Bobcats cast spell over the Wizards

The Charlotte Bobcats battled hard to win 92-89 at the Washington Wizards on Saturday. Raja Bell scored 19 points and Boris Diaw added 18 as the Bobcats turned a five-point deficit in the last five minutes to come through. "We kept fighting tonight. If you do that for long enough during a game you will always give yourself a chance to win," Bell said. Meanwhile, the All-Star guard Brandon Roy marked his return from a hamstring injury with 19 points as the Portland Trail Blazers doused the Golden State Warriors 113-100.

The Trail Blazers are in seventh place in the Western Conference with a 22-14 record, just half a game ahead of the Utah Jazz, who continued their dominance of the Detroit Pistons with a 99-82 win. Ex-Piston Mehmet Okur buried his first seven shots and finished with 22 points for the Jazz, who have eight consecutive victories against the Pistons. The Houston Rockets were missing Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest, but still outscored the New York Knicks 31-14 in the third quarter en route to a 96-76 win.

Rodney Carney scored 22 points off the bench and Randy Foye had 10 points in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Timberwolves used a late spurt to edge the Milwaukee Bucks 106-104 in a thrilling encounter. Finally, the Oklahoma City Thunder won just their second game away from home this season with a 109-98 victory the Chicago Bulls. * With Agencies