Auburn Hills, Mich.