NBA ROUNDUP | Tuesday's games
Heat 97, Lakers 85
MIAMI -- When LaPhonso Ellis sank an upset-sealing 3-pointer, he gleefully hopped back up court like a 6-foot-8 pogo stick. The Miami Heat were plenty happy about their victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, and with good reason. Beating the three-time defending NBA champions merits prominent mention on the Heat's season highlight reel, which is pretty skimpy so far. Miami caught the Lakers when Shaquille O'Neal was still rusty and Kobe Bryant was battling foul trouble. But since the Heat went in 2-10 and tied for last place in the Atlantic Division, it was still a win to be savored. Eddie Jones led the Heat with 18 points. Bryant scored 21 points and O'Neal 15, and both played just 32 minutes. The Lakers fell to 2-1 since O'Neal's return from toe surgery. O'Neal missed 10 of 15 shots, including an uncontested layup and an alley-oop dunk. He was in midseason form only with his free-throw shooting, going 5-for-9.
Nuggets 85, Spurs 81
DENVER -- Junior Harrington hit a 20-foot jump shot with 8.5 seconds left and preserved the win with a steal as Denver ended a six-game losing streak to the Spurs. Juwan Howard and James Posey had 23 points each for the Nuggets, who hadn't beaten San Antonio since Dec. 14, 2000. Denver has its first three-game winning streak of the season. Tim Duncan had 18 points on 6-for-20 shooting, scoring only four points in the fourth quarter.
Trail Blazers 77, Rockets 71
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Rasheed Wallace scored 16 points -- all in the second half -- and Arvydas Sabonis had a strong all-around game as the Portland Trail Blazers put aside their off-court distractions. Sabonis had six points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and a career-high six blocked shots for the Blazers, who have won four of five. Scottie Pippen added 14 points and six rebounds. Derek Anderson had 12 points and nine assists. Steve Francis led all scorers with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Blazers forward Ruben Patterson, who was arrested and jailed Monday evening on a felony domestic assault charge, was not at the arena.
Jazz 99, Clippers 94
LOS ANGELES -- Matt Harpring scored 24 of his career-high 30 points in the second half, including a tie-breaking layup with 41 seconds left. John Stockton, 0-for-4 from the field in the first half, finished 2-for-9 with nine points -- including a driving layup with 2:24 remaining that made him the 38th player in NBA history to reach 19,000 points. Karl Malone had 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Jazz extended their winning streak to five games after a 3-7 start, and are above .500 for the first time, although none of the eight victories has come against a team with a winning record. Andre Miller had 21 points and nine assists for the Clippers, and Elton Brand added 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Hawks 119, SuperSonics 116, OT
ATLANTA (AP) -- Shareef Abdur-Rahim missed a running jumper at the end of regulation, leaving the score tied, but the Hawks were able to beat the Seattle SuperSonics 119-116 in overtime on Tuesday night. Abdur-Rahim scored 31 points and Glenn Robinson had a season-high 37 points for the Hawks, who prevailed despite a season-high 27 turnovers, miscues that led to 30 Seattle points. Atlanta entered with the NBA's second-worst average in the dubious category -- six coming from Abdur-Rahim.
With the flu sidelining Theo Ratliff, Alan Henderson started at center and pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds to help Atlanta overcome a season-high 32 points from Gary Payton.
Pacers 88, Wizards 84
WASHINGTON -- Reggie Miller is content with a diminished role because his team is winning. Michael Jordan wishes he could say the same. Miller played his first game of the season Tuesday night, returning from an ankle injury to score 13 points in the Pacers' victory. Jermaine O'Neal had a season-high 26 points and a career-high 21 rebounds as the Pacers won for the 10th time in 11 games.