Milwaukee Bucks head coach Terry Porter would have prefered to start his coaching career as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs but it didn't work out back in the summer of 2002.

There was an opening on the Spurs' staff but coach Greg Popovich decided against it because Porter had just been a teammate of some of the Spurs' players and Popovich thought it wouldn't be such a good idea at the time.

"We went back and forth on it," Popovich said. "One of the things I told Terry that factored into the equation was that it might be best for him to be elsewhere, so the people hearing his voice aren't the same people who had just been joking on the back of the bus with him. Secondly, it also would give him experience with another system."

Porter eventually landed an assistant coaching job later that summer on Rick Adelman's staff in Sacramento.

New Jersey at Indiana (8 p.m. EST) Two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference meet when Jason Kidd and the Nets visit Ron Artest and the Pacers.

STARS

Friday

_Jason Kidd, Nets, had 24 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds for his league-leading fifth triple-double of the season in New Jersey's 82-79 win over Detroit.

_Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets, scored a career-high 37 points in Denver's 95-94 win over Houston

_Eddie Jones, Heat, had 22 points and 8 assists in Miami's 92-84 win over the Washington Wizards.

_Paul Pierce, Celtics, had 27 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds in a 104-102 win over Phoenix.

_Jamal Crawford, Bulls, scored 30 points in Chicago's 87-80 win over Cleveland.

_Keith Van Horn, Knicks, had 28 points and 13 rebounds in New York's 98-94 win over Memphis.

BEATING THE BEST

The three game winning-streak that bumped Milwaukee over the .500 mark has come against the top three teams in the Eastern Conference: Indiana, New Jersey, and Detroit. The Bucks defeated the Pacers 101-96 on Friday night.

PUTTING ON THE CLAMPS

Golden State snapped a 15-game losing streak against Sacramento with a 98-91 victory over the Kings on Friday night. The game also marked the first time in 16 games that an opponent had held the Kings under 100 points.

STRONG IN DEFEAT

Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal had 27 points and 11 rebounds in a 101-96 loss to Milwaukee on Friday night. ... Orlando's Tracy McGrady had 24 points and eight rebounds in a 98-83 loss to San Antonio. ... Toronto's Jalen Rose had 18 points and eight assists in a 97-94 overtime loss to Utah. ... Minnesota's Kevin Garnett had 27 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists in a 101-92 loss to Portland.

GOLDEN

With a 95-94 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night, Denver has won 10 of its last 12 at home. Rookie Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with a career-high 37 points against the Rockets.

SPEAKING

``I'm not trying to fill up the stat sheet. I'm just trying to make the play that presents itself.'' _ New Jersey's Jason Kidd, who notched his league-leading fifth triple-double of the season with a 24-point, 12-assist, 11-rebound performance in an 82-79 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.

___

``It's hard when your team is playing as hard as the other team and you don't get the same consideration when it comes to the whistle being blown.'' _ Pacers coach Rick Carlisle on the 24-17 foul disparity between the Bucks and the Pacers in Milwaukee's 101-96 victory Friday night.

MILWAUKEE (AP) The Milwaukee Bucks activated forward Brian Skinner from the injured list Friday night after he missed 25 games because of arthroscopic knee surgery.

The 6-foot-9, 265-pound Skinner started the Bucks' first three games and averaged 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots.

To make room for Skinner, center Joel Przybilla went on the injured list with right knee tendinitis. Przybilla played sparingly in five games.

Toni Kukoc, who has been out since Dec. 1 because of back spasms, went through a full practice Friday and general manager Larry Harris will activate him off the injured list if Kukoc gives him the ok.

"If he tells me he's ready to go, I'll put him out there," Harris said.

However, the news isn't all good for the Bucks.

Center Brian Skinner, who has been out since Nov. 6 after having left-knee surgery wwon't play tonight.

"He just said it didn't feel right," coach Terry Porter said. "So we gave him another day of rest."

Bucks center Brian Skinner, who has been out since Nov 6 due to surgery to remove loose cartilage from his left knee, could be activated off the injured as early as Saturday night when Milwaukee hosts the New Jersey Nets.

