Minnesota at San Antonio (9:30 p.m. EST). The Timberwolves lead the Spurs by 2{ games for the Midwest Division lead.

STARS

Wednesday

_ Stephen Jackson, Hawks, scored 36 points to lead Atlanta to a 111-110 win over Dallas.

_ Kwame Brown, Wizards, set career highs with 30 points and 19 rebounds to lead Washington to a 114-108 win over Sacramento.

_ Paul Pierce, Celtics, had 28 points and 11 rebounds in a 104-100 victory over the Nuggets.

_ Vince Carter, Raptors, scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter of Toronto's 85-81 victory over the Jazz.

MILESTONE

Rick Carlisle became the sixth head coach to win at least 50 games in his first three seasons with Indiana's 80-71 win over Portland on Wednesday night. Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, Paul Westphal, Gregg Popovich and Rick Adelman are the others to do it.

STRONG IN DEFEAT

Steve Nash scored 30 points with nine assists in Dallas' 111-110 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday night.

MCGRADY OUT

Tracy McGrady will miss the final two games of Orlando's road trip to attend the funeral of his great-grandmother. McGrady, the NBA's leading scorer, told reporters he was leaving the team after Orlando's 110-85 loss to Golden State on Wednesday night.

HOT HAWK

Atlanta's Stephen Jackson has scored 39 and 36 points in his last two games. Jackson shot 12-for-16 from the field in the Hawks' 111-110 win over Dallas on Wednesday night.

FINED

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined $10,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for inappropriate public comments after a loss to San Antonio on March 5.

ROAD WOES

Philadelphia has lost 12 of 14 road games after a 104-80 loss at New Orleans on Wednesday night.

ONE-SIDED

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 25 of the last 28 games against the crosstown-rivals Clippers, including two of three this season. The teams meet for the final time Friday night.

BEST AGAINST THE WEST

The Pacers are 11-1 at home against Western Conference opponents, and have won seven in a row.

SPEAKING

``I think we're real dangerous. We're not just a one-dimensional team. There are a lot of Eastern teams that have one player that they go to. And that's not it for us.'' _ Cleveland's LeBron James on the Cavaliers' depth.