ATLANTA – Theo Ratliff blocked a potential game-winning dunk by Jermaine O’Neal in the final seconds Saturday night to help the Atlanta Hawks to a 92-89 victory over Indiana, sending the Pacers to their 11th consecutive road loss.
With 6.4 seconds remaining and Atlanta leading 90-89, O’Neal took an inbounds pass at the top of key and drove down the left side of the lane past Shareef Abdur-Rahim. O’Neal jumped for a dunk, but Ratliff, who was guarding Brad Miller, instead moved in for his ninth block.
Nets 107, Grizzlies 99
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Kerry Kittles scored 25 points, Jason Kidd had a season-high 18 assists and the New Jersey Nets rode a 64-point first half to a 107-99 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.
Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson added 17 points apiece for the Nets, who opened a 11/2-game lead over idle Philadelphia in the Atlanta Division.
Bucks 93, Hornets 85
MILWAUKEE – Sam Cassell scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter Saturday as the Milwaukee Bucks gave George Karl his 700th win as an NBA coach, 93-85 over New Orleans.
Karl’s NBA record is 700-494 (.586) in 16 seasons with Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle and Milwaukee.
Bulls 100, Knicks 98
CHICAGO – Eddy Curry scored a career-high 30 points and Jamal Crawford added 22 points and 10 assists Saturday night as the Chicago Bulls held off the weary New York Knicks 100-98.
Mavericks 102, Suns 95
DALLAS – Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter despite foul trouble, and Steve Nash had 27 points and 13 assists as the Dallas Mavericks rallied to beat the Phoenix Suns 102-95 Saturday night.
Jazz 91, Clippers 82
SALT LAKE CITY – Andrei Kirilenko had 17 points and six blocked shots as the Utah Jazz held the Los Angeles Clippers to the lowest field goal percentage in franchise history in an 88-73 victory Saturday night.
Even though the Clippers shot 10-of-21 in the fourth quarter during garbage time, they finished at 26.3 percent (21-of-80). The previous franchise low was 26.8 percent against Houston on Feb. 28, 2000.
Matt Harpring scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Karl Malone added 13 as the Jazz won their third in a row.
Corey Maggette led Los Angeles with 13 points while Wang ZhiZhi followed his career high of 21 on Wednesday with 12 points in his first start at center.
In the last meeting between the teams, the Clippers ended a 26-game losing streak in Utah that dated to April 18, 1989. The Jazz made certain it wouldn’t happen again by leading the entire way and pushing the margin as high as 30 points.
The Clippers looked disinterested and played selfishly. Los Angeles had only three assists in the first three quarters and finished with 10.
John Stockton played only 22 minutes but still collected 12 assists and 9 points as the Jazz won their third in a row. Utah led 58-28 when Stockton sat for good with 6:24 left in the third quarter.
With the win, Utah moved past the Los Angeles Lakers by one-half game for sixth place in the Western Conference.
Notes: With an injured list that includes starters Michael Olowokandi and Elton Brand, Clippers players have missed 247 games due to injury – the most ever for the club. … Dennis Johnson fell to 3-8 since taking over for Alvin Gentry as L.A.’s head coach. … Matt Harpring took a hard shot to his bruised ribs in the third quarter but continued play, wincing.
AP-ES-03-22-03 2342EST
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