With the Suns and the Mavericks owning the two best records in the NBA a tight tussle was expected, and the match followed suit in the opening half with the margin being no greater than five points between the two.

However, the Suns outscored the Mavs 66-48 in the second half with Barbosa, Amare Stoudemire (24 points), Steve Nash (23 points) and Shawn Marion (20 points) doing the majority of the damage.

Josh Howard (28 points), Jerry Stackhouse (25 points), Dirk Nowitzki (21 points) and Jason Terry (20 points) all contributed well for the Mavericks but they received little support from their team-mates.

In Indianapolis, recently acquired duo Mike Dunleavy (21 points) and Troy Murphy (20 points) helped the Indiana Pacers to a 100-99 upset victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Jamaal Tinsley (20 points), Ike Diogu (18 points) and Danny Granger (16 points) provided ample support to the former Golden State Warriors duo, while Tony Parker top-scored for the Spurs with 22.

In Houston, Mehmet Okur netted 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Utah Jazz narrowly defeated the Houston Rockets 86-83.

Carlos Boozer (13 points) and Deron Williams (12 points) chipped in for the Jazz, while the Rockets were led by Chinese centre Yao Ming.

Yao scored 35 points, and team-mate Tracy McGrady hit 20 points, but the remainder of the team failed to contribute greatly.

In other matches, the Detroit Pistons edged past the Miami Heat 94-88, the Golden State Warriors overpowered the Memphis Grizzlies 122-117 and the Minnesota Timberwolves downed the Orlando Magic 105-104.

The Washington Wizards thrashed the Milwaukee Bucks 121-107, the Toronto Raptors proved too strong for the Charlotte Bobcats 107-94 while the Chicago Bulls defeated the Atlanta Hawks 105-97.

The Boston Celtics upset the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-96 the Los Angeles Lakers were too good for the Sacramento Kings 126-103 and the Denver Nuggets had a 114-103 victory over the Seattle Supersonics.

NBA results
Pistons 94 Heat 88
Bulls 105 Hawks 97
Bucks 107 Wizards 121
Suns 126 Mavericks 104
Warriors 122 Grizzlies 117
Pacers 100 Spurs 99
Celtics 98 Cavaliers 96
T'wolves 105 Magic 104
Raptors 107 Bobcats 94
Rockets 83 Jazz 86
Sonics 103 Nuggets 114
Lakers 126 Kings 103