Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade each scored 19 points Friday to lead Miami to a 113-82 preseason win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Jason Collier, sporting five stitches under his right eye from a collision with O'Neal's elbow in Monday night's 92-82 Heat victory, committed four fouls in his first nine minutes trying to keep O'Neal away from the basket.
O'Neal also had eight rebounds for the Heat. Kevin Willis led the Hawks with 13 points, while Antoine Walker had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Heat coach Stan Van Gundy has been asking O'Neal to move more and come out farther from the basket, and O'Neal partially obliged with a 7-foot jump shot to score the first points of the game and an 8-foot turnaround jumper the first time he touched the ball in the second quarter.
Otherwise, his presence in the paint forced the Hawks out to the 3-point line, where they went 1-of-9.
Bobcats 69, Trail Blazers 63
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Primoz Brezec had 11 points and 13 rebounds to lead the expansion Charlotte to its first preseason victory with a win over Portland.
Steve Smith added 11 points, including a jumper with 1:35 left that put the Bobcats up by six, and Gerald Wallace had nine points, nine rebounds and eight steals to help Charlotte end a four-game losing streak.
The crowd of 11,391 gave the Bobcats a standing ovation in the closing seconds for their first win since becoming the NBA's 30th member.
Derek Anderson scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half, and Zach Randolph added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Portland, which shot 31 percent and committed 28 turnovers.
Nets 96, Celtics 83
In Boston, Richard Jefferson scored 23 points and Eric Williams added 14 to lead New Jersey past Boston in a preseason game Friday.
The Celtics played without Paul Pierce, who sprained his left ankle against Chicago on Tuesday night. He went through a regular workout Friday afternoon, but took the night off.
Timberwolves 102, Knicks 82
In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Kevin Garnett had 21 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes to lead Minnesota over New York.
Wally Szczerbiak, playing a preseason-high 33 minutes, added 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting for the Timberwolves (3-2) at the Sioux Falls Arena.
Kurt Thomas had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks (2-3), who were coming off a 112-74 loss to Dallas on Thursday.
Pistons 100, Wizards 82
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Ben Wallace made his preseason debut for the Pistons as Detroit scored 21 straight points in the fourth quarter to rout Washington.
Wallace sat out the first four games recovering from an appendectomy. He had 10 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes.
Jazz 101, Kings 88
In Salt Lake City, Utah, Matt Harpring had 10 points and nine rebounds despite missing much of the first half with a bloody nose, and rookie Kris Humphries scored 13 in Utah's victory over Sacramento.
Utah held a medley of Sacramento reserves scoreless for the first 6:47 of the fourth quarter. Kings starters Mike Bibby, Brad Miller and Bobby Jackson all sat out the final period, and Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic did not make the trip.
Lakers 113, Clippers 102
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 25 points as the Los Angeles Lakers got major contributions from their ever-improving reserves to beat the Clippers.
Corey Maggette scored 23 points for the Clippers, whose subs were outscored 63-41 by their counterparts.
Tierre Brown scored 18, and Brian Cook and Tony Bobbitt each added 13 for the Lakers as Elton Brand and Kerry Kittles sat out with injuries.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
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