NBA ROUNDUP Friday’s games

NBA ROUNDUP
Friday’s games

Magic 121, Heat 114, OT

MIAMI — Even a supreme scoring effort by Dwyane Wade wasn’t enough for Miami to beat Orlando. Dwight Howard had 29 points and 20 rebounds, Hedo Turkoglu capped his 22-point night by hitting a huge 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and the Magic survived some late-game Miami heroics to beat the Heat, giving coach Stan Van Gundy a victory in his return to South Florida. Wade matched a career high with 48 points, 20 of them coming in the fourth quarter and all of them in regulation for Miami.

Hornets 99, Bobcats 85

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — David West had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and New Orleans turned in another dominating performance. Quietly coming into the game with the third-best record in the Western Conference, the Hornets posted their fourth straight blowout win by quickly putting away the sleepwalking Bobcats with alley-oop dunks, uncontested shots and energized defense. Tyson Chandler had 17 points and 17 rebounds, and Chris Paul had 17 points and 11 assists for the Hornets, who made their fourth trip to Charlotte since bolting the city for New Orleans six years ago. And their current streak of four wins by 80 points is giving the Hornets hope they can contend in the difficult West. The fourth-year Bobcats, who came into the season thinking they could reach the playoffs for the first time, were never in the game in their third straight loss as they fell seven games under .500. Jason Richardson scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half, Nazr Mohammed added 15 points and 14 rebounds and Gerald Wallace scored 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting for the Bobcats, who at times, didn’t even have a home-court advantage.

Nets 109, Wizards 106

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Richard Jefferson had 26 points, Vince Carter added 24 and Jason Kidd just missed his 95th triple-double, leading New Jersey over Washington. Kidd finished with 20 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds as New Jersey earned only its fourth win in the last 14 home games. Sean Williams had 14 points, including a pair of clutch dunks in the fourth quarter, and 10 rebounds. Bostjan Nachbar had 12 points. Caron Butler led all scorers with 28 for the Wizards. Antawn Jamison had 27 points and 13 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the season and 200th of his career. Nick Young had 15 points, Brendan Haywood 13 and Roger Mason Jr. 12.

Pistons 114, Pacers 101

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Richard Hamilton had 23 points and nine assists, and Detroit beat Indiana for its seventh straight victory. The Pistons have won 14 of 16 since an 8-5 start to the season. Indiana has lost three of four. The teams play again Saturday night in Indiana. Tayshaun Prince added 15 points for Detroit, while Chauncey Billups scored 14. Jermaine O’Neal led the Pacers with 25 and Troy Murphy scored 12, but no other Indiana starter reached double figures.

Rockets 103, Grizzlies 83

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Yao Ming scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots and Luis Scola also scored 22 points to help Houston offset the absence of Tracy McGrady. Shane Battier scored 18 points, going 3-for-4 from outside the 3-point arc for Houston. For Scola, the 6-foot-9 rookie out of Argentina, the 22 points were a career- high. The victory marked the first time this season that Houston has won when one of its starters sat out a game with an injury. McGrady missed the game with left knee tendinitis. The Rockets entered the game 0-6 when one of their starters was missing. The Rockets made up for the loss of McGrady’s 22.8 point average with balanced scoring as six Houston players finished in double figures. Bonzi Wells, Rafer Alston and Aaron Brooks added 10 points each, although Alston and Wells were a combined 8-of-28 from the field. Pau Gasol led Memphis with 23 points, but the Grizzlies struggled from the field, shooting 36 percent. Darko Milicic scored 12 for Memphis, and Mike Miller added 11. Kyle Lowry and Stromile Swift finished with 10 points each for the Grizzlies, who lost for the 11th time in the last 13 games.

Raptors 83, Spurs 73

SAN ANTONIO — Jason Kapono scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter as Toronto handed San Antonio its second home loss of the season. The Raptors, who enjoyed a nearly weeklong layoff, snapped a three-game losing streak. Kris Humphries added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Toronto, and Jose Calderon contributed 14 points. Michael Finley led the Spurs with 20 points and Tony Parker added 15. Tim Duncan scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. The Spurs shot poorly from the field (32 percent) and struggled without super sub Manu Ginobili, who is out with a sprained left index finger. Chris Bosh, coming off a career-high 42 points in the Raptors’ loss to Phoenix on Saturday, scored 10. Andrea Bargnani added 11 for Toronto.

Bulls 103, Bucks 99

CHICAGO — Ben Gordon scored 19 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter and Chicago beat Milwaukee to give Jim Boylan a win in his debut as interim coach. Boylan was promoted from his assistant’s role Thursday, replacing Scott Skiles, who was fired on Christmas Eve after the Bulls’ horrendous start. Chicago is now 10-17. As his first major move, Boylan changed the starting lineup, replacing Gordon with Chris Duhon, hoping that Gordon — former sixth man of the year — would provide instant scoring off the bench. Gordon responded with a big final quarter when he went 10-of-11 from the line. Luol Deng added 28 for Chicago. Michael Redd paced the Bucks with 34. Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak was ejected with 1:18 left after picking up his second technical foul when he angrily came on the floor toward official Derrick Collins during a timeout. The blowup came seconds after Deng’s follow shot had put the Bulls up 95-91. Moments earlier, Chicago had been awarded possession after a loose ball scramble. A replay appeared to show the ball went off Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich.

Associated Press