Head coach Terry Porter said his status for Saturday would depend on a lot on today's practice.

"He's moving good," Porter said. "He's had some good workouts. I think we want to try to get him one more practice and maybe he can play Saturday. We won't be sure yet until after Friday."

There aren't many teams playing better than the Miami Heat. In fact, there's only one.

Miami won its fourth in a row Tuesday night behind 32 points from rookie Dwyane Wade, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 97-79. It's the first four-game winning streak in nearly two years for the Heat, whose victory string is the league's second-longest behind San Antonio's seven.

``Four wins is not enough, hopefully we can take it to five,'' said Lamar Odom, who scored 19 points and grabbed all 12 of his rebounds on the defensive end.

The turnaround by the Heat has been surprising for a team that lost coach Pat Riley on the eve of the season and proceeded to drop its first seven games. Miami, which also defeated Phoenix, Memphis and Toronto during its winning streak, goes for five in a row Wednesday night at Philadelphia.

Elsewhere, Memphis topped Sacramento 105-100, Denver downed New Orleans 116-94, Phoenix edged Seattle 92-91 in overtime, Milwaukee beat Portland 106-99, Minnesota defeated Houston 92-75, Washington downed Utah 91-87, Golden State topped New York 104-86 and Chicago beat Orlando 102-88.

Wade shot 15-for-22 with nine assists, while Odom had his fourth straight double-double. Eddie Jones added 22 points.

Odom's 3-pointer with 6:54 remaining in the third quarter put the Heat ahead 65-55. The Hawks never got their deficit into single digits the rest of the way.

``The most remarkable thing about the game is that we won it in the third quarter,'' Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``We are a team that struggles to score and when a game goes well for you offensively, you tend to play poor defense. When we stepped up our defensive intensity in the third quarter, the game turned in our favor.''

Atlanta, led by Shareef Abdur-Rahim's 16 points, has lost four in a row and eight of nine.

Miami never trailed after Butler's layup late in the first quarter made it 21-19. Wade scored 19 points in the first half.

``I am getting more confident and my teammates are getting more confident in me,'' Wade said. ``The floor is opening up more because so many guys are playing well.''

Grizzlies 105, Kings 100

At Memphis, Pau Gasol scored 22 points and Shane Battier keyed a fourth-quarter rally with 11 points.

Six Memphis players scored in double figures as the Grizzlies snapped Sacramento's four-game winning streak and beat the Kings for the first time since November, 2001.

The teams were tied at 83 with just under eight minutes left before Memphis went on a 7-1 run for a 90-84 lead with 5:15 remaining. Sacramento got within 94-93 on a drive by Brad Miller with 3:15 remaining, but never any closer.

Nuggets 116, Hornets 94

At Denver, Carmelo Anthony had 21 points and Voshon Lenard added 19, improving the Nuggets' home record to 10-2.

Nene had his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Marcus Camby had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his third straight double-double.

Baron Davis had 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting as New Orleans matched its longest losing streak of the season _ two games.

Suns 92, SuperSonics 91, OT

At Phoenix, Shawn Marion dunked off an inbounds pass from Penny Hardaway with 5.6 seconds to go to cap a low-scoring overtime _ just five points combined.

Marion had 19 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Suns snap a six-game losing streak to win for the first time in four games under coach Mike D'Antoni.

Bucks 106, Trail Blazers 99

At Portland, Tim Thomas had 23 points and six assists and Michael Redd added 22 points for the Bucks, who shot 58.2 percent. Milwaukee took over with an 11-0 run that made it 74-63.

Timberwolves 92, Rockets 75

At Minneapolis, Sam Cassell scored 25 points and Kevin Garnett had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Latrell Sprewell added 14 points for the Timberwolves, who've won three straight and improved to 6-1 in December.

Wizards 91, Jazz 87

At Washington, Larry Hughes scored 20 of his season-high 38 points in the fourth quarter, and Etan Thomas blocked a potential game-tying layup by Andrei Kirilenko. The victory broke the Wizards' four-game losing streak.

Warriors 104, Knicks 86

At New York, Jason Richardson scored 26 points in a lopsided game that left Knicks fans booing. The Warriors snapped a two-game losing streak by running all over the Knicks, scoring 23 fast-break points and never being threatened in the second half.

