The Utah Jazz extended its recent dominance of the Detroit Pistons with a 99-82 win in the NBA on Saturday, making it eight straight wins over the Eastern Conference side.
Mehmet Okur scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half to set up the win that saw Utah edge within 2-1/2 wins of Northwest Division leader Denver.
Detroit last beat Utah in early 2005.
Rockets 96, Knicks 76
At Houston, Luis Scola had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Rafer Alston added 17 points and six assists for undermanned Houston in a cruise over New York.
Aaron Brooks scored 16 points, Von Wafer had 15 and Yao Ming 14 for the Rockets, who played without Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest. Tim Thomas led New York with 18 points.
T-Wolves 106, Bucks 104
At Minneapolis, the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied from 13 points down in the second half for a thrilling 106-104 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA on Saturday.
Rodney Carney scored 22 points, and Sebastian Telfair had 17 points and 11 assists for the Wolves, who have won five in a row for the first time since December 2005.
Michael Redd scored 32 points for Milwaukee, but missed a chance to tie it in the final 9 seconds. Richard Jefferson added 29 points for the Bucks.
Bobcats 92, Wizards 89
At Washington, Raja Bell had 19 points, and Boris Diaw scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for Charlotte.
After trailing for most of the game, the Bobcats took the lead for good on Shannon Brown's 3-pointer with 2:42 left.
Caron Butler had 19 points for Washington.
Thunder 109, Bulls 98, OT
At Chicago, Kevin Durant scored 28 points, Nick Collison added a season-high 21, and Oklahoma City rallied to beat Chicago.
Trailing by seven midway through the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but Durant missed a jumper from the top of the key and Russell Westbrook missed a tip-in try.
Ben Gordon led Chicago with 22 points.
Blazers 113, Warriors 100
In Portland, Oregon, Portland inflicted a fifth straight defeat on lowly Golden State.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points to top the Portland scorers while Brandon Roy added 19 in his return from a hamstring injury.
(Agencies via China Daily January 12, 2009)
