Gilbert Arenas' career-high 47 points weren't enough to end the Washington Wizards' streak of futility against the Miami Heat, who made it 14 in a row over their Southeast Division rivals with a 128-113 victory Friday.
Dwyane Wade scored 34 points, Shaquille O'Neal had 28 points and 10 rebounds, and Antoine Walker had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, who shot 55 percent and pulled away in the fourth quarter for their highest scoring output of the season.
Arenas made 15 of 29 field goals and 13 of 14 free throws and carried his team through three quarters, but he went 1-for-6 in the fourth as part of a team-wide 5-for-22 slump.
Raptors 99, Pacers 97
At Indianapolis, Mike James scored 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Toronto over Indiana.
Charlie Villanueva had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Bosh added 22 points and 12 boards for the Raptors.
Stephen Jackson led the Pacers with 23 points while Fred Jones and Jermaine O'Neal each scored 20.
Indiana led by as many as 16 points in the second half, but Toronto took a 95-93 lead on a James layup with 1:37 left. James scored again, then Morris Peterson dunked after a steal to give Toronto a 99-93 lead with 41 seconds left.
Stephen Jackson was fouled on a 3-point shot and made all three free throws to cut Toronto's lead to 99-96 with 28.4 seconds left. Austin Croshere added a free throw for the final margin.
Magic 107, Timberwolves 87
At Orlando, Jameer Nelson scored a season-high 25 points to lead Orlando over Minnesota.
Steve Francis added 21 points and Grant Hill 17 for the Magic, who have won three straight after losing nine of their previous 11. Dwight Howard had 17 points and 12 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the season.
Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves with 29 points and Wally Szczerbiak added 24.
Orlando's bench outscored Minnesota 40-13 and the Magic held a 42-25 rebounding advantage.
Nets 99, Hawks 91
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Vince Carter scored 37 points and reserve guard Jacque Vaughn had six late in the fourth quarter as New Jersey beat Atlanta for its eighth straight victory.
Richard Jefferson had 21 points, including 11-of-13 from the free throw line for the Nets, whose streak is fourth-longest in franchise history and six short of the record set in 2003-04. Jason Kidd also scored 21 points and added nine assists.
Al Harrington had 26 points for Atlanta. Joe Johnson had 20 and Tyronn Lue 18 for the Hawks, lost their third straight.
Suns 110, Bobcats 100
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Eddie House scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead Phoenix to a victory over Charlotte.
House shot 10-of-18 from the field to help the Suns win their third consecutive game.
It was a redemption of sorts for House, who was waived by the Bobcats last season as they closed in on a trade for shooting guard Kareem Rush. Knowing that House's minutes would dwindle once Rush arrived, Charlotte let him go.
Keith Bogans came off the bench to lead Charlotte with 18 points.
Bucks 113, Knicks 108
At Milwaukee, Mo Williams scored 30 points and Michael Redd added 22 to lead Milwaukee to a victory over struggling New York.
Williams, staring at point guard while T.J. Ford misses two weeks with a sprained foot, led the Bucks' dynamic backcourt as Milwaukee improved to 14-1 when scoring more than 100 points.
Bobby Simmons had 18 points and Jamaal Magloire added 15 for the Bucks.
The Knicks dropped to 7-21 -- matching their worst start since 1986-1987 -- and fell into last place in the Atlantic Division, percentage points behind Toronto (8-22).
Stephon Marbury had 23 points and 12 assists one game after he didn't hit a shot from the field and was criticized by coach Larry Brown. Maurice Taylor scored 18 points, Channing Frye added 15 and Eddy Curry 12.
Warriors 111, Mavericks 109
At Dallas, Baron Davis scored a season-high 34 points, including the go-ahead basket with 0.5 seconds left, to lift Golden State past Dallas.
Jason Richardson had 32 points and Troy Murphy contributed 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Warriors.
Dallas led by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter, but Richardson scored 16 in the final quarter and Davis added eight.
With the game tied at 109, Davis nailed an open 21-footer from the left wing with less than a second left to give the Warriors their first lead of the fourth quarter.
Jason Terry missed a 20-footer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
Golden State beat Dallas for only the third time in the last 26 meetings.
Dirk Nowitzki's 24 points and Jerry Stackhouse's 19 paced the Mavericks, who had won six of their previous seven.
Kings 116, Celtics 112
At Sacramento, California, Mike Bibby had 33 points and 10 assists, Kenny Thomas added a season-high 29 points and the injury-depleted Sacramento finished a dismal December with a win over Boston.
Kevin Martin scored a career-best 22 points for the Kings, who weathered Boston's impressive third-quarter rally with tenacious play in the fourth. Peja Stojakovic, Bonzi Wells and Shareef Abdur-Rahim all missed the game with injuries, but Sacramento won its second straight without three of its top four scorers.
Ricky Davis had a season-high 33 points for the Celtics.
Grizzlies 93, Trail Blazers 90
At Portland, Oregon, Mike Miller scored 15 of his 23 points in the second quarter and Memphis overcame the loss of guard Damon Stoudamire to a serious knee injury, holding on to beat Portland.
Pau Gasol added 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Memphis.
Ruben Patterson scored 22 points and Zach Randolph added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers.
The NBA suspended Kobe Bryant for two games without pay on Friday for elbowing Memphis forward Mike Miller in the throat during the Los Angeles Lakers's 101-99 loss on Wednesday.
Bryant was called for a flagrant foul with 8:24 to play for elbowing Miller. He is scheduled to serve his suspension Sunday, when the Lakers host Utah, and Tuesday, when Los Angeles plays at the Jazz.
"Very surprised. Shocked, actually. Very, very surprised," Bryant said after practice on Friday. "Angry and frustrated. I've been hit with a couple of flagrant fouls already this year. I've been hit with a clothesline and no suspensions come of that. and I get two games for this?"
After the game, Bryant was unapologetic. He had been gashed over his left eye in the third quarter when Miller pushed him in the face with his hand; the cut required three stitches.
"Any player that was going to come down the lane at that point in time, I was going to let him know that he just can't walk through there," Bryant said. "I think we as a team have to do a better job of establishing that. And me, as a leader of the ballclub, I've got to take the initiative to do that -- and hopefully, everybody will see that.
"This being our home court, people come here and think it's Hollywood and all sorts of stuff, so they think they'll come down [the lane] and look pretty and shoot jump shots and dunk the ball and finger-roll the ball and do all sorts of cute stuff. And we've got to stop that."
Bryant said his postgame comments were ``no different than what everybody else says.''
"Somebody comes down the lane, you've got to hit him," he said Friday. "You can't let them come down the lane and just finger roll and get easy baskets. Nothing to hurt anybody like that. That's just basic NBA basketball."
Bryant also said he didn't believe the elbow from Miller was intentional.
"You look at the replay, my face was nowhere near him," Bryant said. "My face was nowhere near his arm.
"I wish I could go back in time and take that foul back knowing what I know now, getting two games for it. But no way in my mind did I think it was going to be a suspension for something like that. No way."
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