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Eastern conference NBA team reports, including games of Jan. 9, exclusively on InsideHoops.com, updated weekly.

ATLANTA HAWKS: The Hawks have now lost six in a row since beating Dallas on December 22 but last week lost twice by three points. So are they making any progress? Not really, but rookie Josh Smith is. Smith scored a career-high 16 points in Friday's 100-97 loss and 12 came on dunks. In 13 starts, Smith has reached double-figures eight times, including three of the last four games. ... Veteran guard Tony Delk will be out two to four weeks after being placed on the injured list with a left hand injury. In 22 games since coming off the IL the first time, he had been averaging 11.4 points. But he exited Wednesday's loss in Cleveland after six minutes and was diagnosed with a contusion near his first knuckle. One player who may get more time is Boris Diaw. Diaw has frustrated the Hawks coaching staff due to his tendencies to pass up shots. Before playing eight scoreless minutes Friday, Diaw had played just six minutes since being removed from the starting lineup following a December 18 loss in Dallas. ... "He was given an opportunity," coach Mike Woodson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He has to work hard in practice and be tougher. He puts the team in a bad position because he won't take shots, and he's got to play harder." ... Wednesday's 101-85 loss in Cleveland saw the Hawks tie a team record with eight points in the fourth quarter. Spanning 8:16, the Hawks missed 12 straight shots and two foul shots and tied the team mark for the third time and second occasion in 10 months causing much frustration to Woodson, who labeled his team's defense as a "joke."

BOSTON CELTICS: For the first time this season the Celtics played five games in a week but after winning two at home vs. New Orleans and Golden State, they allowed over 100 points in losses to Detroit and Chicago on back-to-back nights. ... After missing his first game in nearly four years, point guard Gary Payton returned Wednesday and went 33 minutes, totaling 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and five assists. When he wasn't playing, he was spending some of his time on the exercise bike. On Wednesday, Paul Pierce passed former friend and current Hawk Antoine Walker on the team's all-time scoring list into 12th place and now has 11,010 points, putting him 1,184 behind colorful Celtics analyst Tommy Heinsohn. ... In summing up Sunday's loss at Detroit during Thursday's practice coach Doc Rivers told the Boston Globe, the Pistons should have scored 190 points. A day later, the Celtics were 80 points shy of that mark as they were handed a 110-104 loss to Detroit, ending their five-game winning streak at the FleetCenter. In a strange game, the Celtics shot 59 percent but were outrebounded 40-29, including a whopping 16-6 on the offensive side. "I don't know if I've ever been in a game, as a coach or a player, where we shot 59 percent and didn't win the game," Rivers told the Globe. "That's really hard to do." The next night saw Rivers lose patience with the lack of defense by his starters in a 102-91 loss at Chicago, a game that saw them give up 100 points for 13th time in 15 games. As a result, Rivers had the likes of Ricky Davis, Marcus Banks and Walter McCarty and rookies Tony Allen and Al Jefferson play most of the minutes in the fourth quarter. "They didn't deserve to be in. You've got to play defense," Rivers told the Globe. "If you don't defend, you don't play on this team anymore." According to the Globe, Pierce was highly vocal and less than thrilled with the actions. "I don't know what we've got to do," he vented. "Maybe sit me the whole fourth quarter because I'm not playing no defense. We've just got to outscore everybody or sit me down. I don't know." ... Allen, who is a Chicago native, played 17 minutes, finishing with 14 points and Rivers intends of increasing the 6-4 shooting guard's minutes.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS: Although the Bobcats enter this week with an 8-22 record, they have had some solid wins. Six of their victories have come against teams at or above .500 and the last one, Wednesday's 102-84 victory over the Timberwolves was probably their most impressive to date. Locked in a tight game, the Bobcats outscored Minnesota, 22-4 over the final 4:04 and held the Wolves to 6-of-20 shooting in the final 12 minutes. Forward Gerald Wallace scored 21 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, collected five steals and was the difference-maker with a block on Wally Szczerbiak and a steal on Eddie Griffin. Wallace scored 11 of those points in the final period and got the superstar treatment from his teammates. ... ``Makeup! He needs new makeup!," point guard Brevin Knight yelled as reporters entered the locker room. ... The jubilation, however lasted one game as the Bobcats were handed a 111-91 loss in Orlando on Friday, extending their road losing streak to four games. Wallace struggled in that contest, scoring six points on 3-on-7 shooting as he finished under 10 points for the third time in four games as the Bobcats trailed by 24 seven minutes into the third quarter. ... "They shot like 85 percent from the 3 and 62 percent from the field (in the first half.)," rookie forward Emeka Okafor told the Charlotte Observer. "Those are some ridiculous numbers right there!" Had the game been closer, Okafor would have played the fourth and collected his second straight double-double but he finished with 15 points and six rebounds - his second-lowest total on the glass. ... In two games as the starting shooting guard, Kareem Rush has shot 42.8 percent (9-of-21) and scored 26 points. He has reached double figures in five straight games after totaling eight in the 10 days following his 23-point output vs. the Nets on December 21. ... veteran guard Steve Smith was a DNP-CD for four straight games before being placed on the injured list Thursday with tendinitis in his right knee. The move paved the way for center Jamal Sampson to return. ... According to the Observer, coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff will be spending the All-Star weekend scouting draft prospects in college games.

