O'Neal, Heat win 9th in row
Shaquille O'Neal scored 23 points, Eddie Jones and Jason Williams had 19 apiece, and the Heat extended the NBA's longest current winning streak to nine games with a 103-97 victory over the Sacramento Kings last night in Miami.
James Posey added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the defending champion Heat, who've won 14 straight at home and pulled into a virtual tie with Washington for the Southeast Division lead. Miami (36-29) is 2 percentage points behind the Wizards (35-28), who were idle last night and host New Orleans today.
"How quickly people forget the type of players we've got in this locker room," Udonis Haslem said. "We've got guys who've made All-Stars, who've made a lot of money and had great careers in this league and can still make plays . . . And this is the situation they're used to being in."
Jones went 5 for 6 and Williams 5 for 9 from 3-point range for Miami, which connected on 13 of 21 -- a season-best 62 percent -- from beyond the arc.
Ron Artest had his first double-double in more than a month, 32 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento, which dropped its fifth straight. Mike Bibby scored 21 points and Shareef Abdur-Rahin added 18 for the Kings. Sacramento has lost seven straight to Miami.
Pistons 105, Suns 83 -- Ronald Murray scored a season-high 25 points and Detroit completed its first 5-0 road sweep through the West in 15 years and snapped Phoenix's six-game winning streak.
Murray, playing most of the night in place of injured Chauncey Billups, made 12 of 16 shots and had a season-best six steals. Billups left the game with a strained left groin midway through the second quarter.
Rasheed Wallace scored 20 points, including 4 of 6 3-pointers, and Chris Webber added 17 for Detroit.
Amare Stoudemire had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Suns, and Steve Nash added 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
Hornets 92, Knicks 90 -- David West made the go-ahead jumper with 55 seconds remaining, and visiting New Orleans snapped a six-game losing streak.
West finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who erased an 18-point deficit. Chris Paul, playing with a stress reaction in his left foot, had 20 points and eight assists, and Rasual Butler scored 17 points.
Steve Francis had 21 points and 10 assists, but missed a potential winning 3-pointer as the Knicks had a disappointing start to a four-game homestand.
76ers 89, Jazz 88 -- Kyle Korver made the winning basket with 5.1 seconds left and Andre Iguodala scored 23 points to lead host Philadelphia past Utah.
Korver got a shot at redemption after his offensive foul led to a Carlos Boozer basket that put the Jazz ahead.
Sixers center Samuel Dalembert hit Gordan Giricek and knocked the guard down on a hard screen, and it was enough to free Korver, who hit the winner. Giricek grabbed his right side and needed help off the court.
Rockets 114, Raptors 100 -- Tracy McGrady scored 24 points, Yao Ming added 23 points and 12 rebounds, and visiting Houston never trailed in a victory over Toronto.
T.J. Ford had 18 points and eight assists for the Raptors, who lost for the first time in five games.
Clippers 102, Bobcats 93 -- Tim Thomas came off the bench to score 24 points and visiting Los Angeles rallied to beat Charlotte.
