Holiday stars in 3OT win for Pelicans

JRUE HOLIDAY made a three-point play with 2.6 seconds remaining in the third overtime last night, giving the visiting New Orleans Pelicans a 131-128 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Holiday, the former Sixers All-Star, had 19 points and 12 assists for the Pelicans. He made an 18-footer with 3.9 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score at 103 and force overtime.

Ryan Anderson had a career-high 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including 7-for-11 on three-pointers. Eric Gordon added 23 points for New Orleans (9-8).

Luol Deng led the Bulls with 37 points and also had eight rebounds and seven assists. Reserve Taj Gibson had 26 points and 14 rebounds, Mike Dunleavy added 23 points and Joakim Noah had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

* At Washington, Trevor Ariza scored 24 points, John Wall had 16 points and 13 assists, and the Wizards beat the Orlando Magic, 98-80.

Nene scored 14 points and Marcin Gortat finished with 13 as Washington (9-9) got to .500 for the first time since it split its first four games of the 2009-10 season.

With top scorer Bradley Beal out of the lineup for the fifth straight game with an injured right leg, Ariza supplied the offense. He was 8-for-9 from the field and made each of his four three-point attempts, three off passes from Wall.

* At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 23 points, including a 16-foot jumper with 0.4 seconds left to lead the Spurs to a 102-100 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Duncan, who also had 21 rebounds, led six Spurs in double figures. Boris Diaw had 16 points off the bench and Tony Parker added 15 points and seven assists.

* At Salt Lake City, Marvin Williams scored five points in the final 2 minutes, Gordon Hayward broke out of a shooting slump to score 29 points and the Utah Jazz earned its first back-to-back wins of the season with a 109-103 victory over the Houston Rockets.

* At Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge's 28 points and 10 rebounds led the Trail Blazers (15-3) to a 106-102 win over the Indiana Pacers (16-2), who got 43 points from Paul George.

* Paul Pierce will be out 2 to 4 weeks with a broken bone in his right hand, the biggest loss yet for the Brooklyn Nets.

Pierce has been diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of the third metacarpal of his right, shooting hand, the team said yesterday. He was hurt Friday in the first half of a loss at Houston.

Pierce has struggled badly in his first season in Brooklyn, but the disappointing Nets can hardly afford another injury. They just got back All-Star center Brook Lopez but have still been playing without starting point guard Deron Williams (sprained left ankle) and key reserves Andrei Kirilenko (back spasms) and Jason Terry (sore left knee).

Pierce is expected to be replaced in the starting lineup by Alan Anderson.

It's possible that Pierce could miss two upcoming games against the Sixers: Dec. 16 at Brooklyn and Dec. 20 in Philly.

* Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly 4 weeks after tearing his left hamstring Sunday. The Lakers also announced that Pau Gasol has a mildly sprained right ankle. Gasol is also dealing with a sprained pinkie finger on his left hand.