The New York Times-20080124-Lowly Timberwolves Record Unlikely Victory Over the Suns

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Lowly Timberwolves Record Unlikely Victory Over the Suns

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Al Jefferson had a career-high 39 points and 15 rebounds, and the host Minnesota Timberwolves won two in a row for the first time this season by beating the Phoenix Suns, the Western Conference leader, 117-107, on Wednesday night.

Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 33 points. The Suns, whose 30-13 record is behind only Boston for N.B.A. supremacy, had won four games in a row. Jefferson helped Minnesota (7-34) take a lead as big as 21 points in the first half.

RAPTORS 114, CELTICS 112 Jose Calderon converted a go-ahead, 3-point play with 10.5 seconds left and finished with 24 points and 13 assists, leading Toronto to a victory in Boston.

Kevin Garnett scored 26 for Boston (30-7), which had won three in a row and had not lost to an Atlantic Division rival in 10 games this season. Toronto (23-19) won for the sixth time in eight games.

PISTONS 86, 76ERS 78Richard Hamilton scored 21 points and Chauncey Billups had 19 to help Detroit snap a rare three-game losing streak and beat host Philadelphia. The Pistons still have the second-best record in the East, trailing only the Celtics, but they entered the game trying to avoid their first four-game skid since 2004-5.

SPURS 103, LAKERS 91 Tim Duncan had 28 points and 17 rebounds to lead host San Antonio to its second straight victory. The Spurs took the lead for good in the third quarter with a 15-5 run that put them ahead, 76-66. Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles with 29 points and 12 rebounds.

MAVERICKS 102, BOBCATS 95 Devin Harris scored 23 points and Dallas won at Charlotte. Two days after their most lopsided loss of the season, an 18-point rout at Washington, the Mavericks led by 14 early in the fourth quarter before nearly blowing the game at the end.

CAVALIERS 121, WIZARDS 85LeBron James scored 23 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 24 without missing from the field as host Cleveland won its fifth straight game. After an uninspiring first two months, the Cavaliers have regrouped to win 11 of 13.

BULLS 108, PACERS 95 Kirk Hinrich scored a career-high 38 points, and Chicago won at home even though its two best players were injured. Forward Luol Deng is expected to miss one to three weeks because of Achilles' tendinitis, and the Bulls' leading scorer, Ben Gordon, missed the game with a sprained right wrist.

HORNETS 96, TRAIL BLAZERS 81 Jannero Pargo scored a season-high 24 points in 24 minutes, and host New Orleans extended its winning streak to six games. Pargo's 10-of-18 shooting helped the Hornets overcome an early 12-point deficit. David West scored 18 for the Hornets (29-12), who have won 14 of 16 games and lead the Southwest Division. LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland (25-17) with 17 points.

NUGGETS 107, HAWKS 100 Allen Iverson scored 29 points and Linas Kleiza added 23 to lift host Denver, which played without the All-Star Carmelo Anthony. Anthony missed his first game of the season with a sprained left ankle. He is listed as day to day. Anthony is the fourth-leading scorer in the league, averaging 25.5 points.

MAGIC 112, GRIZZLIES 85 Hedo Turkoglu scored 26 points, and Orlando made a team-record 18 3-pointers at Memphis. Turkoglu made 6 of 8 3-pointers for the Magic, which made 55 percent of its 3-point attempts. Orlando won its third straight game; the Grizzlies had won two in a row.