NBA Scores From Dec. 31; Elton Brand, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, and Tracy McGrady lead their teams to wins.

Elton Brand scored 32 points and blocked 8 shots while Chris Kaman had 8 points and 13 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers (14-16) beat the New York Knicks (13-20) 90-80. The Clippers blocked 16 shots on the night and shot 50 percent from the field. The Knicks were led by Eddy Curry who had 15 points but New York shot just 34 percent on the night.

Tony Parker had 27 points and Tim Duncan had 17 points and 11 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs (23-8) beat the Atlanta Hawks (9-20) 95-81. The Spurs out-rebounded the Hawks 46-35 on the night and shot 46 percent from the field compared to 39 percent for Atlanta. Joe Johnson scored 23 points for the Hawks and Josh Childress had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Phoenix Suns (21-8) got 35 points from Steve Nash and 31 points from Amare Stoudemire to beat the Detroit Pistons (18-11) 108-101. Nash finished with 12 assists while Stoudemire grabbed 13 rebounds in the game. Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 31 points. Detroit struggled mightily from the three point line, shooting just 1-15 from that range.

Tracy McGrady scored 38 points and had 9 rebounds and Juwan Howard added 22 points and 7 rebounds as the Houston Rockets (19-12) held off a fourth quarter rally from the Memphis Grizzlies (7-25) to win 111-109. The Rockets got 11 rebounds from Dikembe Mutombo and 18 points from Luther Head. The Grizzlies shot 56 percent from beyond the three point line. Memphis was led by Mike Miller who scored 32 points on the night.

The Dallas Mavericks (24-7) used a fourth quarter burst to get by the Denver Nuggets (16-12) 89-85. Josh Howard scored 28 points and pulled down 17 rebounds and Jason Terry scored 21 points for the Mavs who were playing without Dirk Nowitzki. Allen Iverson had 28 points and 8 assists for Denver while Marcus Camby had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Denver managed to shoot just 1-10 from three-point land.

Kobe Bryant had 35 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists as the Los Angeles Lakers (20-11) beat the Philadelphia 76ers (8-22) 104-94. Luke Walton added 11 points and 7 rebounds for the Lakers. Kyle Korver led the 76ers with 29 points and 8 rebounds while Andre Iguodala had 19 points and 8 rebounds.

Chris Wilcox had 24 points and 8 rebounds and Damien Wilkins had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists as the Seattle Supersonics (13-19) beat the Boston Celtics (10-19) 101-95. Luke Ridnour added 17 points and 11 assists for Seattle. Tony Allen scored 23 points and 6 rebounds and Al Jefferson had 21 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.