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Published: November 23, 2009 3:00 a.m.

NBA

Bobcats cruise past Pacers

Associated Press
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It was Stephen Jackson’s home debut with the Charlotte Bobcats and it marked Tyler Hansbrough’s first professional game in North Carolina.

Then the star turned out to be somebody the fans, including Tar Heels coach Roy Williams, couldn’t have expected: the old center who barely played last season.

Nazr Mohammed continued his surprising turnaround Sunday, scoring 18 points and controlling the inside as Charlotte snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 104-88 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

With Tyson Chandler sidelined for a second consecutive game with back spasms, Mohammed, 32, got the start. Seven months after saying he wanted to be elsewhere if he was going to ride the bench again, Mohammed hit 8 of 10 shots, grabbed five rebounds, blocked two shots and outplayed Pacers big man Roy Hibbert.

“This is my 12th year. I’m not going to be an All-Star. I’m not going to get any personal accolades,” Mohammed said. “I kind of see this is toward the end of my career, so winning is pretty much the only thing that’s going to satisfy me. All I have left is trying to be part of a winner.”

Dahntay Jones scored 19 points and Danny Granger had 18 for the Pacers, who fell behind big in the second quarter and never recovered.

“Their bigs probably shot 90 percent, 80 percent from the field,” Granger said. “We couldn’t stop their pick-and-roll, even though we knew it was coming.”

SUNS 117, PISTONS 91: Amare Stoudemire scored 21 points and Steve Nash added 20 as host Phoenix handed Detroit its fifth consecutive loss.

The Pistons finished a winless four-game road trip.

HEAT 102, HORNETS 101: Dwyane Wade had 31 points, and Udonis Haslem hit a jumper with 15.4 seconds remaining to lift host Miami.

MAGIC 104, RAPTORS 96: In Toronto, Vince Carter scored 24 points, Dwight Howard had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Orlando won its fifth straight game.

CELTICS 107, KNICKS 105, OT: Kevin Garnett made a jumper to beat the overtime buzzer, and give Boston a win in New York.

Paul Pierce scored a season-high 33 points for the Celtics.