T-Wolves ruin Hollins’ debut
Lionel Hollins lost his debut as interim coach of the Grizzlies, with Kevin Garnett getting 26 points and 15 rebounds and Latrell Sprewell adding 22 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves over Memphis 115-90 Friday night in Minneapolis.
Mike Miller scored 19 points for Memphis, which was playing its first game following the sudden resignation of coach Hubie Brown.
Brown said at a press conference that the grind of the NBA finally got to him and that he neither the fervor for the job nor the good health needed to remain the coach.
He described his health issue as non-catastrophic.
Timberwolves center Michael Olowokandi was suspended by the team for a second game Friday night, one day after police used a stun gun to subdue him when he refused to leave a club. Olowokandi will rejoin the team for Sunday’s game against Sacramento.
Cavaliers 98, Celtics 96: At Boston, Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 26 points, including the game-winning jumper on an assist from LeBron James with 19 seconds left, as Cleveland defeated Boston.
Magic 117, Hawks 99: At Atlanta, Steve Francis scored 29 points and No. 1 draft pick Dwight Howard added a career-high 24 in his homecoming, and Orlando defeated Atlanta.
76ers 116, Wizards 114 (OT): At Philadelphia, Allen Iverson stole an inbound pass, drove down the court, made a layup at the buzzer and Philadephia beat Washington. Iverson finished with 28 points and 13 assists.
Mavericks 92, Trail Blazers 83: At Dallas, Marquis Daniels had a block, a steal and three straight assists in a just over a 2-minute span in the fourth quarter, helping Dallas end a three-game losing streak by defeating Portland.
Pacers 82, Bobcats 77: At Indianapolis, Fred Jones scored eight of his 23 points in the final 2:30 to rally Indiana from a six-point deficit to a win over Charlotte.
Pistons 78, Heat 77: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Detroit’s Richard Hamilton caught an inbounds pass under the basket and banked in a short shot with 1.3 seconds left, giving Miami its first loss in nine games against Eastern Conference opponents.
Spurs 89, Nuggets 75: At Denver, Tim Duncan had 23 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks to help San Antonio snap Denver’s four-game winning streak.
Jazz 90, Rockets 80: At Salt Lake City, Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Memhet Okur shot 8 for 8 in scoring a season-high 20 points as Utah topped Houston.
Suns 95, Hornets 86: At Phoenix, Shawn Marion had a season-high 33 points and 15 rebounds, leading Phoenix on a fourth-quarter comeback over New Orleans.
Clippers 98, Warriors 87: At Oakland, Calif., Bobby Simmons scored 17 points and had a career-high 12 rebounds to help Los Angeles to its second win in as many days, a decision over Golden State.
Kings 109, Lakers 106: At Los Angeles, Peja Stojakovic scored 26 points and made four consecutive free throws in the closing seconds in Sacramento’s seventh straight win, a defeat of Los Angeles
Off the court
New York Knicks’ Allan Houston took what he called “a huge step” toward his comeback, participating in a half-court scrimmage and setting next weekend as the possible date of his return from prolonged knee problems. … Washington Wizards coach Eddie Jordan was hospitalized with a blood clot in his left leg and will miss the next two games.