EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The roars of the crowd and the shouts from the public address announcer made it feel like this was a huge win.

For the New Jersey Nets, though, there wasn't much celebrating. Just relief.

Relief at having removed their name from the line in the record book no team wants to be on.

The Nets notched their 10th victory last night, avoiding any chance of tying for the worst record in NBA history by beating the San Antonio Spurs, 90-84.

"You don't thank God, but you don't want to go down as the worst team in the history of the game," reserve guard Keyon Dooling said. "Absolutely it's a relief, you don't want to go down in history as the worst team ever."

Brook Lopez had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets, who grabbed control with a 15-4 run late in the fourth quarter to improve to 10-64. The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who went 9-73, will remain in the books as the league's worst team.

Public address announcer Gary Sussman shouted "We got 10! The Nets win!" after New Jersey snapped a 14-game losing streak in the series, committing a franchise record-low four turnovers — none in the second half — in beating San Antonio for the first time since the 2003 NBA finals.

"It's a big relief. It's a big relief," guard Courtney Lee said. "Now we can go out and ball and have fun and play."

The Nets, who opened the season with an NBA-record, 18-game losing streak, have won three of four.

With Manu Ginobili (lower back spasms) joining Tony Parker on the injured list and Tim Duncan struggling through a poor shooting game, the Spurs had few answers on the second night of a back-to-back following an impressive victory at Boston on Sunday.

George Hill scored 19 points and former Net Richard Jefferson had 16.

SAN ANTONIO 33 13 20 18—84

NEW JERSEY 27 16 19 28—90

SAN ANTONIO—Jefferson 5-11 6-7 16, Duncan 6-15 1-4 13, McDyess 0-2 0-0 0, Hill 8-19 2-2 19, Bogans 0-2 1-4 1, Mason 3-5 0-0 7, Bonner 4-11 0-1 10, Blair 5-9 1-2 11, Temple 1-4 0-0 3, Hairston 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 34-82 11-20 84.

NEW JERSEY—Hayes 1-5 0-0 3, Yi 3-12 2-2 8, Lopez 7-14 8-9 22, Harris 6-16 4-6 17, Lee 7-13 3-3 19, Williams 4-13 4-4 13, Douglas-Roberts 0-1 0-0 0, Humphries 2-4 0-0 4, Boone 0-1 0-0 0, Dooling 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 32-85 21-24 90.

3-Point Goals—San Antonio 5-15 (Bonner 2-7, Mason 1-1, Temple 1-1, Hill 1-3, Jefferson 0-1, Bogans 0-2), New Jersey 5-19 (Lee 2-3, Williams 1-3, Harris 1-4, Hayes 1-5, Yi 0-1, Dooling 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—San Antonio 66 (Duncan 12), New Jersey 47 (Lopez 12). Assists—San Antonio 23 (Jefferson 5), New Jersey 19 (Harris 9). Total Fouls—San Antonio 19, New Jersey 19. Technicals—San Antonio defensive three second 2. A—13,053 (18,974).

Jazz 103, Knicks 98: Carlos Boozer had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Deron Williams added 23 points and 14 assists as host Utah took over first place in the Northwest Division. Paul Millsap also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who are now one game ahead of Denver in the division.

NEW YORK 30 30 27 11— 98

UTAH 44 20 23 16—103

NEW YORK–Gallinari 2-10 4-4 9, Walker 3-5 0-0 9, Lee 7-9 2-2 16, McGrady 4-8 5-7 13, Douglas 2-7 1-2 5, Harrington 8-20 7-10 26, House 3-8 0-0 6, Rodriguez 6-10 0-0 14. Totals 35-77 19-25 98.

UTAH–Miles 4-9 0-0 9, Boozer 11-16 4-5 26, Okur 6-10 0-0 13, Williams 8-16 2-3 23, Matthews 5-8 0-0 12, Millsap 5-8 4-8 14, Korver 1-9 2-2 4, Price 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 41-80 12-18 103.

3-Point Goals—New York 9-28 (Walker 3-5, Harrington 3-9, Rodriguez 2-3, Gallinari 1-6, House 0-1, McGrady 0-2, Douglas 0-2), Utah 9-16 (Williams 5-8, Matthews 2-3, Okur 1-1, Miles 1-2, Price 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—New York 45 (Harrington 17), Utah 48 (Boozer 14). Assists—New York 16 (McGrady 6), Utah 24 (Williams 14). Total Fouls—New York 19, Utah 21. A—19,911 (19,911).

Hornets 108, Lakers 100: Chris Paul had 15 points and 13 assists, his first double-double since returning from a left knee injury, and David West scored 20 points for host New Orleans. Marcus Thornton added 18 points, including three 3-pointers, for the Hornets.

