Heat beats Lakers with team offense

Shaquille O'Neal, right, of the Heat, drives past the LA Lakers defense during the first half of their game at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, Thursday. PHOTO: EPA

Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Keyon Dooling scored eight of his season-high 17 points in the fourth quarter Thursday to help the Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Lakers 102-89.

It was the 11th straight win and a single-season record 14th straight at home for Miami (51-16), which moved nine games ahead of Detroit in the Eastern Conference standings and within percentage points of San Antonio (49-15) for the league's best record.

"We just look at this game as another game," said O'Neal, who enjoyed a season sweep at his former teammate's expense. "We wanted to stay focused and our guys did a beautiful job of not letting anything enter into the locker room that would break our focus."

Bryant 21 points in the first half for Los Angeles, but missed his first nine shots after halftime and finished with 26 points on 8-for-23 shooting. Chucky Atkins had 23 for the Lakers, who dropped their third straight and fell 1 1/2 games behind Denver for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Miami Los Angeles 33-22 in the fourth quarter. A 7-0 burst midway through the quarter put the Heat up 84-73 with 7:03 left, and Miami wasn't seriously threatened again.

"We played well for 36 minutes tonight," Lakers coach Frank Hamblen said. "Unfortunately, the game is 48."

Mavericks 98, Trail Blazers 94

In Dallas, Josh Howard had 21 points and 11 rebounds as Dallas overcame an off night by top scorer Dirk Nowitzki to beat Portland.

Howard Thursday morning's shootaround because of the stomach flu, but felt well enough to start. He scored 10 of Dallas' last 20 points, including a critical 3-pointer to break a 90-90 tie with 1:59 left.

Michael Finley had 17 points and Marquis Daniels added 16 for the Mavericks, who had lost three of their previous five home games.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Damon Stoudamire had 20 points each for the lottery-bound Trail Blazers, who've lost three in a row and nine of 10.

Warriors 100, Kings 97

In Oakland, California, Jason Richardson hit a long jump shot with 27.1 seconds left and finished with 40 points to lead Golden State over Sacramento.

After Richardson's basket, the Kings missed four shots, including 3-point attempts by Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic just before the final buzzer.

Cuttino Mobley had 28 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento.

Johnny Davis was fired on Thursday as coach of the Orlando Magic, which has lost six straight NBA games and is on the verge of falling from playoff contention.

Assistant Chris Jent was named interim coach.

"We work in a bottom-line business," general manager John Weisbrod said in a statement. "It is our responsibility to do everything possible to create the best opportunity for success."

Davis dismissed along with assistant coach Ron Ekker hours after Wednesday's 110-102 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, dropping the Magic to 31-33 and leaving it tied with Philadelphia for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

The team, in the middle of a West Coast road swing, plays on Friday at Seattle.

Davis the Orlando Sentinel he was "surprised and disappointed" by the firing with just 18 games left in the season.

"It caught me completely off guard," Davis told the newspaper.

Jent, who spent two seasons in the NBA and was a member of the 1994 champion Houston Rockets, became a Magic assistant this season and is a head coach for the first time. He was promoted over assistant Paul Westhead, who coached the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1980 title and later coached the Denver Nuggets.

Davis hired as coach on Nov. 17, 2003, replacing Doc Rivers when last season's team was 1-10 and on its way to losing 19 straight.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee off the first upset of the US college basketball tournament, stunning Alabama 83-73 on Thursday.

Joah Tucker and Ed McCants scored 21 points apiece as the Milwaukee Panthers (25-5) won its first NCAA tourney game in its second try. Two years ago, the 12th-seeded Panthers nearly knocked off Notre Dame, losing 70-69.

The underrated Horizon League champions finished the job this time, outplaying one of the South Eeast Conference's top programs and continuing a trend of No. 12s beating No. 5s in March.

