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Celtics' Mickael Pietrus leaves on stretcher: NBA roundup

Elton Brand scored 20 points, and Spencer Hawes had 12 points and 10 rebounds to help the Philadelphia 76ers remain in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 99-86 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

The Celtics would have grabbed first with a win, knocking out a Sixers team that has held that spot for all but a few days this season. The Sixers outscored Boston by 20 points in the third quarter to take control.

There was a serious scare when Celtics guard Mickael Pietrus left on a stretcher and was hospitalized after an awkward collision late in the first half. He was listed as having a questionable closed head injury. Pietrus landed hard on his tailbone and his head nearly smacked the court. He instantly clutched the back of his head with both hands and rolled over on his side.

Heat 88, Pistons 73

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. LeBron James had 17 points and 10 assists to lead the Miami Heat to their fourth straight victory, 88-73 over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.

Dwyane Wade added 24 points for the Heat, who posed for a photo earlier in the day wearing team-logo hoodies. Players were speaking out following the death of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager wearing a hooded sweatshirt who was shot by a neighborhood crime-watch volunteer last month in a suburb of Orlando, Fla.

Several Heat players, including Wade and James, took the floor with messages such as "RIP Trayvon Martin" and "We want justice" scrawled on their sneakers.

Brandon Knight scored 18 points for the Pistons, who have lost five of six. Suns 113, Pacers 111

INDIANAPOLIS Marcin Gortat had 23 points and eight rebounds, Steve Nash added 12 points and tied his season high with 17 assists, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Indiana Pacers 113-111 on Friday night.

Grant Hill scored 22 points for the Suns.

Danny Granger had 28 points and Roy Hibbert finished with 19 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who played their second game in a series of three games in three days.

Channing Frye hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to give the Suns a 109-103 lead and the Pacers were never able to recover.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel was ejected from the game with less than two minutes left after picking up his second technical. Magic 93, Cavaliers 80

ORLANDO, Fla. Ryan Anderson scored 17 points, Dwight Howard added 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic held off the Cleveland Cavaliers 93-80 on Friday night.

All five Magic players scored in double figures as they sizzled shooting the ball early before having to fight off a Cleveland charge in third quarter. They improved to 18-3 when all their starters reach double digits.

The Magic have won eight straight games over the Cavaliers. Orlando is off until Monday, when it begins a two-game road trip against Toronto.

Antawn Jamison scored 16 points and had nine rebounds to lead Cleveland. Tristan Thompson added 15 points and 11 boards, and Kyrie Irving had 13 points.

The Cavs lost for the fifth time in six games. They host Phoenix on Sunday. Bucks 112, Bobcats 92

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Luc Mbah a Moute scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half and the Milwaukee Bucks had 72 points inside the paint in a 112-92 rout of the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night.

Ersan Ilyasova had 15 points and Drew Goodson added 14 points and 12 rebounds as six Bucks players scored in double digits. Monta Ellis chipped in with 13 points and Brandon Jennings added 12 for Milwaukee.

The Bucks had no problem exploiting the smaller Bobcats, who were without center Gana Diop and forward Eddy Najera, and had waived Boris Diaw earlier in the week, leaving them with very little in the way of height. Hawks 93, Nets 84

ATLANTA Josh Smith had 30 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 9384 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Friday night.

Jeff Teague had 17 points and six assists, Joe Johnson scored 16 and Kirk Hinrich added 14 for the Hawks.

Atlanta won for the fourth time in five games to pull within four percentage points of Indiana, which lost 113-111 to Phoenix, for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Deron Williams scored 20 points and Kris Humphries added 17 for New Jersey, which has lost five straight and seven of eight. Teague's layup gave the Hawks a nine-point lead, their biggest of the game, with 3:56 remaining. The Nets pulled within four before Smith had a basket and two free throws to put Atlanta up 88-80 with 2:05 remaining. Thunder 149, Timberwolves 140 (2-OT)

OKLAHOMA CITY Russell Westbrook scored 45 points, Kevin Durant added 40 points and a season-high 17 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a career-high 51 points from Minnesota All-Star Kevin Love to beat the Timberwolves 149-140 in double overtime Friday night.

Westbrook set the tone in the second overtime, stealing the ball on Minnesota's opening possession and racing to the other end for a layup that resulted in a three-point play.

The Thunder never trailed in the period and put it away with nine straight points after Nick Collison blocked Love's shot that would have tied it at 140.

Love, who beat Durant in the 3-Point Contest on All-Star weekend, made a career-high seven 3s and also pulled down 14 rebounds while becoming the third player to eclipse 50 points this season. Spurs 104, Mavericks 87

SAN ANTONIO Manu Ginobili had 11 points and seven assists while starting in place of an injured Tony Parker, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 104-87 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Danny Green added 18 points, Tim Duncan 15 and Matt Bonner 12 for the Spurs, who have the second-best record in the Western Conference at 31-14.

It was the fourth and final meeting of the season between the in-state rivals in the lockout-shortened schedule. All the victories came on each team's home court.

Parker, who missed his third game of the season, sat out with a strained right quadriceps. His absence didn't seem to distract the Spurs, who had seven assists in the first quarter alone and finished with 28 total. Lakers 103, Trail Blazers 96

LOS ANGELES Andrew Bynum had 28 points and nine rebounds, point guard Ramon Sessions had 20 points and 11 assists in his first start for the Lakers, and Los Angeles beat the Portland Trail Blazers 103-96 on Friday night.

Kobe Bryant scored 18 points for the Lakers, who finished with a season-high 33 assists and increased their Pacific Division lead to 3 1/2 games over the idle Clippers. Pau Gasol had 16 rebounds and 10 points.

Sessions played his fifth game since the Lakers obtained him from Cleveland along with Christian Eyenga on March 15 for Luke Walton and Jason Kapono. The fifth-year veteran made his first three shots and was 6 for 10 from the field in 35 minutes.

Jazz 121, Nuggets 102

SALT LAKE CITY Al Jefferson had 23 points and eight rebounds, Gordon Hayward chipped in 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and the Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 121-102 on Friday night.

All five starters reached double figures as the Jazz (26-22) notched their sixth straight win. Paul Millsap had 14 points and C.J. Miles scored 12. Devin Harris added 13 points and nine assists for Utah.

Alec Burks led a strong bench contribution with 15 points. Derrick Favours chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds.

Al Harrington scored 20 points off the bench for Denver (26-22), while Arron Afflalo added 14 points before a third-quarter ejection. Kenneth Faried added 16 points, Andre Miller chipped in 14 and Wilson Chandler had 13 for the Nuggets.