Magic rally withers

Gilbert Arenas scored 31 points and Larry Hughes added 30 for Washington, which withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally to beat the Magic, 111-102, last night at Orlando, Fla.

The Wizards led by 24 points to start the final period, but Orlando got as close as 97-92 with four minutes to play before Washington regained control.

Rookie Dwight Howard led the Magic with 22 points, 12 of them in the final period. Steve Francis added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and DeShawn Stevenson had 19 points.

Mavericks 100, 76ers 83 -- Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points, going 14 for 14 from the foul line, and former Philadelphia player Keith Van Horn added 15 points to help visiting Dallas.

The Mavericks won their fourth straight to improve to 7-1 since Avery Johnson replaced coach Don Nelson.

Pistons 97, Clippers 84 -- Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points and defending NBA champion Detroit clinched a playoff spot with a victory over visiting Los Angeles in Larry Brown's return.

Brown was back on the bench after missing 10 games because of complications from surgery in early March related to his hip surgery in November.

Nets 93, Knicks 91 -- Vince Carter scored 31 points and New Jersey moved within a half-game of eighth place in the Eastern Conference -- the cutoff for a postseason berth -- with a victory in New York.

Winning for the eighth time in 10 games, New Jersey passed Orlando in the conference standings and moved a game closer to Philadelphia.

Kings 128, Cavaliers 109 -- Peja Stojakovic, Cuttino Mobley, and Mike Bibby each scored 22 points and visiting Sacramento held off a late Cleveland run. The Kings set a season high in points and beat the Cavaliers for the ninth straight time.

Suns 107, Timberwolves 98 -- Steve Nash scored 12 of his 28 points in the last nine minutes and host Phoenix snapped Minnesota's five-game winning streak, delivering a blow to the Timberwolves' last-ditch attempt to make the playoffs. The ninth-place Timberwolves (38-35) are three games behind Denver and Memphis.

Nuggets 102, Spurs 84 -- Marcus Camby had 15 points, 10 rebounds, 8 blocks, and 5 assists helping Denver beat visiting San Antonio for its 16th win in 18 games.

The Nuggets played without power forward Kenyon Martin (ribs) for the third straight game, then lost guard Greg Buckner to a broken hand in the second quarter.

SuperSonics 89, Trail Blazers 87 -- Ray Allen scored 19 points and Damien Wilkins added 17 in place of injured All-Star Rashard Lewis, leading host Seattle over Portland.

Warriors 108, Jazz 91 -- Derek Fisher scored 19 points as Golden State won in Salt Lake City for the first time in more than 10 years.

Raptors 119, Bobcats 107 -- Chris Bosh scored 27 points and Jalen Rose had 23 to lead visiting Toronto.

Hornets 76, Rockets 73 -- Lee Nailon came off the bench to score 16 points and fellow reserve Dan Dickau added 14, helping visiting New Orleans rally from an 18-point second-half deficit.

Grizzlies 93, Bucks 82 -- Pau Gasol scored 20 points to help visiting Memphis snap a three-game losing streak.