Suns beat Magic for ninth win in a row

Boris Diaw fell a rebound shy of a triple-double, and the Phoenix Suns held off a late Orlando rally to beat the Magic, 107-101, Saturday night at Phoenix for their ninth victory in a row.

Diaw had 19 points and 11 assists to help Phoenix improve to 17-1 against Eastern Conference opponents this season. Steve Nash scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half for the Suns and had eight assists.

Jameer Nelson scored 26 points -- 16 in the third quarter -- and Hedo Turkoglu had 18 for the Magic, which had six players in double figures.

Phoenix also had six players in double digits. Shawn Marion scored 16 points and had five steals. Raja Bell scored 15, and Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa each had 12. Marion had five steals.

Charlotte 89, Philadelphia 83 -- The Bobcats overcame a pregame blunder that left them a man short at Charlotte, N.C. They won their third game in a row despite losing backup point guard Jeff McInnis late in the first quarter because of a scoring mistake.

The team turned in the wrong official roster before the game that did not include the newly acquired McInnis as an active player, leading to his ejection.

San Antonio 90, Washington 80 -- Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan was ejected in the third quarter at San Antonio after going onto the court to yell at the officials. With or without him, the Wizards didn’t show much of the form that led them to victories in 11 of their last 15 games. They shot only 31% (27 for 87).

Minnesota 109, New Jersey 98 -- Kevin Garnett scored 32 points and pulled down 14 rebounds at Minneapolis to become the 32nd player in league history to reach the 10,000-rebound milestone. The Timberwolves used a 12-1 run midway through the fourth quarter to win for the ninth time in 12 games.

Chicago 111, Memphis 66 -- The Bulls had their easiest victory this season despite playing without Andres Nocioni and Ben Wallace at Chicago. Nocioni was suspended for one game by the NBA for elbowing New Jersey center Mikki Moore on Thursday, and Wallace sat out because of a sore back.

Detroit 81, Boston 73 -- The Pistons were coming off consecutive losses to Charlotte and Atlanta -- a combined 22-46 this season -- but bounced back at Detroit despite playing without the injured Chauncey Billups (calf) and Lindsey Hunter (ankle) to hand the Celtics their fourth loss in a row.

Houston 115, Sacramento 111 -- Rafer Alston opened the overtime period with a three-point basket, and the Rockets didn’t trail in handing the Kings their third overtime loss in the last four games at Arco Arena. A three-point basket from Tracy McGrady and two free throws by Shane Battier put the Rockets in control, 109-103.

New Orleans at Milwaukee -- The game was postponed after freezing rain, sleet and snow grounded the Hornets in Oklahoma City.