Dwyane Wade and Jason Williams each had 24 points and five assists in leading the Miami Heat over the New York Knicks 103-83 on Wednesday for their fourth straight NBA victory.
Antoine Walker added 16 points for the Heat, who have won nine of 11 overall and six in a row against New York.
The last-place Knicks acquired Steve Francis from the Orlando Magic earlier for Trevor Ariza and Penny Hardaway. Francis, who wasn't in uniform, could be paired with Stephon Marbury in a high-scoring -- and very expensive -- backcourt as the Knicks try to salvage a dismal season.
Nets 96, Magic 93
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Jason Kidd scored 28 points and made two free throws with 18 seconds left to help New Jersey defeat Orlando, hours after the Magic traded star guard Steve Francis.
Richard Jefferson added 23 points and Vince Carter scored 22 for New Jersey (30-23), which has won seven of its last nine games. Keyon Dooling scored 23 to lead Orlando (19-34), which has lost eight straight and 12 of 13.
The Magic sent Francis to the New York Knicks for Trevor Ariza and Penny Hardaway.
Ariza sat on the bench in street clothes while Hardaway was not in attendance.
Playing without Francis, their leading scorer at 16 points per game, the Magic still managed to hang with the Nets until the final seconds when Carlos Arroyo's 3-point attempt rimmed out.
76ers 116, Cavaliers 107
At Philadelphia, Allen Iverson scored 29 points and had 12 assists, Andre Iguodala had 25 points and Chris Webber 24 to lead the Philadelphia.
Coming off a fantastic All-Star weekend where he was named MVP of the Rookie Challenge and finished second in the slam dunk contest, Iguodala played like he might deserve to play in the main event one year.
LeBron James -- the All-Star game MVP and about the only player to upstage Iguodala last weekend -- finished with 33 points for Cleveland.
SuperSonics 114, Hawks 109
At Atlanta, Ray Allen scored 33 points and Rashard Lewis added 25, including a pair of key baskets down the stretch to help Seattle end a four-game losing streak.
Lewis led both teams with 10 rebounds.
Al Harrington highscored for Atlanta with 24 points. Josh Childress added 20 and Joe Johnson had 18 points and 11 assists.
Marvin Williams came off the bench to add 17 points and Josh Smith had 14.
Rockets 106, Clippers 102
At Houston, Yao Ming had 29 points and 15 rebounds and Tracy McGrady added 26 points to help Houston hold off the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Rockets led 103-92 with less than three minutes remaining, but the Clippers scored seven straight points, led by a 3-pointer by Cuttino Mobley to cut the lead to four.
Juwan Howard hit two free throws with 20.7 seconds left to extend the lead, but Mobley struck again with another 3 to make it 105-102.
Houston, which struggled early this season, has came on as of late to win eight of its last 10 games.
Jazz 82, Hornets 76
At Oklahoma City, Deron Williams scored eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and Andrei Kirilenko had 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks to help Utah rally against the injury-depleted New Orleans.
The Hornets made only one of their first 16 shots in the fourth quarter as the Jazz reeled off a 22-6 run to claim the lead.
Carlos Boozer and Devin Brown added 14 points apiece for the Jazz, who broke a three-game losing streak in the opening game of a home-and-home series with New Orleans.
Suns 103, Celtics 94
At Phoenix, Shawn Marion scored a career-high 44 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, carrying Phoenix past Boston for its fifth straight win.
By winning for the eighth time in nine games, the Suns increased their Pacific Division lead to a season-high six games over the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-102 losers to the Houston Rockets.
Boris Diaw added 21 points and nine rebounds for the Suns, who scored at least 100 points for the 16th consecutive game.
Delonte West led the Celtics with a career-high 30 points.
Bulls 97, Bucks 91
At Chicago, Kirk Hinrich scored 26 points and Ben Gordon scored all 19 of his points in the second half to lead the Chicago to a win over Milwaukee.
Luol Deng added 12 points and nine rebounds for Chicago and Tyson Chandler had 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Bucks dropped their seventh straight on the road and have not won a game away from the Bradley Center since beating Atlanta on Jan 20.
Michael Redd scored 30 points for Milwaukee, but he had only two points in the fourth quarter.
Bobcats 110, Trail Blazers 106
At Portland, Oregon, Kareem Rush scored 28 points to help Charlotte snap a 12-game road losing streak with a win over Portland.
Gerald Wallace returned from a leg injury that kept him out for 15 games to score 15 points and grab seven rebounds for Charlotte, which had lost five straight overall.
Charlotte led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but Portland whittled away at the lead, and trailed by only five at halftime.
Ruben Patterson had 25 points for the Blazers, who have lost eight of their last 10 games.
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
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but