CHICAGO BULLS: The Bulls enter this week just 1 1/2 games behind the 76ers for the final playoff spot in the East. Their current three-game winning streak puts them 9-3 in their last 12 games. ... Two months ago, center Eddy Curry was rumored to being heading out of Chicago but he has reached double figures in 15 straight games and may be extending his stay although extensions can't be discussed with players until the offseason. These days, one assistant coach is calling him Ed Curry and according to the Chicago Tribune, he doesn't deal closely with Darren White, his agent who made the trade request public. It's been crazy," Curry told the Tribune. "It was rough at the beginning. Everybody tended to say, 'Here we go again. Eddy's going to be bad this year. The Bulls are going to be bad this year.' But I weathered the storm, and things are looking up.I don't think management disliked me before. I just think they didn't like some of the things I did or the way I handled myself in certain situations. But I definitely get the feeling that things are better. Everything is a lot lighter around here. Everyone's attitude is up." ... The Bulls have kicked off their five-game homestand - all against teams .500 or worse - with two varied wins. On Friday in a rematch of the 1997 and 1998 finals, they shot 41 percent and turned the ball 19 times en route to an 84-78 victory over the Jazz. "That was an ugly win," point guard Kirk Hinrich told the Tribune after the Bulls opened the game just 3-of-18 from the floor in a 12-point first quarter. ... Following Saturday's 102-91 win over the Celtics, coach Scott Skiles declared the "p word" would not be uttered by him anytime soon. "Especially with a young team, it could be trouble," Skiles told the Tribune about avoiding playoff references. "What if we drop three in a row? Then the watch starts: 'We're three out. We're four out.' I felt the Bulls went down that road (in summer 2003) and I don't know that it was a wise road." ... With forward Antonio Davis out with a hip pointer - the first time an injury caused a Bull to be sidelined - Skiles starter Othella Harrington, who scored 19 points. ... Since their 0-9 start, the Bulls scoring defense has gone from 29th to fifth at 92.4, a 10-point drop. ... Over their last 10 games, the Bulls have held foes to 38.8 percent from the floor.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: With a challenging six-game road trip through the Western Conference starting Thursday, the Cavaliers have won three in a row and six of eight while playing all but one of those games against opponents above .500. ... The latest victory was Saturday's 104-79 romp over the Knicks on national television. In the days leading up the game, point guard Jeff McInnis weighed in on Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury's proclamation of being the best at his position in the league. "I've been playing Steph since college," he told the Akron Beacon-Journal. "Every time I make a list he's at the top. You've got to be arrogant and cocky - if you don't think like that then you've already lost the game." ... McInnis scored 13 and held Marbury to just seven as the Cavs made a statement in front of a sellout crowd that included prospective new owner Dan Gilbert. While fans in New York were looking for other things to watch, the Cavs put on an absolute clinic, scoring 38 points in the second quarter and shooting 74 percent in the first half. ... Wearing a mask has done little to slow forward LeBron James. James is shooting 59.5 percent (28-of-47) in the three games with the mask. He made his first seven shots Saturday and finished with 22 points. The nature of the rout allowed the already solid bench to get significant time, including rookie Anderson Varejao, whose 11 rebounds give him 33 over his last three games. "I don't know what he's been drinking or eating," James told the Beacon-Journal. "I thought I had the most energy on the team but he's surpassed me." ... Guard Lucious Harris also scored a season-high 16 points and spanning his last games, Cleveland has outscored opponents by 62 when he's on the court. ... Most of the damage inflicted on the Knicks was done by Harris, Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic, Robert Traylor and Eric Snow, who combined for 32 points on 16-of-29 shooting. "This was by far [the best performance from the bench this season] and that's been coming," coach Paul Silas told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. "They're learning each other and playing with each other in practice and having that kind of effect against the starters. So it's slowly but surely all coming together." ... Rookie swingman Luke Jackson has played just 10 games this season and is considering surgery for a bulging disk in his back. ... Before Saturday's rout, the Cavs had wins over the Bobcats and Hawks after starting slowly only to allow a combined 31 percent from the floor in the second half. ... The Cavs have scored 100 points or more in 11 of 16 home games this season, giving fans free Chulupas from Taco Bell just one fewer occasion than last season.

