ATLANTA, Nov 24: Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 50 points as the Atlanta Hawks rallied from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Detroit Pistons 106-99 Friday.
In five high-scoring seasons with the Vancouver Grizzlies, Abdur-Rahim has never scored more than 39 points but on this night reached 40 by the end of the third quarter and went on to the highest output of the NBA season so far.
He shot 21-of-30 from the field. It was the first time a Hawk scored 50 points since Dominique Wilkins had 52 in 1991.
Jason Terry was 3-of-3 from 3-point range, all in the fourth quarter, andfinished with 15 points.
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 16 of his 28 points in the first quarter and the Lakers cruised to their 10th straight home victory with 106-90 over the Golden State Warriors.
Bryant had as many points in the first quarter as the Warriors and made 11-for-14 shots before he was ejected after receiving his second technical foul in the final period.
Shaquille O’Neal got 20 points and 10 rebounds in just 25 minutes as the Lakers improved to 7-0 at home this season.
In Boston, reserve Keon Clark scored 12 of his season-high 19 points in the final quarter as the Toronto Raptors won 15 of the final 19 points en route to a 91-89 victory over the struggling Celtics.
Toronto superstar Vince Carter was held to 18 points on 6-of-21 shooting.
Boston scored just four points in the final 6:58 and shot 39 percent (32-of-86) en route to their third straight loss.
In Charlotte, Tracy McGrady made the Hornets pay for a zone defense as the Orlando Magic rolled to a 109-99 victory.
McGrady got 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting and added eight assists as Mike Miller and Pat Garrity made five 3-pointers apiece and scored 21 and 19 points.
The Hornets went to a 1-2-2 matchup zone rather than try to guard the 6-foot-8 (2.03 metres) McGrady with 6-foot-1 (1.85 metres) David Wesley or 6-3 (1.91m) Baron Davis. But they had to abandon the strategy late in the second quarter after McGrady kept setting up his team mates for 3-pointers.
In Miami, not even the return of center Alonzo Mourning could rejuvenate the Heat as the Dallas Mavericks’ 104-94 victory marked a seventh straight loss for Pat Riley’s team.
After missing three games with illness, Mourning had 12 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.
In Philadelphia, Matt Harpring scored 17 points and helped smother his former team as the 76ers rolled to their seventh straight victory, 79-68 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Allen Iverson scored 27 points for the Sixers. Dikembe Mutombo had 20 rebounds and five blocks.
In Memphis, Tony Delk scored a season-high 23 points and Penny Hardaway added 16 on their returns to Tennessee as the Phoenix Suns secured a 103-89 victory over the Grizzlies.
Friday’s results (home team in CAPS):
PHILADELPHIA 79 Cleveland 68
ATLANTA 106 Detroit 99
Toronto 91 BOSTON 89
Orlando 109 CHARLOTTE 99
Dallas 104 MIAMI 94
San Antonio 97 INDIANA 79
Phoenix 103 MEMPHIS 89
UTAH 106 LA Clippers 101
PORTLAND 97 Denver 90
SEATTLE 99 Houston 81
LA LAKERS 106 Golden State 90
—Reuters