The Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings will begin the new year with the NBA's best records after finishing 2003 with victories.

Shaquille O'Neal had 22 points and 16 rebounds, and six of his teammates scored in double figures Sunday night in the Lakers' 105-82 victory over the Boston Celtics.

The Lakers (21-7) snapped a two-game losing streak in winning for only the third time in seven games following a 10-game winning streak.

Sacramento (20-7) also snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating Utah 98-89. Peja Stojakovic scored 20 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, finishing 10-of-22 from the field and 13-of-14 on free throws.

The Lakers won't play again until Friday against Seattle, while the Kings are off until a Saturday matchup with the Clippers.

Both teams were happy to go into those long stretches of downtime with victories.

``You have poor stretches during the season, its natural,'' Kings coach Rick Adelman said. ``We lose to Dallas, lose to Golden State and struggle against Utah. But you have to fight through games like these.''

Elsewhere Sunday, Cleveland defeated Portland 86-74, San Antonio topped Milwaukee 89-74, Toronto beat the Los Angeles Clippers 94-88, Phoenix downed Philadelphia 100-92 and Denver defeated Golden State 103-79.

Derek Fisher scored 15 points, Devean George added 14, Gary Payton had 13, and Kobe Bryant scored 11 while shooting 5-of-18 for the Lakers, who outrebounded the Celtics 55-35.

O'Neal scored the first seven points of the third quarter to give Los Angeles a 64-49 lead. The Celtics drew within eight points before the Lakers outscored them 9-2 to finish the period, making it 79-64.

Fisher then scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to give the Lakers a 20-point lead, and another 3-pointer by Fisher with six minutes left made it 93-69.

``The Lakers beat the living hell out of us, so if they were in a slump, they seem to be out of it,'' Boston coach Jim O'Brien said.

Following a 10-game winning streak, the Lakers allowed their pervious six opponents to average 104.7 points. But they held the Celtics to 82, only 33 in the second half.

``This gets us back on track,'' O'Neal said. ``Now, we just have to be consistent. It's all about us.''

Kings 98, Jazz 89

At Sacramento, Stojakovic made three 3-pointers and a three-point play during a productive four-minute stretch to help the Kings pull away.

``Peja is one of the best shooters, if not the best shooter in the league,'' teammate Vlade Divac said. ``He understands he is the main guy on this team, especially when we are down.''

Mike Bibby scored 23 points for Sacramento, which has defeated the Jazz five straight times.

``We got away with a win,'' Kings coach Adelman said. ``In a lot of ways, they let us stay in the game. We have a break now and get to prepare for a tough January.''

Cavaliers 86, Trail Blazers 74

At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 32 points, including 12 in a 14-2 game-closing spurt.

James scored six straight points to put Cleveland ahead 78-72 with 5:48 to play, then capped the run with the final six points _ the last two on a resounding reverse dunk with 34 seconds left after a steal near midcourt.

``When I heard the crowd after that dunk, I had to stop and say, `Is this really Gund Arena?''' James said.

Spurs 89, Bucks 74

At San Antonio, the Spurs won their 13th in a row by holding Milwaukee to its lowest point total of the season.

``The guys have been great making defense their primary focus all these games,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, ``because we have games with too many turnovers and a lot of games where we don't shoot free throws.''

Sunday fit both of those categories: San Antonio had 17 turnovers, though only five in the second half, and went 19-for-35 at the line.

Raptors 94, Clippers 88

At Los Angeles, Jalen Rose had 23 points and Vince Carter scored seven of his 22 points in the final 3:44.

Donyell Marshall had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who ended an 18-game road losing streak against Western Conference opponents.

Suns 100, 76ers 92

At Phoenix, Stephon Marbury scored 16 of his 17 points in the first half to stake the Suns to a 19-point lead and they held on to snap a three-game losing streak. Shawn Marion scored 26 points and Joe Johnson added 23.

Nuggets 103, Warriors 79

At Denver, Marcus Camby's 17 points led seven players in double figures to help the Nuggets win their third straight. Denver overcame a miserable first quarter for its 11th win in 13 home games.

NEW YORK (AP) Peja Stojakovic of the Sacramento Kings was suspended for one game by the NBA on Wednesday for making improper contact with a game official.

Stojakovic, who scored a career-high 41 points in the Kings' 114-97 victory over Memphis Tuesday night's game, brushed official Bernie Fryer with 1:17 remaining in the second period and received a technical foul.

``I overreacted on that,'' Stojakovic said. ``I apologized to him at halftime.''

Stojakovic will miss the Kings' game on Christmas Day against the Dallas Mavericks.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) The Sacramento Kings activated Lawrence Funderburke from the injured list on Monday, though the forward probably won't play this season.

Funderburke is still recovering from a left heel injury, but the Kings activated him to meet the NBA's requirement to maintain an active roster of 12 players.

Chris Webber is getting closer to returning to the Sacramento Kings.

"I'm going to see the doctors this upcoming week. I believe we'll have some good news, and hopefully, we'll come back playing."

Webber is optimstic that he will be back around the start of January.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) The Sacramento Kings waived seldom-used guard Rodney Buford on Monday.

Buford, who played for five teams in his first four NBA seasons, made the Kings' roster during training camp. He didn't play in 12 of Sacramento's 18 games this season, never earning a spot in coach Rick Adelman's rotation.

The Kings currently plan to keep only 11 players on their roster, perhaps until Chris Webber completes his lengthy rehabilitation from offseason knee surgery. Webber had hoped to return in December, but he could be out until January.

The Kings plan to retire Richmond's jersey during halftime of the nationally televised game, the first such honor for a player in the franchise's Sacramento era.

"It will be the ultimate memory for many terrific seasons in Sacramento, '' said Richmond, who wore No. 2 with the Kings.