DETROIT PISTONS: The Pistons have won three of four games but coach Larry Brown still is searching for the consistent work ethic. The inconsistency has caused the Pistons to be trailing at the end of the first quarter or at halftime in 21 of 32 games. One of those nights was Thursday's 101-79 defeat at home to the Memphis Grizzlies. They shot 31.3 percent and were led by Richard Hamiliton, who scored 14 points on 0-of-10 shooting, scoring all his points at the foul line. Hamilton became the first player to lead a team in points with hitting a field goal. "We played like a bunch of strangers on both ends," Brown told the Detroit Free Press. "When you shoot bad and turn the ball over, you know you're going to have a harder time guarding, that's for sure. And we got outcoached. I didn't coach very well." ... The Pistons, however rebounded with Friday's 110-104 in Boston, extending their road winning streak to five. Hamilton bounced back with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting. ... The fallout from the November 19 brawl vs. the Pacers continued Friday when the Detroit News obtained a copy of the 871-page police report. In the report, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle blamed lax security at the Palace and Pistons coaches for the incident. Also in the report was center Ben Wallace, who helped police identify his brother as one of the fans involved in the incident. ... Although they released Detroit native Derrick Coleman, the Pistons are feeling badly about the move and are trying to get him another team. "It's just real hard for me to look him in the eye," Brown told the Detroit News. "He's meant so much to me. Everybody on this team liked him. There was no opportunity for him here and I feel terrible about that." Coleman played in just 17 games this season and the 37-year-old was nicknamed "The Mayor" by his teammates. He will cost the Pistons $6.5 million over the next two years. "He was really helpful for us and the coaching staff, giving us advice on stuff," Hamilton told the News. "He's going to be hard to replace. I miss the Mayor, man. I hope he gets picked up by somebody good or does whatever he wants now."

INDIANA PACERS: Things were looking up as the Pacers won four of five games following center Jermaine O'Neal's return. But during their four-game winning streak, they beat the Hornets, Bobcats, Nets and Bucks. During their three-game losing streak that has featured double-digit losses at San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix, the Pacers have been outscored, 356-288. Over their last two first halves, the Pacers have allowed 77 and 65 points respectively on 58.3 percent and 74.3 percent. "They were like a deer in the night when it sees a car light," O'Neal told the Indianapolis Star. "I've never in my nine years (in the NBA) seen a team as quick as them." ... O'Neal scored more than 30 points in four consecutive games but was held to 16 on 5-of-16 shooting. Following the game, X-Rays revealed O'Neal has a fractured nose but he is expected to continue playing and may wear a protective mask. ... O'Neal scored a career-high 55 points Tuesday vs. the Bucks and had ample opportunity to surpass franchise records held by Reggie Miller and George McGinnis. Miller set the NBA franchise record with 57 in 1992 at Charlotte while McGinnis set the ABA franchise mark in 1972. But with the game in hand, O'Neal sat down with 1:44 remaining. O'Neal's career game came on a day in which he announced he would dontate a $1,000 for every point he scores to aid South Asian tsunami victims. He intially announced it would be from Thursday's game in San Antonio but instead elected for the $55,000 based on Tuesday's production. During their three-game losing streak, the Pacers have led just 44 seconds and have allowed an average of 118.7 points. ... Before Saturday, the Pacers had not allowed 120 points since February 5, 2002 in a 141-140 double-overtime loss to Dallas. ... Miller needs just five assists to become the Pacers all-time assists leader. ... Forward Jonathan Bender could return this week from a seven-week stint on the injured list with an injured knee.

