Utah beats Seattle and improves to 8-1

Deron Williams continued his streak of outstanding all-around play with 27 points, and the Utah Jazz improved to 8-1 with a 118-109 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night at Seattle.

Williams scored 23 points in the second half and combined with Derek Fisher to hand out 14 of Utah’s 27 assists.

The 8-1 start for Utah -- best in the NBA -- is the second-best in franchise history, trailing only a 9-1 start to the 1999 season.

New York 100, Miami 76 -- The Heat, playing without Shaquille O’Neal, who will undergo surgery on his knee and be sidelined up to six weeks, lost at home for the third game in a row. Alonzo Mourning, starting for O’Neal, managed only seven points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes.

Boston 118, Portland 90 -- The Celtics, who scored on their first 10 possessions of the fourth quarter at Boston, outscored the Trail Blazers 68-47 in the second half. Boston’s Paul Pierce scored 12 of his 29 points in the third quarter.

New Jersey 100, Indiana 91 -- Baskets by Vince Carter and Nenad Krstic gave the visiting Nets a 94-89 lead with under two minutes left, and the Pacers didn’t get closer.

San Antonio 100, Chicago 83 -- The Spurs have won six of their last seven, and the Bulls have dropped four of five. That includes a three-game losing streak in Texas.

Detroit 100, Washington 91 -- Richard Hamilton scored 27 points, making 11 of a career-high-tying 27 shots, to help the Pistons end a two-game losing streak.

Dallas 115, Memphis 103 -- The visiting Mavericks, who handed the Grizzlies their sixth consecutive loss, reached .500 for the first time this season.

Cleveland 92, Minnesota 76 -- Kevin Garnett scored a season-low 14 points on five-for-17 shooting for the visiting Timberwolves, who scored only 31 points in the second half and lost for the fifth time in six games.

Phoenix 106, Philadelphia 94 -- Leandro Barbosa, playing in place of ailing Steve Nash, had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Suns to their 18th win over the 76ers in 20 games at Phoenix.