ATLANTA Ron Mercer scored a season-high 30 points and Elton Brand added 23 and 13 rebounds as the league-worst Chicago Bulls snapped a nine-game losing streak with their first road win, 91-82 over the lifeless Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.

Chicago entered the game 1 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the race to avoid the NBA cellar. But spurred on by Mercer's dazzling shooting (13-of-18) and Brand's relentless work in the paint, the Bulls actually looked better than the Hawks throughout.

"It's great for these guys to get a win," Chicago Coach Tim Floyd said. "It got to a point where there was some doubt in their minds. But we got big play out of Elton and Ron Mercer all night long."

Mercer scored 12 points in the final period. Rookie Khalid el-Amin scored 16 points for Chicago.

Jason Terry scored 22 points for Atlanta.

In Denver, Cuttino Mobley scored four of his 22 points in the final 61 seconds of overtime to lift the Houston Rockets to a 109-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Mobley, who collected 16 points after halftime, hit a tough reverse layup that put the Rockets on top, 105-100, at the 1:01 mark of the extra session.

Mobley sank a free throw with 21 seconds left that stretched the lead to 108-102 and, after Denver halved the deficit on a 3-pointer by Raef Lafrentz, Mobley made 1-of-2 from the line to give the Rockets their final margin.

Rockets guard Steve Francis also scored 22 points, including 12 after intermission.

In Oakland, after squandering an 18-point fourth-quarter lead and a 10-point advantage in the final two minutes, the struggling Golden State Warriors finally caught a break.

Chris Mills' jumper after a wild scramble under the basket with 22 seconds to play salvaged what appeared to be a lost cause, lifting the Warriors to a heartstopping 99-95 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Indiana dropped to 0-6 against Western Conference opponents this season.

(Reuter)