The New Jersey Nets won their 13th straight game on Tuesday, holding off Atlanta for a 96-94 victory on a night when they also clinched their fourth Atlantic Division title in the last five years.
Vince Carter scored 27 points for the Nets, who tied Dallas for the longest winning streak in the NBA this season and moved to within one of the franchise record set in 2003-2004. The division title was actually sealed with second-place Philadelphia's 124-91 loss to Cleveland earlier on Tuesday.
Atlanta (22-51), which cut a 23-point fourth-quarter deficit to one point, lost for the 12th time in 14 games. Joe Johnson scored 33 points to lead the Hawks.
PHOTO: AP
Heat 115, Bucks 89
At Miami, Shaquille O'Neal had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead a balanced Miami effort.
The Heat never trailed and had six players in double figures, including all five starters. Udonis Haslem scored 16 points and Dwyane Wade had 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Miami, which won for only the fourth time in its last eight games.
Charlie Bell had 20 of his season-high 29 points in the first half for Milwaukee, which came in averaging 110.8 points in its previous five outings.
Cavaliers 124, 76ers 91
At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 37 points to lead Cleveland past Philadelphia for its ninth straight win as the playoff-bound Cavaliers got one player back from injury and lost another.
Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas sprained his left ankle in the first quarter and did not return. Cleveland guard Larry Hughes played for the first time since Dec. 31.
Allen Iverson scored 38 points to lead Philadelphia. The 76ers, battling the Chicago Bulls for the last playoff berth in the East, had a two-game winning streak snapped and lost for the eighth time in 11 games.
Celtics 124, Raptors 120
At Toronto, Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak scored 22 points apiece to help Boston beat Toronto.
Morris Peterson had 32 points and eight rebounds to lead the Raptors (26-48), who lost their fifth straight game. Mike James added 25 points and Matt Bonner had 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
With eight games still to go in the regular season, the Raptors will miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season. They finished 33-49 last season.
Wizards 105, Knicks 90
At Washington, a game against the worst team in the East was an ideal homecoming for Washington, which got 13 points and a season-high 13 assists from Gilbert Arenas.
Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler scored 18 points apiece to lead six players in double figures for the Wizards, who shot 49 percent and capitalized on New York's season-high 28 turnovers. Arenas matched his season high with six steals.
Jackie Butler scored a career-high 22 points for the Knicks, who lost their ninth straight.
Pistons 101, Hornets 93
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Antonio McDyess had a season-high 26 points and added 14 rebounds to help Detroit beat New Orleans for its 60th win.
The Pistons have won five straight, and need four wins in their final eight games to break the 1988-1989 team's franchise record of 63 wins.
Rasheed Wallace missed the game after picking up an automatic one-game suspension for receiving 16 technical fouls. While McDyess took most of his minutes, it was Dale Davis who started, ending Detroit's NBA-record streak at 73 straight games with the same lineup.
Bobcats 97, Timberwolves 92
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Primoz Brezec muscled in a layup over several defenders with 54 seconds to play, then added a pair of free throws to help Charlotte a win over Minnesota.
It was the 12th-straight road loss for the Timberwolves, tying a mark for futility set 12 years ago. Minnesota had not lost 12 in a row on the road since March 26-Nov. 8, 1994.
Grizzlies 100, Warriors 75
At Memphis, Tennessee, Chucky Atkins scored 22 points and Pau Gasol finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists to help Memphis beat Golden State.
Jake Tsakalidis added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who swept the three-game season series from the Warriors.
Memphis built the double-digit lead in the second period, outscoring the Warriors 27-9 and Golden State never threatened again, dropping their fifth straight.
Derek Fisher scored 17 points and Troy Murphy added 13 and 10 rebounds for Golden State, which benched its starters with about nine minutes left in the game.
Mavericks 127, Kings 101
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points, Josh Howard had 23 and Josh Powell dazzled during a game-breaking stretch of the second quarter, helping Dallas shatter Sacramento's nearly monthlong run of strong defense.
Sacramento, which is trying to hold onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, hadn't allowed more than 98 points its last 13 games -- but gave up 63 in the first half. Dallas broke 100 with 54 seconds left in the third quarter and wound up topping its season-high for points by six.
Bonzi Wells led Sacramento with 30 points and seven rebounds.
Bulls 102, Pacers 96
At Chicago, Ben Gordon scored 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and the surging Chicago moved closer to a playoff spot, rallying from a 17-point deficit to beat struggling Indiana.
The Bulls (34-40) moved within a half-game of Philadelphia -- which lost by 33 points to Cleveland -- for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and 1.5 games of the seventh-place Pacers. Chicago was to visit the 76ers yesterday and host them on Saturday.
Spurs 95, Jazz 86
At Salt Lake City, Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the Spurs held off Utah to maintain their 2.5-game lead for the top seed in the Western Conference.
The Spurs led by 24 in the second quarter and 18 at halftime, but had to stave off several rallies by the Jazz, who were within five points with about 3 minutes left.
San Antonio (58-16) kept its margin over Dallas, which beat Sacramento 127-101 on Tuesday in a game that really could have helped Utah's playoff hopes. Instead, the Jazz started and ended the night 2.5 games behind the Kings for the No. 8 spot in the West.
SuperSonics 104, Rockets 87
At Seattle, Ray Allen scored 32 points and moved into a tie for second place on the NBA's career 3-pointers list as the Seattle beat Houston.
Allen moved even with Dale Ellis, who played six-plus seasons for Seattle, for second all-time each with 1,719 3-pointers. Allen shot 11-for-22 and made three 3-pointers, all in the second half.
Chris Wilcox outplayed Yao Ming on the interior, finishing with 26 points and a career-high 24 rebounds.
Yao led the Rockets with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Clippers 111, Nuggets 109
At Los Angeles, Sam Cassell scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame a 22-point deficit and 81.6 percent shooting by Denver in the first half to beat the Nuggets.
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