Dirk, T-Mac shine; Kobe, LeBron support

Dirk Nowitzki had another strong game as Dallas won again in San Antonio. Tracy McGrady also had his best outing of the season in Houston's win. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James had their quietest nights _ yet somehow their teams won, too.

Nowitzki scored a season-high 36 points, and the Mavericks beat the Spurs 90-85 Friday night for their 13th consecutive victory.

A busy day in the NBA also saw Larry Brown return to Philadelphia as the 76ers' executive vice president, hours after the player that tormented him for so many years, Allen Iverson, was fined $25,000 by the league for criticizing an official.

In other games, it was: Orlando 106, Charlotte 74; Toronto 105, Atlanta 92; Washington 116, the Los Angeles Clippers 105; New Jersey 91, Chicago 86; Boston 128, Memphis 119; Minnesota 104, Philadelphia 102 in overtime; Houston 100, Utah 86; Cleveland 95, Milwaukee 86; Phoenix 108, Miami 80; New York 111, Seattle 93; and the Los Angeles Lakers 123, Denver 104.

The Spurs lost their third in a row. It also was Dallas' third straight victory in San Antonio, dating to Game 7 of last season's Western Conference semifinals. Nowitzki had 37 points and 15 rebounds in that overtime thriller.

"Dirk is a warrior," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "He guarded Tim Duncan very well tonight. In my opinion, Dirk never gets enough credit and hopefully that will change soon. Dirk is definitely a player who lets his game do all the talking."

McGrady was even better, scoring 44 points in Houston's 100-86 home victory over Utah. He has averaged 36 points over his last four games, carrying the Rockets in the absence of Yao Ming and showing no signs of the back problems that have plagued him recently.

"If I've got it rolling like that and my guys are knocking down shots, we can beat the best of them in this league," McGrady said.

At Los Angeles, Bryant had a season-low eight points on 2-of-9 shooting after averaging 45 points in his previous four games. However, he had 10 assists in the Lakers' 123-104 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

"Kobe facilitated a lot of things," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I know there's some people out there that wanted him to score. But he did the right thing in the type of game that was being played. I think he felt very comfortable with that, too."

James' coach had no complaints, either, after the Cleveland star also had eight points _ his lowest total in more than two years. James contributed nine assists, helping rally the Cavaliers to a 95-86 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

"I'm proud of LeBron James because they jumped him the whole night and he struggled a little bit offensively," Mike Brown said. "But he hung in there and did other things to help us win."

Drew Gooden scored a season-high 31 points and matched a season high with 16 rebounds for the Cavs, who survived the eighth time in James' 270 career games that he failed to score 10 points. He shot 3-of-13 in his lowest output since a career-worst three points in a loss to Houston on Dec. 29, 2004.

"Out of my 13 shots ... probably 11 of them was good shots," James said. "I mean, 13 shots for me, and a win. Eight points, but we got a win. Anytime my teammates pick it up for me like that it's great to see."

Wizards 116, Clippers 105

At Washington, Gilbert Arenas scored 29 of his 35 points in the first half and added a season-high 12 assists, then headed to his star-studded birthday celebration.

Caron Butler added 27 points _ his fifth consecutive game with at least 20 _ six assists and five rebounds for the Wizards.

Suns 108, Heat 80

Steve Nash scored 22 points, Amare Stoudemire added 20 and Phoenix won its fifth straight in beating Miami, which was without five players, plus coach Pat Riley, in the opener of a six-game road trip.

The Heat lost their fifth straight, the last four without All-Star Dwyane Wade, sidelined with a sprained right wrist.

Nets 91, Bulls 86

Vince Carter and Jason Kidd combined to score 10 straight points down the stretch, and host New Jersey rallied from an 18-0 deficit to beat Chicago for the 10th straight time at home.

Timberwolves 104, 76ers 102, OT

Kevin Garnett hit a 15-footer with Samuel Dalembert's hand in his face as the buzzer sounded in overtime to lift host Minnesota to its third consecutive win.

Garnett finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Trenton Hassell tied a career high with 22 points.

Raptors 105, Hawks 92

Chris Bosh scored 21 points in helping Toronto send visiting Atlanta to its eighth straight loss.

Magic 106, Bobcats 74

Dwight Howard had 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, and Orlando held visiting Charlotte to a season-low 29 percent shooting in its third straight victory.

Celtics 128, Grizzlies 119

At Memphis, Tenn., Wally Szczerbiak scored 26 points and Tony Allen added 20 to lead seven players in double figures for Boston, which won for only the second time in nine games.

Knicks 111, SuperSonics 93

Eddy Curry made all nine of his shots and had 27 points, Stephon Marbury scored 28 and New York never trailed in winning the final game of its West Coast road swing. Jamal Crawford added 22 points, helping the Knicks finish 2-3 on the trip.