Jefferson Is the Point Man for New Jersey

Richard Jefferson stole the spotlight from Vince Carter and LeBron James.

Jefferson scored 28 points, and the New Jersey Nets extended their winning streak to seven games with a 96-91 victory over James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night at East Rutherford, N.J.

The focus was on the match-up between Carter and James. But with Carter limited to 30 minutes because of foul trouble, Jefferson picked up the slack.

“Vince is our primary scorer, and that’s his role,” Jefferson said. “When he goes down, it’s not a surprise that we score with a lot of crazy shots or play out of our heads. We’re just going out there and playing aggressively, and good things are happening.”

Carter scored 21 points. Jason Kidd had 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Nenad Krstic had 13 points for New Jersey.

“It’s just nice to see we’ve grown,” Coach Lawrence Frank said. “We are getting better.”

James had 31 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, but Cleveland’s six-game winning streak ended.

Philadelphia 108, Denver 106 -- Allen Iverson scored 36 points, including the game-winning basket with 4.2 seconds to play at Denver, and the 76ers overcame Carmelo Anthony’s career-high 45 points.

Chris Webber had 32 points and 15 rebounds for the 76ers.

Anthony, whose previous career high was 42 points Dec. 13 at Charlotte, scored 19 points in the third quarter to help the Nuggets tie the score, 80-80, at the end of the quarter.

Miami 109, Milwaukee 98 -- Dwyane Wade scored 35 points, Shaquille O’Neal had 23 and the host Heat won for the sixth time in eight games since Pat Riley returned as coach Dec. 12.

Jason Williams had 18 points for the Heat, including nine during a 19-9 run in the first six minutes of the second half.

Maurice Williams scored 24 points for the Bucks.

Detroit 113, Toronto 106 -- Richard Hamilton scored 24 points, Chauncey Billups had 21 points and 13 assists at Auburn Hills, Mich., and the Pistons won their eighth consecutive game.

The Pistons improved to an NBA-best 23-3, the best 26-game record in franchise history.

Chris Bosh scored a career-high 37 points for the Raptors, who are a league-worst 6-22.

Utah 82, Houston 74 -- Mehmet Okur had 20 points, 17 rebounds and a key three-point basket, and the Jazz took advantage of Tracy McGrady’s sudden absence at Houston.

McGrady scored 21 points in the first half, then left the arena when he learned his fiancee was going into labor in a hospital. Rocket spokesman Nelson Luis said after the game that Clerenda Harris had given birth to a boy named Laymen Lamar.

San Antonio 99, Indiana 86 -- Tony Parker scored 27 points, Manu Ginobili sparked the decisive run in his return from an injury and the Spurs took control with a 16-3 spurt in the third quarter at San Antonio.

Ginobili, who sat out eight games because of a sprained right foot, made a free throw and a layup to start the run. The Spurs held the Pacers without a basket for more than 4 1/2 minutes beginning late in the third quarter.

Charlotte 93, Atlanta 90 -- Primoz Brezec made the go-ahead basket in the final seconds, Brevin Knight scored 22 points and the Bobcats recovered after blowing an 11-point lead to end a four-game winning streak at home by the Hawks, who got 19 points and seven assists from Al Harrington.