Nets' Harris thumps Mavs

Point guard scores 41 points against his former team, ruins Kidd's return to N.J

Devin Harris dominated the team that traded him, scoring 41 points and helping the Nets ruin Jason Kidd's return to New Jersey with a 121-97 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Harris added 13 assists in thoroughly outplaying Kidd, who spent 6 1/2 years in New Jersey before the Nets dealt him to Dallas last February for a package highlighted by Harris, who had his second 40-point game during a breakout season.

He was removed for good after his dazzling performance with 2:11 remaining, with fans chanting "Thank you Cuban!" to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban -- who signed off on a trade many think the Nets got the better of.

Vince Carter added 34 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Nets, who improved to just 5-8 at home. Yi Jianlian had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Kidd finished with 17 points and seven assists, but neither he nor his teammates could deal with the quickness of Harris, who recorded his eighth 30-point game, all this season.

Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and Jason Terry added 23 for the Mavs.

Kidd was introduced first and was treated to a long ovation, though not particularly loud because the building was mostly empty on a night when a snowstorm made travel difficult. He waved a couple of times to the crowd but appeared uncomfortable by the long delay before the next starter was announced, motioning with his hand to get things moving.

ALSO FRIDAY

76ERS 109, WIZARDS 103: Even without Elton Brand, visiting Philadelphia was able to avoid becoming one of the unfortunate few to lose a game to Washington.

Lou Williams, coming off the bench to score a career high for the second straight game, had 26 points. Thaddeus Young, starting in place of Brand in a smaller 76ers lineup, and Andre Iguodala added 18 points apiece, and rookie Marreese Speights had a career-high 17 for the 76ers, who improved to 3-0 under interim coach Tony DiLeo.

Williams and Speights helped compensate for the 15.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per game the 76ers had been getting from Brand, who is out for a month after dislocating his shoulder Wednesday night against Milwaukee. Brand's presence on the boards was missed as Philadelphia was outrebounded 43-34, but no obstacle is too big to overcome when facing a Wizards team that is now 4-20 and has its third five-game losing streak of the season.

CELTICS 126, BULLS 108: Make it 17 in a row for the 17-time NBA champions.

Ray Allen scored 27 points, Kendrick Perkins scored a career-high 25 on 12-for-15 shooting and host Boston earned its 17th straight, beating Chicago.

HAWKS 115, WARRIORS 99: Flip Murray scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help host Atlanta beat Golden State.

The Warriors fell to 3-13 on the road with their fifth straight loss overall, but they held slim leads at halftime and after three quarters. The Hawks pulled away with a 13-2 run early in the fourth.

BUCKS 105, KNICKS 81: Michael Redd scored 21 points to lead visiting Milwaukee to its third win this season over New York.

Nate Robinson, inserted into the Knicks' lineup to replace Al Harrington after he got caught in traffic, had 21 points. Harrington arrived midway through the first quarter and finished with 16 points.

CLIPPERS 117, PACERS 109 (2OT): Zach Randolph had 34 points and 16 rebounds to help visiting Los Angeles beat Indiana.

Indiana tipped off missing four of its usual starters. Danny Granger, Troy Murphy and Marquis Daniels were in the hospital with viral infections, and T.J. Ford didn't start because of a sore left groin.

BOBCATS 112, GRIZZLIES 83: Boris Diaw had a season-high 26 points and 10 rebounds, helping visiting Charlotte control the interior on the way to an easy victory.

Emeka Okafor added 25 points and Gerald Wallace finished with 22 points, connecting on 9 of 11 shots for Charlotte, which set a franchise record by making 66 percent of its shots.

THUNDER 91, RAPTORS 83: Kevin Durant scored 24 points, rookie Russell Westbrook added 19 and host Oklahoma City snapped an 11-game home losing streak and won for the third time this season.

LATE THURSDAY

TRAIL BLAZERS 124, SUNS 119: Brandon Roy scored a career-high 52 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:01 left, in Portland's comeback victory.