EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Devin Harris hit an unbelievable lunging half-court shot at the buzzer and the New Jersey Nets snapped a season-high five-game losing streak with a 98-96 victory over the slumping Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
With players from both teams surrounding the scorer’s table, the referees watched replays of Harris’ shot for nearly three minutes before signaling the basket was good.
Seconds earlier, the 76ers seemingly nailed down the victory when Andre Iguodala sank the second of two free throws to give them a one-point lead with 1.8 seconds to play.
The Nets quickly inbounded the ball to Harris, who bobbled it after bumping with Iguodala and then heaved in the winner from in front of the scorer’s table.
Harris finished with a game-high 39 points, but his 22nd shot of the night will be one Nets fans remember, especially if it helps key a run to the playoffs.
NEW YORK — Nate Robinson scored a season-high 41 points, including the tiebreaking layup with 26 seconds left. Robinson scored 32 in the second half, helping the Knicks pull out a game against a team missing most of its best players. Al Harrington added 27 points and David Lee had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks.
Jarrett Jack scored a season-high 33 points and Marquis Daniels matched a season best with 28 for the Pacers, who had won two in a row overall and four in a row at Madison Square Garden. They fell to 4-2 when playing without both All-Star Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy. Troy Murphy had 19 points and 21 rebounds for the Pacers.
DENVER — The Celtics handed the Nuggets one of the worst home losses in their history behind 26 points from Ray Allen and 22 from Paul Pierce. It was Boston’s second game since Kevin Garnett strained a muscle in his right knee that is expected to sidelined him for at least two weeks.
Rajon Rondo, coming off a career-high 32 points in Boston’s 20-point win at Phoenix on Sunday, added 14 points for the Celtics, who raced to a 60-37 halftime lead that rendered the second half a let’s-get-it-over-with exercise.
This was Denver’s worst home loss since Feb. 2, 1998, when the Nuggets were routed by Chicago 111-72. The 38-point margin of defeat tied for the second-biggest home loss since Denver joined the NBA in 1976.
J.R. Smith had 19 points and Carmelo Anthony 18 for the Nuggets, who lost for the third time in four nights and saw their lead over second-place Portland trimmed to a single game in the suddenly up-for-grabs Northwest Division. Third-place Utah has sliced its six-game deficit in half in five nights.
SALT LAKE CITY — Deron Williams had 15 points and 10 assists and Utah welcomed back Carlos Boozer from a three-month absence. The Jazz won their fifth straight and got to use Boozer sparingly in his first game since Nov. 19, when he injured a tendon in his left quadriceps. The two-time All-Star also had knee surgery to remove cartilage in January and was finally back Monday after missing 44 straight games. He finished with two points and five rebounds as the rest of the Jazz handled the scoring.
Joe Johnson had 15 points to lead the Hawks, who lost their 15th straight game at Utah.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Chris Paul had 27 points and 13 assists and New Orleans Hornets held off a fourth-quarter rally by Kevin Martin and Sacramento.
David West had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who had lost two straight and eight of 12. Tyson Chandler, playing his first game since New Orleans tried to trade him to Oklahoma City, had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Kevin Martin scored 24 of his 32 points in the fourth period for the Kings, setting a new Arco Arena record for points in a quarter.
LOS ANGELES — Zach Randolph had 27 points and 11 rebounds, Eric Gordon also scored 27 points and the Clippers snapped a three-game losing streak. Gordon had a career-high six 3-pointers and has scored 21-plus points in each of his last five games for the Clippers, who beat the Warriors for the first time since Nov. 2, 2007.
Baron Davis added 25 points and 10 assists for the Clippers, who got off to a slow start and were without starter Al Thornton, missing his second game of the season with a right foot injury.
Stephen Jackson had 28 points and C.J. Watson added 16 for the Warriors.
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