Warriors Stun Miami; Richardson Scores Big

Even the Warriors were a bit shocked by their victory in Miami. As for Jason Richardson's performance, nobody seemed too surprised. <br/><br/>``He has been playing the game at a high level lately,

Saturday, March 11th 2006, 10:42 am

By: News On 6

Even the Warriors were a bit shocked by their victory in Miami. As for Jason Richardson's performance, nobody seemed too surprised.

``He has been playing the game at a high level lately, playing like an All-Star,'' Heat star Dwyane Wade said.

Richardson scored a career-high 44 points to win a shootout with Wade and spark a 111-106 victory Friday night, snapping Miami's 10-game winning streak.

Richardson is averaging 37.3 points in his past four games and has scored at least 25 points in seven consecutive games, a career best.

``The guy was absolutely on a torrid pace,'' Heat coach Pat Riley said. ``We knew that, but we didn't come out and jump on him and shut him down. As a matter of fact, we played him rather passively.''

The last-place Warriors snapped a four-game losing streak and won on the road for the first time in seven tries since the All-Star break. They won for the first time in their past 11 games in Miami.

``We needed this win very badly,'' coach Mike Montgomery said. ``It was probably a little surprising that it came in Miami as compared to some other places.''

In other games, it was: Denver 108, Toronto 97; Orlando 102, Cleveland 73; Milwaukee 92, Boston 86; Indiana 92, New Orleans 90; the Los Angeles Clippers 107, Chicago 96; the Los Angeles Lakers 100, San Antonio 92; Sacramento 105, Memphis 93; and Seattle 107, Minnesota 96.

Wade scored a season-high 42 points, making it the first time in the Heat's 18-year history that a player for both teams scored at least 40.

``I thought it was going to be a contest to see which one of us would score 50,'' Richardson said. ``He's at the level where I want to be. You want to bring your `A' game against him, because you know he's going to bring it against you.''

Richardson shot 17-for-26, including 6-for-7 from 3-point range, and topped 40 points for the second time in three games.

``It felt like every shot I put up was going to go in,'' Richardson said.

Lakers 100, Spurs 92

At San Antonio, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, and Los Angeles held Tim Duncan to 12.

San Antonio dropped a half-game behind Dallas for the lead in the Southwest Division and the best record in the Western Conference. The Spurs (48-14) have lost two of their last three games after winning seven straight.

Kings 105, Grizzlies 93

At Sacramento, Calif., Ron Artest scored 19 of his season-high 30 points in a gritty fourth-quarter performance, and the surging Kings got back to .500 for the first time since late November.

Pau Gasol had 26 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Grizzlies, who finished a four-game West Coast trip with their second loss in six games.

Nuggets 108, Raptors 97

At Toronto, Andre Miller scored 23 points, and Denver overcame the loss of Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony didn't return after leaving the game in the third quarter with a strained left hamstring.

Magic 102, Cavaliers 73

At Orlando, Fla., Carlos Arroyo had 17 points and seven assists, leading a strong effort by the Magic's reserves.

Tony Battie was the only Orlando starter in double figures with 13 points and 13 rebounds, but four reserves _ Arroyo, Darko Milicic (11 points), Keyon Dooling (13) and little-used Bo Outlaw (12) hit the mark.

Bucks 92, Celtics 86

At Boston, Michael Redd scored 26 points and Milwaukee snapped a three-game losing streak.

Paul Pierce scored 24 points and added eight assists for the Celtics. It was only the second time in the last 15 games he failed to reach 30 points.

Pacers 92, Hornets 90

At Oklahoma City, Peja Stojakovic scored 26 points and hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:39 to play as Indiana handed New Orleans its fifth straight loss.

The Hornets had a chance to win, but David West missed a 3-pointer. A make would have given West his fourth winning shot in the final 2 seconds of a game this season.

Clippers 107, Bulls 96

At Chicago, Sam Cassell scored 32 points, Elton Brand had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Los Angeles snapped a five-game road losing streak.

Kirk Hinrich led Chicago with 21 points and Luol Deng scored 17 points and had a career-high 18 rebounds.

SuperSonics 107, Timberwolves 96

At Seattle, Ray Allen scored 38 points, his best performance in more than a month, and Earl Watson had 12 points and 10 assists in his best game since being acquired from Denver at the trade deadline.

Mark Blount scored 23 points and shot 10-of-12. Kevin Garnett added 21 points and 10 rebounds, but Minnesota made only one field goal in the last 6 minutes.