Road Teams Have Edge for a Night in NBA

So much for home-court advantage. The road teams had more success Tuesday night in the NBA, winning five of the nine games. Even some of the league's most futile teams away from home got in on the

Wednesday, November 29th 2006, 6:29 am

By: News On 6

So much for home-court advantage. The road teams had more success Tuesday night in the NBA, winning five of the nine games. Even some of the league's most futile teams away from home got in on the fun, with Memphis and Toronto both picking up their first road victories of the season.

The Grizzlies' 108-96 win over the Nuggets was the shocker of the night. Memphis had lost 17 in a row in Denver and was the only NBA team without a victory at the Pepsi Center.

Memphis hadn't won in Denver since Nov. 18, 1997, when the Nuggets played at McNichols Arena. The Grizzlies were also located in Vancouver back then.

``I think I was 5,'' Grizzlies forward Hakim Warrick said when asked his age the last time Memphis won in Denver. ``I'd heard about Denver beating us all the time when I got to town on Sunday. I'd heard enough of that talk.''

Among the other surprises, Charlotte won 96-92 at New Jersey, and Milwaukee got 45 points from Michael Redd in a 109-105 victory, beating the Lakers on the road for just the fourth time in 24 attempts since the start of the 1982-83 season. The Raptors snapped their seven-game road skid to open the season by beating the injury-weakened New Orleans Hornets 94-77.

``This is a big win for us on the road,'' Toronto coach Sam Mitchell said. ``Any time you can go on the road in this league and get a win is big.''

In other games, it was: Washington 96, Atlanta 95; Chicago 102, New York 85; Houston 82, Minnesota 75; Indiana 105, Portland 97; and Sacramento 93, the Los Angeles Clippers 80.

The only sure thing Tuesday was Sacramento's victory over the Clippers, who lost at Arco Arena for the 17th straight time since Nov. 7, 1997.

That's now tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the NBA after the Grizzlies ended their skid in Denver. Warrick scored 25 points and Memphis had 30 assists to overcome Carmelo Anthony's 37 points.

``We haven't had a whole lot of success in this town before,'' Memphis coach Mike Fratello said. ``Our team had a very good feeling about this one.''

Plenty of road teams did.

Raptors 94, Hornets 77

At Oklahoma City, Chris Bosh had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and got a big lift from Toronto's reserves.

Anthony Parker also had 19 points, No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani scored a career-high 16, Joey Graham added 14 and Jose Calderon tied his season best with 13.

Chris Paul had 16 points and 11 assists to lead New Orleans, which was without Peja Stojakovic and David West and lost its fourth straight.

Bucks 109, Lakers 105

Redd scored 18 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter, Mo Williams added 22, and Milwaukee snapped a streak of 10 consecutive losses to the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant scored 27 points for the Lakers, while Lamar Odom had 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Los Angeles fell to 8-2 at home.

Kings 93, Clippers 80

Ron Artest had 28 points and eight rebounds in Sacramento's 14th consecutive victory over the Clippers.

Mike Bibby had 19 points and 10 assists for the Kings, who won their third straight kept the Clippers winless on the road this season.

Shaun Livingston scored a career-high 20 points for the Clippers, whose 30.6 percent shooting was worst in the league this season. They have lost five in a row.

Bobcats 96, Nets 92

At East Rutherford, N.J., rookie Adam Morrison scored 22 points and Sean May had a career-high 20 as Charlotte sent New Jersey to its sixth straight loss.

Richard Jefferson led New Jersey with 27 points. Vince Carter had 25 and Nenad Krstic 20.

Led by May and Felton, the Bobcats' reserves outscored New Jersey's 36-7.

Pacers 105, Trail Blazers 97

At Portland, Ore., reserve Danny Granger scored 21 points and Jermaine O'Neal added 20 points and eight rebounds.

Zach Randolph had 30 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who lost for the eighth time in the last 10 games. Jarrett Jack added 21 points and six assists.

Rockets 82, Timberwolves 75

Yao Ming scored 25 points, Shane Battier hit a pair of key 3-pointers and added 17, and host Houston won despite an injury to Tracy McGrady.

The six-time All-Star bruised his left hip in a first-half collision and seemed affected the rest of the game, scoring only eight points on 4-of-14 shooting. He also had seven assists as the Rockets won their fourth straight.

Kevin Garnett had 25 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota, his league-leading 12th double-double.

Wizards 96, Hawks 95

Caron Butler's tiebreaking three-point play with 1:04 remaining helped host Washington end a four-game losing streak.

Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 33 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Bulls 102, Knicks 85

Ben Gordon scored 23 points, Ben Wallace kept his headband out of sight, and Chicago pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat visiting New York for the second time in four nights.

Former Bulls center Eddy Curry led New York with 24 points.