Wizards

Oh, we're off to see the wizard - and dropping a lot of coin doing it. Oz the Great and Powerful showed its mightiness at the box office on its debut weekend, raking in $80.3 million for the Munchkins at Disney. The 3D prequel to L. Frank Baum 's classic tale stars James Franco as the Wizard and Mila Kunis , Michelle Williams , and Rachel Weisz as the witches he finds in Oz. Sam Raimi , who helmed the original Spider-Man trilogy, directed. Box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian told the Associated Press the success of Oz was "a shot in the arm" for the movie industry.

Deron Williams made an NBA-record nine three-pointers in the first half, finished with 11, and scored a season-high 42 points to lead the Brooklyn Nets to a 95-78 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night in New York. Williams made his first eight shots behind the arc, became the first player in a decade to match the opposing team's score in the first half, and was one shy of the NBA record of 12 threes as the Nets opened a huge early lead and coasted. He missed with 1 minute, 8 seconds left, leaving him one shy of the record shared by Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall.

WASHINGTON - The 76ers have missed Andrew Bynum all season, and it shows how critical the loss of one player can be for an NBA team. Especially one who is considered a major difference maker. John Wall, the Washington Wizards point guard, demonstrated this fact on Sunday night. Wall shredded the Sixers down the stretch and led the Wizards to a 90-87 win at the Verizon Center. Wall scored the Wizards' final six points. With Washington trailing by 87-84, he hit a jumper with 1 minute, 33 seconds left.

Paul Pierce scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Celtics topped the visiting Warriors, 94-86, on Friday night. Stephen Curry had 25 for Golden State but made just 6 of 22 shots. He had scored 92 points on 66.7 percent shooting in his previous two games. Elsewhere: Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points, Raymond Felton added 23, J.R. Smith chipped in with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and some strong defense allowed the visiting Knicks to beat the Wizards, 96-88.   Another royal bid The NBA received an official offer Friday from 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov and billionaire Ron Burkle to buy the Sacramento Kings and keep the team from moving to Seattle, league spokesman Tim Frank said.

Bradley Beal scored 20 points, and Nene added 11 points and nine rebounds, as the Washington Wizards beat the Raptors, 90-84, in Toronto on Monday night for their third consecutive victory. A.J. Price and Martell Webster each added 12 points for the Wizards, who won for just the fifth time in 27 road games. DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points and Kyle Lowry had 18 for the Raptors, who had won six of their previous seven. Elsewhere: Paul Pierce scored 26 points, including seven straight in overtime, and the Boston Celtics beat the Utah Jazz, 110-107, in Salt Lake City.

Emeka Okafor had 17 points and 11 rebounds and made the go-ahead free throw with 5.2 seconds remaining to help the Wizards overcome the Houston Rockets' three-point barrage for a 105-103 win Saturday in Washington. Houston threw up 46 three-point attempts, the most in the NBA this season, and made 19. They hit 13 of them in the first half, one off the NBA record. Elsewhere: Ex-76er Andre Iguodala dished out 10 assists, scored 13 points, and blocked a pair of shots as the Denver Nuggets snapped a four-game road losing streak with a 113-99 victory over the host Bobcats.

The Washington Wizards held the visiting Brooklyn Nets without a field goal for nearly nine minutes during the first half, survived a second-half slump, and held on for an 89-74 victory Friday night in their latest win over a team near the top of the standings. John Wall had 15 points and nine assists and Nene had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who have one of the worst records in the NBA but have nevertheless taken eight of their last nine at home. Elsewhere: Kobe Bryant shrugged off a scoreless first half to finish with 20 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to beat the host Charlotte Bobcats, 100-93.

Jrue Holiday probably likes the 76ers locker room to be more like it was after a 92-84 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night. Holiday has established himself as an all-star in his fourth season, but when the team wins and reporters are clamoring for the opportunity to talk to ancillary players such as Nick Young, Lavoy Allen, and Spencer Hawes, that means that Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner, and Holiday are getting more help. "It definitely makes it easier," said Holiday, who scored a game-high 21 points in more than 41 minutes.

ON MOST NIGHTS, the line between winning and losing in the NBA is so razor-thin it could be used to shave off Spencer Hawes' gangly beard with three strokes. So it was in the third quarter Wednesday night. The Sixers were holding a slight lead and Jrue Holiday had what seemed to be a clear path for a fastbreak layup when Washington's Garrett Temple hustled down the court for a terrific blocked shot. The Wizards immediately hit a three-pointer and what would have been a 10-point Sixers lead was only five.