Jefferson Is Good to the Last Shot

LeBron James made some crucial mistakes in the final two minutes, the last of which helped cost the Cleveland Cavaliers the game.

Richard Jefferson capped the highest scoring night of his career by sinking an alley-oop layup off an inbounds pass with 0.8 seconds left, giving the New Jersey Nets a 92-90 victory Wednesday night at East Rutherford, N.J.

Jefferson scored 42 points, the final two coming when he rolled free of James, caught Jabari Smith’s lob pass and dropped the ball through. No defender was within 10 feet of Jefferson when he scored.

“It was a lack of communication, that’s all,” Coach Paul Silas said. “We were supposed to switch everything and didn’t switch it.”

Despite scoring 23 points with nine rebounds and nine assists, in the final two minutes James committed two traveling violations, drew a technical foul, missed a foul shot and a field-goal attempt, and lost Jefferson on the crucial inbounds play.

Jefferson made 12 of 20 field goals and 16 of 17 free throws for the Nets, who also got a career-high 22 points from Rodney Buford.

Chicago 89, Detroit 82 -- Ben Gordon had 19 points to help the visiting Bulls win their fifth in a row, with their reserves outscoring their Piston counterparts, 53-8.

Six Bulls scored in double figures, including three reserves.

Chicago hadn’t won five in a row since Michael Jordan led them on a 14-game run during the 1997-98 title season. Detroit has lost four of six.

Chauncey Billups led all scorers with 32 points for the Pistons, whose Coach Larry Brown had to be restrained during a postgame argument with referee Anthony Jordan

Atlanta 113, Dallas 100 -- Antoine Walker scored 25 points as the Hawks had six players in double figures in ending a five-game losing streak by upsetting the Mavericks at Atlanta.

Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry had 23 points apiece for Dallas, whose five-game road winning streak ended.

Orlando 93, San Antonio 87 -- Steve Francis scored 29 points, including seven in a 14-4 fourth-quarter run, to help the Magic end a seven-game losing streak against the Spurs with a victory at Orlando, Fla.

Duncan led the Spurs with 24 points but didn’t score after a free throw with 5:58 left. He missed four of six free throws, as San Antonio made a season-low 50% of its foul shots.

The teams missed their first 10 shots, and the opening basket came on Grant Hill’s layup at 8:50.

Philadelphia 102, Indiana 90 -- Allen Iverson scored 40 points, ending his streak of 50-point games at two, but the 76ers used a game-ending 19-2 run to win at Indianapolis.

Iverson had a chance to become only the third player in NBA history to score 50 or more points in three consecutive games.

Reggie Miller led the Pacers with 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting.

Charlotte 90, Houston 87 -- The expansion Bobcats won on the road for the first time, getting 21 points and 11 rebounds from rookie Emeka Okafor in a victory at Houston.

Charlotte ended its 10-game road losing streak by completing a season sweep of the Rockets. Okafor recorded his 14th consecutive double-double, tying Shaquille O’Neal for the second-longest streak by a rookie in the NBA.

Tracy McGrady had 25 points for the Rockets, and Yao Ming had an ignominious triple double -- 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 turnovers.

Seattle 98, Denver 83 -- Rashard Lewis scored 21 points to lead four SuperSonics in double figures in a victory at Seattle.

Andre Miller had 20 points for Denver, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. Denver also played its third game in a row without Carmelo Anthony (sprained ankle).

Boston 114, New York 109 -- Mark Blount scored 22 points, and Paul Pierce had 21 at Boston as the Celtics overcame a 10-point, third-quarter deficit to beat the Knicks for the 11th time in their last 13 meetings.

Jamal Crawford led New York with 25 points.

Toronto 98, Utah 86 -- Donyell Marshall scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter at Toronto to help the Raptors improve to 2-2 since trading Vince Carter to New Jersey.

Jalen Rose, replaced in the starting lineup by Eric Williams, made five of his first six shots and had 12 points.

Carlos Boozer had 29 points for Utah, which was 1-4 on its trip.

Portland 104, Milwaukee 95 -- Nick Van Exel had season highs with 26 points and six three-pointers at Milwaukee to help the Trail Blazers hand the Bucks their fifth loss in a row. He ranks fifth on the NBA career list in made three-pointers (1,402).

Mike James had a season-high 22 points for the Bucks, who have gone 3-15 since a 3-1 start.

Golden State 109, Memphis 99 -- Jason Richardson scored 24 points at Oakland to help the Warriors rally from an early 15-point deficit and end a four-game losing streak.

James Posey scored 22 points for the Grizzlies, whose three-game winning streak ended.