Trail Blazers Aren’t a Problem for Kings

The Sacramento Kings put another game between them and second-place Portland in the Western Conference, but the third quarter showed the gap is much wider than 4 1/2 games.

Peja Stojakovic scored 30 points and Chris Webber had 25 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, and the Kings rode a dominant third quarter to a 113-104 victory at Portland, Ore.

Sacramento, which has won three in a row and eight of 10, put on a show in the third quarter, turning a four-point halftime deficit into a 16-point lead behind 42 points -- a season-high both for the Kings offensively and Portland defensively.

Atlanta 92, Indiana 89 -- Theo Ratliff blocked a potential game-winning dunk by Jermaine O’Neal in the final seconds to hand the Pacers their 11th consecutive road loss.

With 6.4 seconds left and Atlanta leading, 90-89, O’Neal took an inbound pass at the top of key and drove down the left side of the lane and went up for a dunk. But Ratliff, who was guarding Brad Miller, instead made the block.

Dion Glover made two free throws to end the scoring with six-tenths of a second left.

New Jersey 107, Memphis 99 -- The win at East Rutherford, N.J., enabled the Nets to open a 1 1/2-game lead over idle Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division.

Kerry Kittles scored 25 points to lead the Nets and Jason Kidd had a season-high 18 assists.

The Grizzlies, who have lost 28 of their 35 road games, are 12-9 since the All-Star break -- including a win over New Jersey in which they held the Nets to a franchise-low eight first-quarter points.

Dallas 102, Phoenix 95 -- Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and Steve Nash had 27 points and 13 assists at Dallas to help the Mavericks improve their league-best record to 52-17.

Shawn Marion had 21 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Suns, and Penny Hardaway had a season-high 21 points.

The Mavericks trailed by seven points entering the fourth quarter, but they went ahead for good, 79-76, with 10:28 left on consecutive three-point baskets by Nowitzki and Walt Williams.

Milwaukee 93, New Orleans 85 -- The Bucks (34-36) took a one-game lead on idle Washington for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Hornets (40-31) remained in fifth place in the conference.

Milwaukee led, 69-64, when Sam Cassell made three consecutive baskets, the last a three-pointer, to extend the lead to 12 points.

The Hornets got to within 83-78 on a three-point basket by Baron Davis with 2:55 left, but Cassell made two more jumpers as the Bucks pulled away.

The win at Milwaukee was George Karl’s 700th as an NBA coach. Karl’s NBA record is 700-494 (.586) in 16 seasons with Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle and Milwaukee.

Chicago 100, New York 98 -- Eddy Curry scored a career-high 30 points to help the Bulls beat the tired Knicks at Chicago.

The Knicks, trying to climb into the eighth playoff spot in the East, were playing their fourth game in five nights and shot only 39%.

Kurt Thomas led the Knicks with 20 points and Allan Houston had 19, including 10 in the fourth quarter. New York dropped three games behind Milwaukee for eighth place in the East.

Denver 90, Boston 80 -- Juwan Howard had 27 points and seven rebounds at Denver to lead the Nuggets to their first win over the Celtics in their last nine meetings.

The Nuggets, who ended a four-game losing streak, had last defeated the Celtics on Nov. 15, 1996, in Boston.