Print

Mail

wiki links

Shaq's 31 points help Heat edge Pistons

Shaquille O'Neal helped the Miami Heat build a 22-point lead. And when they blew it, he delivered the go-ahead dunk in the final minute to beat the Detroit Pistons.

O'Neal had 31 points and 15 rebounds, both season highs, and the Heat earned their most impressive win yet since losing Dwyane Wade, edging Detroit 85-82 on Friday night.

The Pistons rallied from a 50-28 deficit to take their first lead with 3:14 left. But O'Neal's dunk with 36 seconds to go put the Heat ahead to stay, 82-80.

Detroit missed three 3-point tries in the final 20 seconds that would have tied the game, including one by Chauncey Billups, who finished 2-for-14 from the field. He missed 11 consecutive shots before scoring his first basket with 5 minutes left.

Tayshaun Prince had 22 points and Richard Hamilton finished with 20 for the Pistons, who failed to overcome a season-low 31 points in the first half.

Suns 115, Pacers 90

At Phoenix, Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points apiece and Phoenix overcame the absence of Shawn Marion to beat Indiana for the second time in four days.

Stoudemire, who also had 10 rebounds, was 11-for-13 at the foul line. Nash made eight of 10 shots, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range. Raja Bell added 17 points. Leandro Barbosa had 14 points and 10 assists.

Spurs 98, Magic 74

At San Antonio, Manu Ginobili made six 3-pointers and finished with 31 points to help the Spurs extend their season-high winning streak to seven.

Ginobili had 16 points and five 3s in the third quarter for San Antonio. Tim Duncan added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Michael Finley scored 12 points.

Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic with 22 points and Jameer Nelson had 18.

San Antonio led 43-33 at half-time and outscored the Magic 33-17 in the fourth quarter.

Jazz 109, Timberwolves 83

At Minneapolis, Deron Williams had 21 points and eight assists for the Jazz.

Gordon Giricek made four 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 20 points as Utah's subs outscored their counterparts 51-23.

The Jazz have won three straight road games and four of five overall to widen the gap in the Northwest Division over third-place Minnesota to 13 games.

Bulls 104, Hornets 93

At Chicago, Ben Gordon scored 27 points, and Kirk Hinrich added 11 of his 22 in the fourth quarter to help the Bulls pull away from the Hornets.

Chicago outscored New Orleans 21-5 over the final 7:10 on the way to its fifth win in seven games.

The Hornets went on a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter to take an 88-83 lead, but the Bulls took control after that, scoring nine straight.

Booed throughout in his first game at the United Center since last summer's trade to the Hornets, Tyson Chandler finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds _ his 11th straight double-double and 18th consecutive game with at least 10 rebounds.

Wizards 83, Hawks 92

At Washington, Antawn Jamison scored 22 points in his first game back from a knee injury and Washington snapped a four-game losing streak.

Gilbert Arenas added 19 points for the Wizards, who have won 10 of their last 11 against the Hawks.

Washington prevented its first five-game losing streak of the season with the win against Atlanta, which got 24 points from Josh Smith and 21 from Marvin Williams.

Jamison got off to a fast start, finishing the first quarter with 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

He also had three rebounds and an assist as Washington led 25-24 after one.

Bucks 94, Raptors 81

At Toronto, Michael Redd scored 21 points and Milwaukee won its third straight game.

Charlie Bell added 19 points and Andrew Bogut had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who went 3-17 with Redd out of the lineup with an injured knee.

All-Star Chris Bosh had 14 points on just eight shots for the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, who are 9-2 in their last 11 home games.

In other NBA action it was: Knicks 106, Warriors 97; 76ers 117, Grizzlies 112, OT; Rockets 108, Nuggets 97; Kings 116, Lakers 108.
This story has been viewed 1379 times.