MIAMI HEAT: If the Heat and Sonics find their way to the NBA finals, then the Shaquille O'Neal and Danny Fortson war of words could continue. O'Neal and Forston traded verbal jabs in the press following last Monday's game in Miami and continued to do so before Sunday's game in Seattle. Fortson responded to O'Neal allegations that he and the Sonics are floppers with this speech, which sounded like a wrestling promo: "Write this down: If he can't get two or three feet under the basket, he is ineffective. My goal is to keep him out of the paint. That is easier said than done. But I am going to try to keep him out of the paint and see how good he is. I challenge him to take a jump hook, take a couple jump shots. I bet you he can't do that. Of course he is going to complain about flopping because he has to be inside to score buckets. If he doesn't get inside to score buckets, he might as well give the ball to Dwyane Wade and move." As for O'Neal, he quickly countered with these sentiments on Saturday to the Miami Herald: "Tell him to average more than eight points. That (expletive) knows what he was doing. I don't have to shoot from more than two feet. I'm top 50. I've got 23,000 points from where I shoot. You saw the game. You saw what he did. Don't [flop] and then act like you can handle the Diesel". As for the actual matchup, O'Neal scored 28 points and collected 11 rebounds in Sunday's 108-98 loss but went scoreless in the final 7:38. ... The loss in Seattle was Miami's third double-digit defeat of the season and stopped an eight-game road winning streak and was the Heat's 15th loss in 17 all-time visits to Seattle. ... Dwyane Wade scored 16 points, ending his team record-tying streak of 12 straight games with 20 points. He had tied the mark set by center Alonzo Mourning during the 1999-2000 season. The Heat have not been outshot in their last 22 games but allowed the Sonics to match their shooting percentage at 48.1 percent (38-of-79). ... In between losses to Seattle, the Heat beat the Knicks on Wednesday and opened their five-game road trip with Friday's win in Portland. Wednesday's 104-92 win marked reserve guard Shandon Anderson's first game against the Knicks since his November buyout and he responded with 12 points.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS: The Bucks have equaled a season high with three straight wins and have won six of their last nine games since falling to 6-16 on December 22. Saturday's 89-86 victory over the Jazz also gave them four straight home wins and marked their second sweep of a back-to-back set. The Bucks rallied from 10 points down and got a game-winning layup from Mike James, who has reached double digits in seven of his last 10 games. ... The night before in Toronto, the Bucks blew a four-point lead in the final 15 seconds of regulation and pulled out a 107-105 overtime win. Guard Michael Redd shot just 5-of-20 Friday but rebounded with 26 points Saturday night. Redd's poor production was compensated by guard Maurice Williams, who scored a career-high 22 points, two nights after dealing with the flu. ... On Wednesday, the Bucks used an 14-0 run and big fourth quarter to rout the Nets, 97-74, outscoring them 23-11. Before the game, reserve forward Toni Kukoc was activated from the injured list and scored two points in 24 minutes after missing 23 games with a strained right hip. "He actually is in pretty good shape,” coach Terry Porter told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "He didn’t look like he was tired at all. We really tried to limit it to under 25 (minutes) going in. We really didn’t want to try to push it at all, and see how he responds from there." After playing 24 minutes, Kukoc played 15 and 18 minutes in his next two games. In addition to activating Kukoc, the Bucks also activated center Daniel Santiago and released guards Kendall Gill and Eddie House. ... By allowing Jermaine O'Neal to score 55 points Tuesday in Indiana, the Bucks have allowed the two-highest point totals in the league this season. They gave up 54 points to Allen Iverson on December 18 and this one wowed reserve guard Erick Strickland, who played with O'Neal two years ago. "I’ve seen him in some zones for some stretches, but not like that," he told the Journal-Sentinel. "That was a 48-minute . . . you can’t even speak on it. It was 48 minutes of just domination. It was just the variety of the way he did it. He did it off the dribble, he did it on the free-throw line, he did it from 15 feet. He did it all ways." ... Guard T.J. Ford will be in Los Angeles Monday to meet with Robert Watkins, who performed spinal surgery on him last summer. The meeting is expected to determine if Ford has a chance to return this season but that decision could come later this week.