Kennedy Winston had 20 points and Ronald Steele 16 for the Alabama Crimson Tide (24-8), who had hoped to have another run like a year ago when they made it to the round of eight. But Alabama got outplayed by a lesser-known opponent from a little-known conference playing in a friendly arena in the Chicago Regional.

If anyone has a home-court advantage it's the Panthers, who won here three weeks ago and have four straight victories on Cleveland State's home floor.

Milwaukee has won 10 straight and 18 of 19.

Boston College 85,

Pennsylvania 65

At Cleveland, Jared Dudley led a balanced attack with 18 points to pace Boston College.

Next is Milwaukee-Wisconsin, which advanced to the second round of the Chicago Regional by upsetting Alabama.

On Friday, Boston College (25-4) will be going against its former mascot. Milwaukee's Bruce Pearl failed to make the Eagles' basketball team as a walk-on and filled in as the feathery mascot for one NCAA tournament game in 1981.

Tim Begley finished with 19 points for Penn (20-9).

Kentucky 72, Eastern Kentucky 64

In Indianapolis, Kelenna Azubuike and Chuck Hayes each scored 16 points and second-seeded Kentucky dominated the middle to hold off state rival Eastern Kentucky.

Kentucky extended its record for NCAA tournament victories to 94 and is now 37-9 in NCAA tournament openers. The Wildcats advanced to Saturday's second round of the Austin Regional and will face either Cincinnati or Iowa.

The Colonels (22-9) were led by Matt Witt with 21 points and Michael Haney with 12 points, but their first tournament appearance since 1979 ended quickly.

Cincinnati 76, Iowa 64

Jason Maxiell had 22 points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots and a pair of steals to help Cincinnati advance to the second round.

The Bearcats (25-7) play Kentucky next in the Austin Regional.

With the 6-foot-7 Maxiell repeatedly swatting away shots under the basket and Iowa unable to hit from the outside, the Bearcats limited the Hawkeyes to just one field goal and three free throws in the first 11 minutes of the game.

Jeff Horner had 12 points for the Hawkeyes (21-12), whose leading scorer for the season, Pierre Pierce, was kicked off the team in February after his arrest for assault.

Utah 60, UTEP 54

In Tucson, Arizona, Utah escaped with a victory thanks to a brilliant bit of defense by Tim Drisdom and a critical rebound from an exhausted Andrew Bogut.

With Utah leading 56-54, UTEP's lightning-fast point guard Filiberto Rivera drove the lane. Drisdom stripped the ball away, then was fouled by Rivera. Drisdom's two free throws made it 58-54 with 15.4 seconds to play.

Bogut all 40 minutes and had 24 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Omar Thomas led the 11th-seeded Miners (27-8) with 24 points.

Oklahoma 84, Niagara 67

Drew Lavender led six Oklahoma Sooners in double figures with 17 points.

The third-seeded Sooners (25-7), who didn't make the tourney last year, struggled with 46 percent field-goal shooting, but were helped out by solid defense that harassed the Eagles into 16 turnovers in the Austin Regional game.

Juan Mendez led the 14th-seeded Eagles (20-10) with 22 points and 15 rebounds.

Washington 88, Montana 77

In Boise, Idaho, Brandon Roy had 17 points and Tre Simmons added 15 to pace top-seeded Washington, which won an NCAA tournament game for the first time since reaching the round of 16 in 1998.

The Huskies (28-5) move on to face Pacific in the second round Saturday of the Albuquerque Regional.

Montana led by Kamarr Davis' 24 points, rallied from a dismal start before fading.

Pacific 79, Pittsburgh 71

In Boise, Idaho, Pacific survived a sloppy second half and advanced in the Albuquerque Regional.

Christian Maraker came back after slamming his head to the floor in the first half and scored 17 points, including a late 3-pointer that helped clinch it and get the eighth-seeded Tigers (27-3) through the first round for the second straight year.

Mike Webb scored a career-high 15 points, going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc to help the Tigers to a 45-30 halftime lead that held up through several Pitt rallies in the second half.