Mutombo blocks Lakers
Dikembe Mutombo swatted the shot by the kid half his age, then wagged his index finger to the crowd's delight.
Mutombo stuffed another shot by 19-year-old Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum three minutes later to move past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and into second place on the all-time blocks list.
Mutombo, 40, had five blocks in all and matched a season high with 19 rebounds in the Rockets' 102-77 win over the Lakers last night in Houston. He now has 3,191 blocks, two more than Abdul-Jabbar.
"When I came into the league 16 years ago, I told myself that I just want to be remembered for one thing," Mutombo said, "just to be one of the great defensive players to ever play this game."
The Rockets have won seven of nine games since Yao Ming broke a bone in his right leg and much of it is because of the suddenly spry Mutombo, who has had double-digit rebound totals in eight consecutive games.
"It's amazing, just the way I'm playing," said the 7-foot-2-inch Mutombo. "Even to myself, I'm sitting down like, 'Whoa, is Mutombo really playing like that?' I haven't seen myself jumping for a rebound like that for a while."
Mutombo is still 639 blocks from the all-time leader, former Rocket and fellow African Hakeem Olajuwon.
While Mutombo led the Rockets' stifling defense, Juwan Howard scored a season-high 23 points and Rafer Alston added 20.
Kobe Bryant scored 20 points, but went 6 of 18 from the field for the Lakers, who were held to a season-low point total.
Wizards 113, Bulls 103 -- With Gilbert Arenas slowed again by Chicago, Washington relied on strong contributions from Caron Butler, Antonio Daniels, and DeShawn Stevenson to post its seventh consecutive home win.
Arenas finished 5 of 16 for 20 points -- well below his 30.5 average, No. 2 in the NBA. Butler had 26 points -- his seventh game in a row with at least 20 -- along with 10 rebounds and seven assists. Daniels matched his season high with 15 points, and Stevenson scored 13, including 8 in a row to start the third quarter.
Mavericks 99, Trail Blazers 74 -- Jason Terry scored 20 points and Josh Howard added 17 to spark host Dallas to its 15th victory in 16 games.
Clippers 92, Timberwolves 91 -- Corey Maggette came back from a brief injury absence to score 21 points, sinking the winning shot from the corner with less than five seconds left to lift visiting Los Angeles. Kevin Garnett, who had 19 points and 17 rebounds, missed his chance to do the same thing when his jumper bounced off the rim just before the buzzer.
Spurs 92, Nuggets 83 -- Tony Parker scored 26 points and Tim Duncan had 19 to help visiting San Antonio stave off Allen Iverson and the Nuggets. Iverson snapped out of his shooting slump by sinking 15 of 25 shots for 33 points. The Nuggets got guard J.R. Smith back from a 10-game suspension for fighting, and he chipped in 12 points.
Heat 107, SuperSonics 103 -- Dwyane Wade scored 14 of his 29 points in the final eight minutes, rallying visiting Miami. Wade missed four of five shots to start the fourth, then found ways to score as Miami won its second straight after a five-game skid.
Raptors 90, Bucks 77 -- Chris Bosh scored 30 points and tied a career high with six blocks to help visiting Toronto hand Milwaukee its fourth straight loss.
Bobcats 102, Pistons 96 -- Raymond Felton had 18 points and seven assists to lead six double-digit scorers for banged-up Charlotte. The Bobcats, who at 10-23 have one of the NBA's worst records, have beaten Detroit twice this season.
Knicks 106, 76ers 99 -- Stephon Marbury scored 24 points, and Eddy Curry added 20 points and 10 rebounds to spark host New York.
Hornets 96, Hawks 77 -- Jannero Pargo scored 24 points to help visiting New Orleans end a five-game losing streak. New Orleans had dropped eight of nine and 19 of 23 before beating an Atlanta team that has lost two straight, 10 of 11, and 14 of 16.
