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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, February 26, 2009

Harris carries Nets to win

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

New Jersey's Devin Harris gets around Chicago's Kirk Hinrich. "Being more aggressive on offense is what I'm trying to do right now," he said.

BILL KOSTROUN | Associated Press

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Devin Harris is single-handedly putting the New Jersey Nets back in the playoff picture.

Harris scored 19 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter and carried the New Jersey Nets for the second straight game in a 111-99 victory over the Chicago Bulls last night.

"Now is the time," Harris said after the Nets (26-32) pulled into a tie with Chicago for the ninth-best record in the Eastern Conference, a game behind Milwaukee. "We really can't wait anymore. We can't be patient. I'd rather be aggressive than passive. Being more aggressive on offense is what I'm trying to do right now."

Harris' dazzling performance came just two days after he scored 39 points and hit a buzzer-beating half-court shot for a win over Philadelphia.

He might have been better against the Bulls. The All-Star guard hit 7 of 9 shots from the field in the final 12 minutes in helping hand Chicago only its fifth loss in 13 games.

"I wanted to be aggressive and try and control the game as much as possible," Harris said. "The last two times we played this team, they made all the big plays in the fourth quarter. We definitely wanted to change things up."

Reserve Bobby Simmons added 18 points and rookie Brook Lopez had 13. Vince Carter had 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Nets set a franchise record by hitting all 25 of their free throws. Their previous best was 23 of 23 in 1999, also against the Bulls.

Ben Gordon scored 17 points and John Salmons 15 for the Bulls.

CLIPPERS 93, CELTICS 91

LOS ANGELES — Zach Randolph scored 30 points, including the final three of the game, to lead Los Angeles over Boston. The win was only the Clippers' 15th of the season. The loss was the Celtics' 13th.

MAGIC 114, KNICKS 109

NEW YORK — Dwight Howard had 24 points and 21 rebounds in his 20th career 20-20 game and Hedo Turkoglu scored 33 points to lead Orlando over New York.

76ERS 106, WIZARDS 98

WASHINGTON — Andre Iguodala scored 22 points, including a flying dunk and a 3-point buzzer-beater during a third-quarter spurt, and had 11 assists and nine rebounds as Philadelphia snapped a four-game losing streak.

PACERS 104, GRIZZLIES 99

INDIANAPOLIS — T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack each scored 20 points, and Memphis' Rudy Gay missed a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left that would have tied the score as Indiana beat the Grizzlies.

JAZZ 120, TIMBERWOLVES 103

MINNEAPOLIS — Ronnie Brewer scored 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and Carlos Boozer added 12 points in his second game back from a knee injury as Utah beat Minnesota.

HORNETS 90, PISTONS 87

NEW ORLEANS — David West scored 30 points and grabbed two key offensive rebounds on New Orleans' final possession, helping the Hornets beat Detroit.

SPURS 99, BLAZERS 84

SAN ANTONIO — With Tim Duncan sidelined for the second straight game with a right leg injury, Tony Parker scored 39 points and the Spurs beat Portland for an 11th consecutive time in San Antonio.

MAVERICKS 116, BUCKS 96

DALLAS — Josh Howard scored 27 points and Jason Kidd added 19 as Dallas beat Milwaukee.

NUGGETS 110, HAWKS 109

DENVER — Chauncey Billups scored a season-best 33 points for Denver and Atlanta's Flip Murray had a short jumper bounce off the rim at the buzzer, allowing the Nuggets to beat the Hawks.

BOBCATS 98, KINGS 91

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gerald Wallace scored 27 points to help Charlotte win its first road game in nearly a month. Boris Diaw scored 23 points for Charlotte, which had dropped seven straight road games.

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