PHILADELPHIA — Marreese Speights planned to play in blowouts. Win in a rout or get crushed, and Philadelphia's first-round pick would take the court.

Boy, has Speights blown away the 76ers' preseason expectations. Now when they trounce a team, the forward is the one leading the way.

Speights had a career-high 24 points and forward Thaddeus Young scored 25 points to lift the 76ers to their third straight, a 108-91 win over Phoenix on Monday night.

Speights dunked, alley-ooped and slammed some more when he scored 10 straight points in a second-quarter charge that turned this one from a tight game into a fast 14-point lead for the Sixers.

"We did not expect that he would contribute the way he has so quickly," head coach Tony DiLeo said.

Speights fell only a point shy in the first half of matching his career of 17. He scored 16 of 18 points in one stretch to help the Sixers take a 55-44 lead at the break.

"Marreese Speights was able to show what he can do," guard Andre Iguodala said.

He piled up the points mostly on dunks, the highlight a one-hander down the baseline off a toss from Andre Miller. Speights has been the biggest benefactor of Elton Brand's absence — his scoring average in games without Brand is 10.2 points per game compared to 7.8 overall. Speights scored 15 in the last game against Miami and has given the Sixers every reason to believe they can gain ground in the Eastern Conference standings.

"Anytime somebody throws the ball at the rim, I'm going to try and get it," Speights said. "You can throw it anywhere and I'm going to get it."

Team president Ed Stefanski said last week that Speights, their first-round pick out of Florida, wasn't even in the preseason mix of players expected to make a meaningful contribution. He surely will be expected to make an impact if Philadelphia makes the postseason. Speights was 11 of 16 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds.

Bobcats 94, Clippers 73

In Charlotte, N.C., Emeka Okafor had 19 points and 16 rebounds, Vladimir Radmanovic hit three fourth-quarter 3-pointers in his debut, and the Bobcats pulled away from road-weary Los Angeles to snap a five-game losing streak.

Boris Diaw and Raymond Felton added 15 points apiece for the injury-riddled Bobcats, who depended on Radmanovic two days after he was acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite not having practiced with his new team, Radmanovic hit two long jumpers in a 15-2 run that broke open a close game. He added another 3 to put Charlotte ahead 88-70 with 4 minutes left.

Zach Randolph finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds and Eric Gordon scored 17 for the Clippers, who fizzled in the fourth quarter in the finale of a seven-game road trip.

Grizzlies 85, Hornets 80

In Memphis, Tenn., O.J. Mayo had 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for his first double-double, while Mike Conley scored 18 and handed out eight assists to lead the Grizzlies past short-handed New Orleans.

Hakim Warrick had 15 points and a season-high 14 rebounds, while Marc Gasol added
10 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis, which has won two straight and four of its last five.

Peja Stojakovic scored 23 points to lead the Hornets, who were without their top three players in Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler and David West.

Paul and Chandler were out with injuries, while West was suspended for the game after his flagrant foul against Minnesota's Mike Miller on Sunday.

Bucks 124, Rockets 112

In Milwaukee, Charlie Villanueva scored 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and sparked a big second-half run as the Bucks snapped an eight-game losing streak against Houston.

Ramon Sessions scored 26 points and had seven assists, Richard Jefferson added 25 points and reserve Charlie Bell had 21 for the Bucks, who are missing three starters to injury and trying to stay competitive in the Eastern Conference.

Houston had won three of the previous four, but gave up more than 104 points in its fifth straight road game. Aaron Brooks scored a career-high 23 points.