Minnesota at Dallas (8:30 p.m. EST). Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves face the high-scoring Mavericks.

STARS

Friday

_ Richard Hamilton, Pistons, scored a career-high 44 points to lead Detroit over Cleveland 92-88.

_ Paul Pierce, Celtics, had his third career triple-double with 26 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds in Boston's 106-96 victory over Milwaukee.

_ Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Hawks, scored 34 points as Atlanta held off Miami 95-83.

_ Kevin Garnett, Timberwolves, had 21 points and 18 rebounds to help Minnesota post a 102-98 win over Memphis.

_ Brad Miller, Kings, scored 29 points and Sacramento won its seventh straight, 103-74 over Houston.

_ Jason Richardson, Warriors, scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, leading Golden State past Phoenix 92-83.

_ Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets, scored 26 points to help Denver beat Dallas 113-103.

NEW COACH

Chicago named Scott Skiles to replace the fired Bill Cartwright as coach of the struggling Bulls on Friday. Skiles, a former 10-year NBA player, had a 116-79 record as coach of the Phoenix Suns from 1999-02.

NEVER TOO OLD

Forward Karl Malone became the first player to have a triple-double at age 40, amassing 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the Los Angeles Lakers' 103-87 rout of San Antonio on Friday night. Malone recorded the fourth triple-double of his 19-year career despite sitting out the fourth quarter, and first since 1999.

REACHING THE CENTURY MARK

Boston ended the longest season-opening streak of a team not being involved in a 100-point game in NBA history at 14 with a 106-96 win over Milwaukee on Friday night. No Boston opponent has scored at least 100 this season. The longest overall streak is 18 by the Miami Heat, during the 1988-89 season.

STREAKS AND SLUMPS

Indiana stretched its current league-high winning streak to eight with a 90-77 win over Philadelphia on Friday night. ... Despite a fourth-quarter rally, Orlando lost its 15th in a row, 87-86 to Toronto. ... Detroit handed Cleveland its 31st straight road loss, 92-88. The Cavaliers, 0-10 on the road this season, have not won away from home since Jan. 12 when they beat Seattle. ... Sacramento improved to 9-0 at home this season _ 16 straight overall _ with a 103-74 victory over Houston. ... The Lakers tied their Los Angeles franchise record by winning their 24th straight regular-season home win, 103-87 over San Antonio.

STRONG IN DEFEAT

Tracy McGrady led Orlando with 31 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, but the Magic came up short to Toronto, 87-86 on Friday night. ... Antoine Walker had 30 points and 15 rebounds in Dallas' 113-103 loss to Denver.

SUSPENDED

Utah center Greg Ostertag was suspended for Friday night's game against Seattle for an unspecified violation of team rules. Ostertag had started every game this year and leads the team in rebounds (9.3 per game). ... The NBA suspended Dallas center Danny Fortson for three games without pay for a flagrant foul against Phoenix rookie forward Zarko Cabarkapa on Wednesday.

SPEAKING

``Denver is a great, great NBA city and it's amazing that the fans have stuck with this situation here for as long as they have. The loyalty here is unbelievable and just to see the response they are giving this basketball team is just wonderful.'' _ Denver coach Jeff Bzdelik following the Nuggets' 113-103 win over Dallas on Friday night. Denver has won six of its last eight games and is off to its best start since 1994-95 at 9-6.