Streaking Nets Get Division Title

The New Jersey Nets tied the longest winning streak in the NBA this season with their 13th in a row and clinched their fourth Atlantic Division title in five years Tuesday night with a 96-94 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at East Rutherford, N.J.

Despite blowing all but one point of a 23-point fourth-quarter lead, the Nets prevailed behind 27 points from Vince Carter. An offensive foul on Joe Johnson with 8.9 seconds left ended the Hawks’ last chance.

New Jersey had clinched the division title before the game ended, courtesy of Philadelphia’s loss to Cleveland. The Nets can equal the franchise-record 14-game winning streak at home Thursday against Charlotte. Dallas has also won 13 in a row this season.

“I remember when I first got here, everyone was all excited about winning the division,” said Richard Jefferson, who scored 17 points. “Now it’s kind of like you don’t even see that many smiles. It’s kind of like this is a part of it, where you expect to be.”

Johnson had 33 points for Atlanta.

*

Detroit 101, New Orleans 93 -- Playing most of suspended Rasheed Wallace’s minutes, Antonio McDyess had a season-high 26 points and 14 rebounds at Auburn Hills, Mich., to help the Pistons become the first team to reach 60 wins.

The Pistons, winners of five in a row, need four wins in their final eight games to break the 1988-89 team’s franchise record of 63.

Wallace missed the game after picking up an automatic one-game suspension for receiving 16 technical fouls. Dale Davis actually started for Wallace, ending Detroit’s NBA-record streak at 73 straight games with the same lineup.

David West and Chris Paul scored 22 apiece for the Hornets, who had their three-game winning streak ended.

*

Cleveland 124, Philadelphia 91 -- LeBron James scored 37 points at Cleveland and the Cavaliers won their ninth in a row while getting Larry Hughes back from injury and losing Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Ilgauskas sprained his left ankle late in the first quarter and did not return. X-rays were negative. Hughes, sidelined since Dec. 31 by a broken right index finger, scored 10 points.

Allen Iverson scored 38 points for Philadelphia, which leads Chicago by half a game for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth after its eighth loss in 11 games.

*

Chicago 102, Indiana 96 -- Ben Gordon scored 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and the surging Bulls rallied from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit at Chicago to hand the Pacers their fifth straight loss.

Chicago, battling Philadelphia for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, visits the 76ers tonight and plays host to them Saturday.

Stephen Jackson scored 22 for Indiana.

*

Dallas 127, Sacramento 101 -- Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points, Josh Howard had 23 and Josh Powell’s offense and defense ignited a surge that took the Mavericks from a tie late in the first quarter to a 23-point lead late in the second at Dallas.

The Mavericks also made a season-best 61.3% of their shots, including 72.2% in the third quarter. Powell had eight of his season-high 12 during the surge.

Sacramento hadn’t allowed more than 98 points in its last 13 games -- but gave up 63 in the first half. Dallas bettered its season high for points by six.

Bonzi Wells led Sacramento with 30 points.

Meanwhile, Dallas forward Keith Van Horn underwent surgery for a broken right hand and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

*

San Antonio 95, Utah 86 -- Manu Ginobili scored eight of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Spurs at Salt Lake City.

Carlos Boozer had 27 points and 17 rebounds for the Jazz.

*

Washington 105, New York 90 -- Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler scored 18 points each and Gilbert Arenas added 13 points and a season-high 13 assists as the Wizards led by as many as 31 in handing the visiting Knicks their ninth loss in a row.

The Knicks had a season-high 28 turnovers.

*

Boston 124, Toronto 120 -- Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak scored 22 points apiece and the Celtics closed the game with a 20-9 run at Toronto.

Morris Peterson had 32 points for Toronto, which lost its fifth in a row.

*

Miami 115, Milwaukee 89 -- Shaquille O’Neal had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead six double-figure scorers in the Heat’s victory at Miami.

The Heat never trailed and shot 72% in the first quarter, 80% in the third and finished at 62%.

Charlie Bell had 20 of his season-high 29 points in the first half for Milwaukee.

*

Charlotte 97, Minnesota 92 -- Primoz Brezec made a layup over several defenders with 54 seconds left, then added a pair of free throws to help the Bobcats hand the Timberwolves their 12th straight road loss, tying a futility mark set 12 years ago.

The Timberwolves had not lost 12 in a row on the road since March 26-Nov. 8, 1994.

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 22 rebounds for Minnesota.

*

Memphis 100, Golden State 75 -- Chucky Atkins scored 22 points at Memphis, Tenn., to help the Grizzlies sweep the three-game season series against the Warriors.

Golden State dropped its fifth straight.

Derek Fisher scored 17 points for Golden State, which benched its starters with about nine minutes left. The Warriors’ Jason Richardson finished with nine points on four-for-15 shooting, ending an 87-game streak of scoring in double figures.

*

Seattle 104, Houston 87 -- Ray Allen scored 32 points at Seattle and moved into a tie for second with former SuperSonic Dale Ellis on the NBA’s career three-point list with 1,719.

Seattle’s Chris Wilcox outplayed Yao Ming inside, finishing with 26 points and a career-high 24 rebounds. Yao had 22 points and 10 rebounds.