Bryant had his run of 138 consecutive regular-season games played ended due to an injured left shin, and could only watch as Shannon Brown scored 20 of his 24 points in the third quarter to power the Suns to victory.

He may have been the cause of much of the disharmony around the Orlando Magic of late, but Dwight Howard was the man to end their five-game losing streak as he collected 20 points and 22 rebounds in an 88-82 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Howard called for coach Stan Van Gundy to be fired and earlier this week, Van Gundy made that fact public.

The 76ers' slump continues as nine defeats in their last 13 has left the long-time Atlantic Division leaders battling to stay in play-off contention.

Troubles

Paul Pierce scored 24 points to lead the Boston Celtics to an 86-72 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Ray Allen added 19 points as the Celtics ended a two-game skid to consolidate their position atop the Atlantic Division.

Rudy Gay scored 25 points and Zach Randolph added 15 as the Memphis Grizzlies topped Dallas 94-89, moving two games ahead of the Mavericks in fifth place in the Western Conference.

Jason Smith set a new career-high with 26 points and 10 rebounds as the New Orleans Hornets extended the troubles of the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 99-90 win.

Kevin Love had 29 points and 12 boards for the Timberwolves, but could not prevent a fifth straight loss.

Joe Johnson scored 18 to lead eight Hawks scoring in double digits as Atlanta beat the Charlotte Bobcats 116-96.

Blake Griffin had 27 points and Randy Foye 25 as the Los Angeles Clippers topped the Sacramento Kings 109-94, while Brandon Rush scored 20 points off the bench to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 112-97 win over the Denver Nuggets.