Bulls 102, Magic 88

At Chicago, Kendall Gill scored 27 of his season-high 29 points in the second half when he made 12 of 13 shots. The Bulls have won two straight for the first time this season.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Mike Miller scored a season-high 22 points, including 11 in a key third quarter rally, and the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Atlanta Hawks 103-90 Wednesday night to tie a franchise record with their sixth consecutive win.

Miller had back-to-back 3-pointers late in the third as the Grizzlies took the lead for good, eventually going ahead by 15 in the fourth quarter. Earl Watson added 20 points, also a season high, and nine assists as regular starter Jason Williams missed his fifth consecutive game due to back spasms.

Memphis also won six straight late last season.

Jason Terry led the Hawks with 19 points.

Jazz 95, Knicks 73

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Greg Ostertag scored a season-high 16 points with 12 rebounds and Andrei Kirilenko had another impressive stat line as handed the Knicks their sixth straight loss.

All five Utah starters scored in double figures and the Jazz barely missed getting four double-doubles. Raul Lopez scored 12 points with nine rebounds and nine assists, and Matt Harpring finished with 22 points and nine rebounds.

DeShawn Stevenson scored 14, and Kirilenko had 10 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks, six steals and six assists for Utah, which had lost two straight.

Spurs 102, Trail Blazers 77

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Tim Duncan had 18 points and 14 rebounds as San Antonio never trailed.

San Antonio, which began the night percentage points behind Utah for last place in the Midwest Division, won its fourth straight game. The Spurs placed four players in double figures as Tony Parker and Rasho Nesterovic added 17 points apiece.

Portland, which dropped to 0-8 on the road, was led by Rasheed Wallace's 23 points and Zach Randolph's 22. The Trail Blazers were playing the second game of a back-to-back set after losing at Houston on Tuesday.

Bucks 94, Warriors 89, OT

MILWAUKEE (AP) Michael Redd scored 25 points and Dan Gadzuric had career highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds.

The Warriors lost to an Eastern Conference team for the first time in six games this season. The Bucks scored the first six points of overtime, and the Warriors didn't score in the extra period until 10 seconds remained.

Desmond Mason scored 13 points and T.J. Ford had 11 for the Bucks. Gadzuric added five blocks and three steals.

Golden State was led by Van Exel's 21 points. Speedy Claxton added 15 points and Erick Dampier had 11.

Celtics 126, SuperSonics 112

BOSTON (AP) Paul Pierce scored 36 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Mike James added a career-high 24 points to lead the Boston Celtics to their third straight victory.

The 126 points were a season-high for Boston, which beat its third straight Western Conference opponent after road wins against Denver and Utah.

Seattle trailed 99-68 to start the fourth quarter but went on a 25-4 run to pull to 103-93 with six minutes remaining. Pierce, who had been on the bench for 10 minutes, was forced to return and immediately hit two jump shots to increase the lead to 107-93.

Seattle tied a franchise record with 17 3-point field goals. The Sonics dropped their fourth straight.

Magic 95, Wizards 91

WASHINGTON (AP) The Orlando Magic, who began the week with a 19-game losing streak, got 27 points from Tracy McGrady and a season-high 17 from Shammond Williams.

Williams made three 3-pointers and hit two clinching free throws with 8.1 seconds left for Orlando, which snapped an eight-game road losing streak.

Larry Hughes scored 19 and Kwame Brown had 18 for Washington.

MORE

MILWAUKEE (AP) The Milwaukee Bucks placed forward Toni Kukoc on the injured list Friday with back spasms and signed Dan Langhi to replace him.

Kukoc is averaging 8.9 points per game. He left the Dec. 1 game at Chicago with back spasms and missed the game at Atlanta the next day.

Langhi, 6-foot-9 and 210 pounds, appeared in 60 games for the Phoenix Suns last season, averaging 3.1 points per game.

He was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the 2000 NBA draft, but was traded to Houston, where he played from 2000-02.

Langhi will be in uniform Saturday, when the Bucks play the Washington Wizards.