NEW JERSEY NETS: The Nets are 3-5 with Vince Carter in the lineup and last week put on a pair of inept fourth quarter displays in blowout losses at Washington and Milwaukee. In Tuesday's 112-88 loss at Washington, which came in ranked 23rd in 3-point percentage they allowed 14 3-pointers and didn't make a shot in the final 5:36. One night later in an 97-74 loss, the Nets were very outspoken about their lack of defense, especially Richard Jefferson and Jabari Smith. "We're not very tough right now, from the top on down," the Nets forward told the Newark Star-Ledger "From the top on down, we're playing bad basketball. It's a difference from struggling and not hitting shots and another team being hot. We're just not playing good basketball on either side of the floor." Added Smith, who scored a career-high 19 points. "We ain't got no damn defense," he told the Star-Ledger. "I don't know what to say about that." And if defense wasn't bad enough, the Nets had to endure a five-hour wait while their plane was being de-iced in snowy weather. That delay allowed coach Lawrence Frank to get some quality tape watching done and it resulted in Friday's 82-72 win over the Warriors, who produced the second-fewest points by a Nets opponent this season. Jefferson scored 20 points as he played with flu-like symptons but labeled the game "hard". The night before Friday's game Vince Carter admitted to TNT that he sometimes did not play hard during his final days with the Raptors. ... After winning Friday, the Nets returned to their losing ways, wasting a triple-double by point guard Jason Kidd and falling in Orlando, 104-101. Kidd notched his 60th career triple-double, moving past Larry Bird into fourth place on the all-time list but remained concerned following the loss which dropped the Nets to 12-21. "We have to win some on the road," he told the Star-Ledger. "This could get out of hand in a hurry. It could be a wildfire if we don't stop it now. It could turn very ugly."

NEW YORK KNICKS: The NBA's biggest payroll enjoyed another eventful week that featured three losses in four games. The week started with Tuesday's 105-98 loss to the Kings that saw a comeback fall short. Before the game, team president Isiah Thomas addressed reporters and mentioned he was satisfied with the progress and called point guard Stephon Marbury's claim of being the best point guard in the NBA "awesome" ... The loss to Sacramento was followed by an expected loss in Miami and an awful performance in a 109-74 loss at Cleveland on Saturday. That loss prompted a very heated player-only team meeting called by Vin Baker. "The effort was terrible, I'm very shocked," Marbury told the New York Post. "The way we played, I'm concerned. We lose like we lost today on national TV, there's no explanation for that. We played harder in practice than how we played. We acted like we didn't want to play." ... In addition to pushing their losing streak to four games, the Knicks placed swingman Penny Hardaway on the injured list with a hamstring injury and he spent the week refuting reports that he had requested a trade. ... The Knicks stopped their season-high losing streak at four games with Sunday's 113-105 victory over the Trail Blazers. They shot a season-high 58.6 percent and had just nine available bodies as Mike Sweetney sat out a third straight game with an ankle injury and Tim Thomas missed his first game with a bruised left ankle. Thomas' starting spot went to Jerome Williams, who tied a season high with 15 points. ... Guard Allan Houston scored a season-best 25 points and rookie Trevor Ariza tied a season-best with 14 points. Baker summed his words in Saturday's meeting by telling the Post: "Are we going to be three games above .500 or we going to be .500 or one game below. We've got to define ourselves individually and step up. We play in New York and there's expectations. Their payroll isn't bigger than ours. It boils down to what are we doing to be who we are, be who Isiah [Thomas] brought us here to be." ... Speaking of meetings, Thomas again met with the media Sunday and basically forgave his team for Saturday's debacle. "I'm very realistic about where we are and what type of team we have," he told the New York Times. "We're not fooling ourselves; we don't think that we're a 60-win team."

ORLANDO MAGIC: A week after falling to 15-14, Orlando brings a three-game winning streak into its four-game road trip, which starts Monday in Boston. The Magic swept a three-game homestand by beating Seattle, Charlotte and New Jersey. The last two wins featured solid games from members of the reserve unit. In Friday's 20-point win over Charlotte, Pat Garrity shot 6-of-10 and scored 16 points - his most since getting 21 November 12. In his previous six games, he had shot just 4-of-19. "The thing with Pat is we know he's a great shooter and it's just a matter of time," coach Johnny Davis told the Orlando Sentinel. "It was vintage Pat Garrity." ... On Saturday, Hedo Turkoglu scored 22 points, a night after getting 19 as part of a season-high 58 points from the bench. ... By playing in Friday's game, forward Grant Hill appeared in his 30th game, his most since joining the Magic in 2000. The most he had played was 29 games two seasons ago. "To tell you the truth, because I'm healthy for once, I'm not even thinking about that," Hill told the Sentinel. ... The 87 points allowed to the Sonics last Wednesday was just the sixth time all season, they gave up less than 90. According to Davis, he saw some things in Tuesday's practice in which they watched film and focused on defense that led to the end of the four-game losing streak. "It started [Tuesday] in our practice when we really focused in on not just the strategy involved but what happens if the worst thing happens and someone gets broken down and needs help," he told the Sentinel. ... Andrew DeClercq, who has been out all season with a right knee injury could make his season debut next week. He has been practicing at full speed for most of the last week.

