Gordon’s 35 Keep the Bulls Streaking

Ben Gordon showed Emeka Okafor why the rookie of the year award is still up for grabs.

Gordon scored 22 of his career-high 35 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday night to lead the Chicago Bulls to their seventh consecutive victory, 102-99, over the Bobcats at Charlotte, N.C.

Gordon made a tie-breaking three-point basket with 42.8 seconds left, then gave Chicago a 101-97 lead on another one with 21.7 seconds left.

“I was just feeling it,” said Gordon, who scored the Bulls’ final 16 points and made eight of 12 shots in the quarter. “I was getting good looks.”

The Bulls won without their top two scorers. Eddy Curry was a late scratch because of flu-like symptoms, and Kirk Hinrich sat out his fifth straight game because of a strained left hamstring.

Gordon, also a candidate for the NBA’s sixth man award, did his best to make up for their absence, making 11 of 17 shots overall, including six of his eight three-pointers.

“When Ben gets in a zone, he just turns it on,” said Okafor, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds. “I was with him for three years [at Connecticut], so I’ve seen everything.”

Phoenix 116, Philadelphia 87 -- Steve Nash had 12 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists and Quentin Richardson set team records for three-point shooting at Phoenix to help the Suns clinch their first Pacific Division title in 10 years.

Richardson broke Dan Majerle’s franchise records for three-pointers made and attempted, set in 1994-95. Richardson made four of 11 and is 201 of 559 this season.

Allen Iverson had 26 points for the 76ers, who lost Chris Webber to a shoulder injury in the third quarter.

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Denver 109, Utah 98 -- Andre Miller had 24 points and nine assists at Salt Lake City to help the Nuggets tie Memphis for the seventh spot in the Western Conference. Marcus Camby and Carmelo Anthony added 23 points apiece for Denver.

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San Antonio 89, Seattle 76 -- Tony Parker scored 28 points for the Spurs, whose 34th home victory matched the team record.

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Dallas 112, Boston 100 -- Dirk Nowitzki had 36 points at Boston to send the Celtics to their season high-tying fourth straight loss.

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Orlando 108, Toronto 96 -- Grant Hill scored 21 points to help the Magic move within one game of Philadelphia for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth at Orlando, Fla.

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Detroit 99, Sacramento 82 -- Richard Hamilton scored 24 points to lead the host Pistons.

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Houston 100, Portland 84 -- Yao Ming had 29 points and Tracy McGrady added 26 at Portland, Ore., to help the Rockets sweep the four-game season series for the first time since 1993-94.

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Golden State 113, Milwaukee 109 -- Baron Davis had 16 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and added 15 assists at Milwaukee to help the Warriors win for the sixth time in seven games.

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Washington 102, Atlanta 99 -- Gilbert Arenas scored nine of his 36 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes, including the go-ahead basket on a layup in traffic with 34 seconds to play, in a victory at Washington.