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.
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
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