Refs Irk Nets After Loss to Pistons

Wednesday, December 27th 2006, 6:20 am

By: News On 6

Chris Paul was carried off the floor by a New Orleans teammate. New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank had to be held back by an assistant coach before he left. Not the kind of departures the struggling Hornets or Nets had in mind.

At least Allen Iverson got the ending he wanted Tuesday night, celebrating his first win with Denver after finishing with 28 points and 13 assists in the Nuggets' 116-105 victory over Boston.

But it was more misery for New Orleans and New Jersey. The Hornets lost Paul to a sprained right ankle while falling 102-94 in Seattle, and the Nets lost their tempers after a 92-91 loss in Detroit.

And the losing for the Nets probably isn't over _ Jason Kidd could be out some money for agreeing with his angry coach that the officials cost them a chance to win by not calling a foul on Rasheed Wallace in the final seconds.

``We come to work, and we work extremely hard at this, only for the officials to screw us,'' Kidd said. ``We fought, but that doesn't mean anything when you have the officials take over the game like that. You go with the Three Blind Mice, and it's just sad that Tom (Washington) screwed up that game for us.''

In other games Tuesday night, it was: Indiana 81, Houston 76; Washington 116, Memphis 101; Milwaukee 114, San Antonio 107; Minnesota 100, Chicago 98; Dallas 97, Charlotte 84; Phoenix 110, Portland 87; Utah 102, the Los Angeles Clippers 92; and Golden State 116, Philadelphia 97.

The underachieving Nets have dropped three in a row and are without center Nenad Krstic for the rest of the season with a knee injury, but their woes don't compare to what the Hornets are dealing with.

Already without Peja Stojakovic (back surgery), Bobby Jackson (cracked left rib) and David West (right elbow), the Hornets lost Paul for at least two games when he sprained his right ankle in the first quarter. Without those players, New Orleans is missing 65 of the NBA-low 90 points it was averaging entering Tuesday.

``It's unbelievable,'' said sixth-year veteran Desmond Mason, now the team's lone double-digit scorer at 12.1 points per game. ``This is the first time I've ever had this (on my team).''

Paul turned the ankle while landing his foot onto the left foot of Seattle center Johan Petro in the open floor on a Hornets fast break. The reigning rookie of the year was carried directly into the nearby visitors' locker room by teammate Tyson Chandler. X-rays were negative, but coach Byron Scott said Paul would probably miss two to four games.

``There's never a best-case scenario with C.P. being out,'' Scott said. ``Him missing a (single) game is going to hurt us, obviously. ... We have to wait for a couple days and see how it is and just go from there.''

At Detroit, the Pistons won their fifth in a row. Chauncey Billups made two free throws with 7.2 seconds left, then Vince Carter missed a jumper after a collision that knocked Wallace to the court. Frank argued the call and had to be restrained by assistant coaches from going after the officials at the buzzer.

``It's obviously a foul,'' Frank said. ``But that's how the game works. They aren't going to change it. Never in the history of the game have they reversed a call.''

Nuggets 116, Celtics 105

Iverson had his second double-double since being acquired from Philadelphia on Dec. 19. Earl Boykins scored 28 points and Reggie Evans had 14 points and 14 boards for host Denver.

Nuggets coach George Karl got his 799th career win. He has a chance for No. 800 against a team he used to coach, the Seattle SuperSonics, on Thursday.

Bucks 114, Spurs 107

Michael Redd scored 36 points, and visiting Milwaukee rallied from a 13-point deficit to win its fifth straight and return to .500 (14-14) for the first time since it was 2-2 on Nov. 6.

Wizards 116, Grizzlies 101

Gilbert Arenas scored 31 points and host Washington used a big first half to win for the 11th time in 14 games.

The Wizards scored 45 points in the first quarter, a Verizon Center record for any quarter. They set another Verizon Center mark with 77 points in the first half.

Pacers 81, Rockets 76

Al Harrington had 23 points and 14 rebounds as Indianapolis spoiled Tracy McGrady's return to visiting Houston's lineup.

McGrady scored 19 points after missing seven games with back spasms. The Rockets were playing their first game since All-Star center Yao Ming was lost for at least six weeks with a fractured bone beneath his right knee.

Timberwolves 100, Bulls 98

Rookie Randy Foye made a runner with 1.8 seconds left, and host Minnesota blew a 25-point lead before beating the Bulls.

Foye finished with a career-high 25 points. Reserve Ben Gordon had 27 for the Bulls, who trailed 70-45 midway through the third quarter.

Mavericks 97, Bobcats 84

Josh Howard scored 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 23 to help host Dallas stretch its winning streak to seven games.

The Mavericks improved to 21-7, the best record in the league and a half-game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs (21-8) in the Southwest Division.

Suns 110, Trail Blazers 87

At Phoenix, Leandro Barbosa scored 20 points in a 6-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters, and the Suns beat the Trail Blazers for their 16th win in 17 tries.

Zach Randolph had 18 points and 14 rebounds for Portland, which has lost two straight after five consecutive victories.

Jazz 102, Clippers 92

Mehmet Okur scored 24 points, eight in the final 2 minutes. Carlos Boozer had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Deron Williams added 21 points in Utah's first game back home after going 3-2 on a five-game Eastern Conference road trip before Christmas.

Warriors 116, 76ers 97

Baron Davis had 21 points and 16 assists to lead Golden State to its fourth straight home victory. Matt Barnes, his former college roommate, tied a franchise record with seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points.

Rodney Carney scored a career-high 25 points for the 76ers, who have lost 11 of their last 12 road games.