PHILADELPHIA 76ers: After 13 days and nearly 9,000 miles, the Sixers finished their seven-game road trip 4-3. Each loss was by less than 10 points and Philadelphia's last seven defeats have fallen into that category. On Friday, the trip ended with an 89-84 loss at Minnesota where Allen Iverson missed his second game of the year with a sprained ankle and bruised collarbone. The Sixers nearly pulled out the win by getting 50 points from the bench as Corliss Williamson scored 21. ... Including the December 22 game at Indiana, Iverson had scored 31.1 point per game and shooting just over 44 percent. He battled flu-like symptons Wednesday but played 42 minutes and scored 21 points before the right ankle swelled up. "I don't know which one hurts worse," Iverson told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I was talking to my wife (Tawanna) and she kept asking me, what's wrong?' She knew I was frustrated about not being able to play. I'm right here at the gym, the last game on a long road trip and it's been successful. Not to be able to go war the last time is just tough." Iverson was replaced by Willie Green, who scored 13 points after being a DNP-CD in the previous two games. ... The trip was much more of a success than their winless five-game trip last month but some players felt it could have been better. We should've been 8-0 on this trip," center Marc Jackson told the Inquirer. "We're not happy. No one in this [locker] room is happy." ... Wednesday's win in Utah was just Philadelphia's second at the Delta Center and first with Iverson, who was injured in their 2000 victory there. Forward Kenny Thomas became just the seventh Sixer since 1996-97 to score 30 or more points and is shooting 51.8 percent (73-of-141) since returning to the starting lineup on December 4. The other players to score 30 points besides Iverson since 1996-97 are Jerry Stackhouse, Derrick Coleman, Clarence Weatherspoon, Keith Van Horn and Glenn Robinson. ... After getting three DNP-CDs, guard Aaron McKie played seven scoreless minutes Friday.

TORONTO RAPTORS: Although he has been an ex-Raptor for over three weeks, Vince Carter is a popular topic of discussion in Toronto. After the former franchise savior admitted to TNT that he did not play hard at times, guards Rafer Alston and Morris Peterson were a bit peaved based on their comments to the Toronto Sun. "When I heard about it, I was very disappointed," Alston said. "Is he a guy you can go to war with night in, night out? That's what a lot of people are going to be questioning. Added Peterson: "It caught me off-guard. You could tell he wasn't playing his best." ... The Raptors are 5-6 since dealing Carter to the Nets and have won six of their last seven home games after Sunday's rout of the Warriors. ... Forward Chris Bosh recorded his fourth straight double-double while Alston rebounded from an 0-of-12 showing in Friday's overtime loss to Milwaukee by scoring 10 of his 15 points during a 24-5 run in the third quarter. ... Bosh had a career-high 17 rebounds Sunday but when he scores at least 20 points, the Raptors are 7-0. ... Rookie Rafael Araujo scored a career-high 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting and is averaging 7.8 points in six games as a starter.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS: The Wizards have won four in a row and the last three have been impressive. They made a franchise-record 14 3-pointers Tuesday vs. the Nets, routed the Sonics on national television Thursday and edged the Wolves on Saturday night. Gilbert Arenas, who turned 23 Thursday, scored 40 points and combined with Larry Hughes and Antawn Jamison to score 91 points in Saturday's 117-114 win. The trio scored 28 of Washington's 30 fourth-quarter points and had their best showing in a regulation game. The win snapped the Wizards seven-game losing streak in the series and also avenged a 35-point loss at the Target Center on December 26, although coach Eddie Jordan downplayed that factor. "Our guys want every game," Jordan told the Washington Times. "They wanted this no more than they wanted Atlanta or Detroit. They want it every night, and this is the beautiful thing about our group." ... Etan Thomas, who has yet to play this season due to a strained abdomen has begun practicing and could soon return. ... Kwame Brown returned Thursday after missing four games with an ankle injury but played just five minutes and sat out again Saturday.