L.A. LAKERS 22 20 21 37—100

NEW ORLEANS 27 23 27 31—108

L.A. LAKERS–Artest 6-14 1-1 14, Odom 4-13 1-3 10, Gasol 11-21 4-4 26, Fisher 3-11 0-0 7, Bryant 10-18 9-11 31, Farmar 3-8 0-1 8, Brown 0-4 2-2 2, Powell 0-1 0-0 0, Mbenga 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 38-91 17-22 100.

NEW ORLEANS–Peterson 1-5 2-4 5, West 7-15 6-8 20, Okafor 3-8 2-5 8, Paul 5-11 4-4 15, Thornton 5-13 5-6 18, Posey 3-5 4-4 13, Collison 6-9 3-3 17, Gray 1-1 0-0 2, Songaila 5-6 0-0 10. Totals 36-73 26-34 108.

3-Point Goals—L.A. Lakers 7-29 (Farmar 2-4, Bryant 2-5, Odom 1-3, Fisher 1-7, Artest 1-8, Brown 0-2), New Orleans 10-23 (Posey 3-5, Thornton 3-9, Collison 2-2, Paul 1-2, Peterson 1-5). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—L.A. Lakers 56 (Gasol 22), New Orleans 47 (Okafor 13). Assists—L.A. Lakers 18 (Bryant 6), New Orleans 22 (Paul 13). Total Fouls—L.A.

Lakers 27, New Orleans 20. A—18,206 (17,188).

Raptors 103, Bobcats 101: Chris Bosh had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Hedo Turkoglu hit the go-ahead 3-pointer as visiting Toronto got a key win. The Raptors stayed in eighth place in the East, a game ahead of Chicago.

TORONTO 18 25 29 31—103

CHARLOTTE 18 29 31 23—101

TORONTO–Wright 7-11 0-0 15, Bosh 10-19 2-3 22, Bargnani 6-14 1-2 16, Calderon 4-8 2-3 10, Weems 3-5 0-2 6, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Turkoglu 4-9 0-0 11, Evans 0-1 1-2 1, Jack 2-5 7-8 12, DeRozan 3-5 2-4 8. Totals 40-79 15-24 103.

CHARLOTTE–Wallace 7-15 3-4 17, Diaw 5-12 0-0 11, Ratliff 0-1 3-4 3, Felton 7-12 0-0 18, Jackson 5-13 6-7 18, Chandler 1-1 6-8 8, Hughes 3-6 5-6 13, Augustin 3-6 0-0 9, Graham 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 32-69 25-31 101.

3-Point Goals—Toronto 8-18 (Bargnani 3-5, Turkoglu 3-6, Jack 1-2, Wright 1-4, Calderon 0-1), Charlotte 12-24 (Felton 4-5, Augustin 3-3, Hughes 2-3, Jackson 2-5, Diaw 1-4, Graham 0-1, Wallace 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Toronto 48 (Bosh 11), Charlotte 43 (Wallace 8). Assists—Toronto 22 (Calderon 7), Charlotte 29 (Felton, Diaw 7). Total Fouls—Toronto 25, Charlotte 20. Technicals—Bargnani, Wright, Toronto defensive three second, Jackson. A—14,534 (19,077).

Mavericks 109, Nuggets 93: Dirk Nowitzki had 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double, and host Dallas maintained the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Shawn Marion added 21 points and Jason Terry contributed 15 for Dallas, which increased its conference lead over Denver to 1 1/2 games.

DENVER 23 23 23 24— 93

DALLAS 31 24 24 30—109

DENVER—Anthony 3-16 3-3 10, Nene 3-4 8-12 14, Petro 0-2 0-0 0, Billups 3-14 4-4 11, Afflalo 2-6 0-0 4, Allen 2-5 2-2 7, Smith 10-16 4-6 27, Andersen 0-0 0-0 0, Graham 4-5 2-3 10, Lawson 5-9 0-0 10, Carter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-78 23-30 93.

DALLAS—Marion 9-13 3-3 21, Nowitzki 7-17 16-17 34, Haywood 5-7 0-2 10, Kidd 2-6 2-2 8, Butler 4-11 0-0 10, Terry 6-10 0-0 15, Najera 0-2 0-0 0, Beaubois 2-7 0-0 5, Dampier 2-4 0-0 4, Carroll 1-2 0-0 2, Stevenson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 38-81 21-24 109.

3-Point Goals—Denver 6-20 (Smith 3-6, Anthony 1-1, Allen 1-1, Billups 1-7, Carter 0-1, Graham 0-1, Afflalo 0-1, Lawson 0-2), Dallas 12-22 (Nowitzki 4-5, Terry 3-5, Butler 2-2, Kidd 2-4, Beaubois 1-4, Carroll 0-1, Najera 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Denver 52 (Anthony 9), Dallas 47 (Nowitzki 10). Assists—Denver 12 (Billups 6), Dallas 27 (Kidd, Nowitzki 10). Total Fouls—Denver 20, Dallas 25. Technicals—Denver defensive three second, Terry. A—20,085 (19,200).