Jazz Takes a Tip From Kirilenko

Andrei Kirilenko watched John Stockton’s last-second shot sail toward the basket and immediately recognized it would be an airball.

Kirilenko timed his leap perfectly and tipped in Stockton’s miss just before the final buzzer, giving the Utah Jazz a 91-90 victory over the New Jersey Nets Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J.

“It was airball for sure,” Kirilenko said. “It was bad.”

His tip, though, was good, allowing Utah to end a three-game losing streak and win for the eighth consecutive time at New Jersey. The Nets haven’t beaten the Jazz at the Meadowlands since 1994.

With Utah behind, 90-89, following Kenyon Martin’s field goal with 14.1 seconds left, Stockton dribbled upcourt and headed to the right baseline.

“I just tried to get it up there somewhere,” Stockton said. “It basically was a cast-off, and Andrei made a play out of it. It was a no-chance shot.”

Minnesota 99, New York 90 -- The Timberwolves, with help from Kevin Garnett (22 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists) and Wally Szczerbiak (26 points and 11 rebounds) won their 17th in a row at Target Center. Minnesota, which has won seven in a row overall, improved to 27-5 (.844) at home.

Miami 93, Washington 83 -- The Heat made nine consecutive shots in the second half and took advantage of a poor shooting night by Michael Jordan to win at Miami. Jordan missed seven of his first eight attempts and made only nine of 27 shots, scoring 21 points in 39 minutes.

San Antonio 97, Houston 88 -- The Spurs, who never trailed at Houston, won for the 13th time in 14 games and improved their 2003 record to 22-4. They led, 87-70, with 6:04 to play when Houston pulled within 94-88 with 52 seconds left. Glen Rice scored 11 of his 19 points in the final 5:43 for the Rockets.

Orlando 102, Cleveland 76 -- The Magic outscored the Cavaliers, 39-12, in the third quarter at Cleveland to turn a close game into another blowout loss for them. Gordon Giricek’s jump shot started a 28-3 run by the Magic, which outscored the Cavaliers, 34-7, over the final 9:43 of the quarter. The loss left Cleveland with an NBA-worst 11-48 record.

Milwaukee 120, Atlanta 93 -- Gary Payton and Sam Cassell combined for 52 points and 17 assists to lead the Bucks at Milwaukee. Since Payton joined the lineup following a trade from Seattle, Milwaukee has gone 2-3, with the three defeats coming to playoff contenders Minnesota, Phoenix and Indiana.

Toronto 104, Boston 92 -- The Raptors turned a five-point halftime deficit at Toronto into a 14-point lead by the end of the third quarter, during which they scored a season-high 38 points. The Celtics were without Paul Pierce for the second consecutive game. Pierce strained his lower back when he slipped on ice about a week ago. The Celtics beat the visiting Raptors on Friday night without him.

Philadelphia 100, Denver 94 -- Eric Snow made seven free throws in the final minute at Denver to help the 76ers win their season-high ninth consecutive game. In all, Snow made 17 of 19 free throws and the 76ers were 36 of 46 to move within three games of New Jersey for the Atlantic Division lead. Allen Iverson scored 17 points -- 10.2 below his average -- before fouling out with 5:49 to play.