Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili all scored at least 20 points to help the host San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers 121-97 on Friday night and spoil Kobe Bryant's return.
Bryant had missed the previous seven games with a bruised left shin, and the Lakers went 5-2 without the NBA's scoring leader. But with only two games left in the regular season for Los Angeles (40-24), Bryant returned as he aims to get into a rhythm before the playoffs begin.
Bryant wore a black sock over his lower left leg, with what appeared to be a shin guard protecting the injured area. He scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
The Spurs (46-16) stayed atop the Western Conference with their sixth straight victory.
Hawks 97, Celtics 92: Joe Johnson scored 30 points, and host Atlanta edged short-handed Boston to take a step toward landing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Hawks (38-25) are in line to be the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, and the Celtics (37-27) are on track to be No. 5. This, however, looked nothing like a playoff game early.
Boston left Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus at home with injuries, and perennial All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce made the trip to Atlanta, but Celtics coach Doc Rivers rested both stars after they played 11 games in 15 days.
Cavaliers 98, Knicks 90: Amare Stoudemire's return from a back
injury didn't help playoff-bound New York, which was stunned by host Cleveland.Stoudemire had missed New York's previous 13 games with a bulging disk. But even with him in the lineup, the Knicks couldn't handle the Cavs, who snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the fourth time in 19 games.
Stoudemire finished with 15 points and Carmelo Anthony had 12 before sitting out the fourth quarter.
Kings: Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson met with Kings co-owner George Maloof on Friday in Las Vegas in an attempt to revive talks about a new arena for the NBA team.
"The first thing to say is that we had a productive meeting," Johnson said Friday night at halftime of Oklahoma City's 103-92 victory over the Kings. "I thought it was important to keep the lines of communication open. ... We didn't get into the core principles of the deal. That wasn't what it was about. It was just us sitting down face to face and talking about possibilities."
Magic: Center Dwight Howard underwent successful arthroscopic surgery Friday on a herniated disk in his lower back, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Howard is done for the season and will miss the summer Olympics, but team doctor Craig Mintzer said the All-Star was doing well and is expected to make a complete recovery in about four months.
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