Magic centre Dwight Howard scored 25 points and grabbed another 24 rebounds against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. (Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images)
Dwight Howard had 25 points and 24 rebounds, Ryan Anderson scored 27 and the Orlando Magic hit 17 3-pointers in a 102-89 victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
Anderson had five 3s — all in the first half — and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Magic. Howard posted his 20th double-double of the season.
Orlando fell two shy of its season-high for 3s and set a team record with 42 attempts. The Magic have won four of five since their season-high four-game losing streak. They have also beaten Miami in nine of their last 11 meetings in Orlando.
Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 33 points, but had only 11 after halftime. LeBron James added 17.
Cavaliers 99, Clippers 92
Ramon Sessions scored a season-high 24 points as a last-minute replacement for injured rookie Kyrie Irving and Antawn Jamison scored 27, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Sessions didn't know he was starting until moments before the game when the Cavs diagnosed Irving with a concussion.
Sessions added 13 assists in his first start this season.
Daniel Gibson scored 17 points in his return for Cleveland after missing five games with a neck infection.
Blake Griffin scored 25 before fouling out with 6.6 seconds left for the Clippers, who tied it at 87 with 2:10 left after trailing by 15 in the third quarter. But Gibson made a 3-pointer and Anderson Varejao dropped a key jumper with 29 seconds left - and 1 on the 24-second shot clock - as Cleveland hung on.
Spurs 100, 76ers 90
Of all the impressive numbers on Tony Parker's stat sheet, perhaps the most eye-popping was zero fouls. Parker scored 37 points, Gary Neal added 18 off the bench and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Philadelphia 76ers in a matchup of division leaders.
Tim Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Tiago Splitter scored 15 for the Southwest Division-leading Spurs.
Parker shot 12 for 24, made all 13 of his free throws and handed out eight assists. He played 38 minutes and never got whistled for a foul.
Knicks 107, Wizard 93
Jeremy Lin had 23 points and a career-high 10 assists, and Tyson Chandler scored 25 points and had 11 rebounds to lead the New York Knicks to their third straight win over the Washington Wizards.
Chandler, a 10-year NBA veteran, finished two points short of his career high, but it was again Lin's night. Following his two breakout games of 25 points against New Jersey and 28 in Monday's win against Utah with a dazzling display of his passing and shooting skills, Lin was 9 for 14 from the field, and five of six from the line.
Steve Novak added 19 points for New York, which won its eighth straight over Washington and earned its second three-game winning streak this season.
Washington dropped to 5-21, and failed again for its first two-game winning streak of the season. John Wall led the Wizards with 29 points, but he was easily outdone by Lin.
Hawks 97, Pacers 87
Josh Smith is skeptical about his chances of making the All-Star game for the first time.
He sure played like he deserves to go.
Smith scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in his final game before the All-Star reserves are announced, leading the Hawks to a victory over the Indiana Pacers that snapped Atlanta's three-game home losing streak.
The Hawks, who had fallen behind by big margins in each game on the homestand, finally got off to a good start. Atlanta built a 21-point lead in the first half and withstood repeated runs by Indiana over the final two quarters.
Pistons 99, Nets 92
Greg Monroe had 20 points and 12 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons won their season-high third straight game with a 99-92 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night.
Jonas Jerebko added 16 points and Tayshaun Prince had 15 as the Pistons snapped a seven-game road losing streak. Ben Gordon, playing for the first time in 11 games, added 14 points for Detroit, which almost blew an 18-point second-half lead.
Deron Williams scored 17 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Nets, who have lost four in a row. Jordan Farmar added 22 off the bench and Kris Humphries had a game-high 16 rebounds.
Bulls 90, Hornets 67
Carlos Boozer scored 18 points and the Chicago Bulls won their fourth straight game while nearly holding New Orleans to a franchise low in points during rout.
Joakim Noah had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls. Taj Gibson scored 14 and Kyle Korver 12.
Star guard Derrick Rose started only two days after leaving Chicago's previous game with back spasms. He played 22 minutes and finished with six points, six assists and five rebounds, but the Bulls would have been fine without him.
Chris Kaman scored 17 for the Hornets, who have lost seven straight and 22 of 24. New Orleans made its last six shots, including Marco Belinelli's 3-pointer with a second left, to narrowly surpass the club low of 65 points.
Grizzlies 85, Timberwolves 80
Rudy Gay had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Quincy Pondexter added a career-high 17 points as the Memphis Grizzlies snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Marc Gasol and Dante Cunningham scored 12 apiece, and O. J. Mayo finished with 10 for Memphis despite connecting on only three of 11 shots as the Grizzlies shot just 37 percent overall.
J.J. Barea led the Timberwolves with 17 points and six assists, while Derrick Williams and Michael Beasley had 13 points each. Williams also grabbed nine rebounds. Nikola Pekovic had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Minnesota's starting backcourt combination of Ricky Rubio and Luke Ridnour were a combined 2 of 14 from the field as the Timberwolves shot 39 percent and had a season low for points. They played their second game without leading scorer Kevin Love, who completed his league-ordered two-game suspension for stepping on Houston's Luis Scola.
Mavericks 105, Nuggets 95
Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and the Dallas Mavericks snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the undermanned Denver Nuggets.
Vince Carter added 17 points, and Shawn Marion and Rodrigue Beaubois added 13 points each for the Mavericks, who defeated Denver for the first time in five tries.
Rudy Fernandez and Al Harrington each had 17 points off the bench to lead the Nuggets, who lost their fourth straight. Nene had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Ty Lawson had 16 points along with 10 assists for Denver.
Arron Afflalo (left ankle) and Nene (left heel) returned to the Nuggets' lineup after sitting out Monday night's loss to Houston, but Denver was still without leading scorer Danilo Gallinari (left ankle), along with Timofey Mozgov (left ankle). Corey Brewer took a leave of absence to be with his family this week following the death of his father.
Rockets 103, Trail Blazers 96
PORTLAND — Chase Budinger had 22 points off the bench and the Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 103-96 on Wednesday night.
Houston lost starting guard Kyle Lowry to a right arm injury late in the third quarter and he did not return. The extent of the injury was not immediately known.
Lowry had 12 points before he left. Courtney Lee finished with 16 as the Rockets' bench accounted for 66 points.
Houston led by as many as 19 for its second straight win on the road. The Rockets were coming off a 99-90 victory at Denver on Monday night.
Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 21 points for the Blazers, who rallied to tie the game at 77 on LaMarcus Aldridge's dunk in the fourth quarter. But Portland could not pull ahead.
