Brown Leaves the Kings Losers Again

Perhaps Michael Jordan was right about Kwame Brown.

Brown, chosen by Jordan three years ago as the first high school player to go No. 1 overall in the NBA draft, had career highs of 30 points and 19 rebounds while playing all 48 minutes Wednesday night to lead the Wizards to a 114-108 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Washington.

Brown made of 12 of 16 field goals and six of seven free throws to help the Wizards end a seven-game losing streak and hand the Kings their second consecutive loss.

Brown said the Wizards’ 114-110 overtime loss Tuesday night in New York made him eager for a shot at the Kings, who lost, 94-77, on Tuesday at New Jersey.

“We knew they were going to underestimate us,” Brown said. “The loss in New York, I think, made everybody hungry. We said we were going to come out here and play hard again. With that intensity, we played hard with a team that underestimated us.

“I just felt confident tonight. I hit a couple of shots, and I felt like I couldn’t miss. I wanted the ball every time down.”

Gilbert Arenas had 27 points, 10 assists, a career-high eight steals and five rebounds. He also played the entire game.

Jerry Stackhouse came off the bench for the second night in a row with 21 points and seven assists.

Peja Stojakovic led Sacramento with 25 points.

With a victory, the Kings would have reached the 50-win plateau for the fourth season in a row. It also would have marked their fourth consecutive season in which they’ve won 20 or more road games. Sacramento, however, did clinch a playoff spot for the sixth consecutive season when Portland and Utah lost.

Atlanta 111, Dallas 110 -- Stephen Jackson scored 36 points, and the Hawks led by as many as 26 before holding off the Mavericks to end their nine-game home winning streak.

Steve Nash, who had gotten the Mavericks within one with a baseline drive with 34 seconds left, failed to hit the rim on a fading left-handed runner at the buzzer.

Nash had 30 points, 25 in the second half, for Dallas, which has a 29-5 home record, the best in the NBA.

Indiana 80, Portland 71 -- Ron Artest scored 21 points at Indianapolis to give Coach Rick Carlisle his third 50-win season in his third season as a head coach.

Indiana overcame a big free-throw disparity to improve the NBA’s best record to 50-17. Portland was 19 for 25 from the line while Indiana was four for six, but the Trail Blazers made only two field goals in the fourth quarter.

Zach Randolph led Portland with 16 points.

Boston 104, Denver 100 -- Paul Pierce had 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to help the Celtics improve to 12-1 when playing at home on St. Patrick’s Day. Carmelo Anthony had 20 points for the Nuggets, struggling to hold on to the eighth spot in the Western Conference.

Toronto 85, Utah 81 -- Vince Carter scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter at Toronto to help the Raptors knock the Jazz back to .500.

Gordan Giricek had 25 points for Utah, which remained 1 1/2 games behind Denver in the West.

New Orleans 104, Philadelphia 80 -- Rookie David West made all seven of his shots for a career-high 15 points as the Hornets used a 22-7 third-quarter run to win at New Orleans.

Baron Davis led the Hornets with 20 points. Allen Iverson had 20 points but made only eight of 23 shots as the 76ers lost their third in a row.

Golden State 110, Orlando 85 -- Troy Murphy came off the bench for 22 points and 10 rebounds at Oakland to help the Warriors win back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 11.

Tracy McGrady, the NBA’s leading scorer who hadn’t scored fewer than 37 points in three games, finished with 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Magic. McGrady made only five of 14 shots.