NBA

Goran Dragic filled in for an injured Kyle Lowry and scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets downed the Portland Trail Blazers, 103-96.

Houston Rockets guard Kyle Lowry left Wednesday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers with a right arm injury.

It's tough to write an obituary for a team that wins 61 games during the NBA's regular season but that didn't stop a number of my peers from declaring the aging San Antonio Spurs dead on arrival after they were exposed by a younger, far more athletic Memphis bunch in last season's Western Conference quarterfinals.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Denver Nuggets 105-95 at Pepsi Center on Wednesday.

Carlos Boozer scored 18 points and the Chicago Bulls barely needed Derrick Rose in an easy 90-67 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.

Josh Smith had 28 points and 12 rebounds on Wednesday, leading the Hawks to a 97-87 win over the Pacers.

Greg Monroe had 20 points to go with 12 rebounds and four assists as the Detroit Pistons earned their second road win of the season with a 99-92 win over the New Jersey Nets.

In his first start of the season in place of the concussed Kyrie Irving, Ramon Sessions outplayed Chris Paul, scoring 24 points to go with 13 assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers took down the Los Angeles Clippers, 99-92.

Jeremy Lin's amazing debut continued Wednesday as the undrafted point guard recorded 23 points and 10 rebounds as the New York Knicks downed the Washington Wizards, 107-93.

Six Bucks scored in double figures, including Carlos Delfino's season-high 25 points, as Milwaukee knocked off the Toronto Raptors, 105-99, at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.