Yao too hot for the Heat

Yao Ming easily won his matchup with Shaquille O'Neal, finishing with 34 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to their fourth straight victory, 94-72, over the Heat last night in Miami.

Yao scored 20 points in the second half, when Houston outscored Miami by 25 points. Tracy McGrady added 12 points and eight assists. Dwyane Wade led Miami with 24 points, but had only 8 in the second half.

Nets 105, Wizards 93 -- Vince Carter's 34 points included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime, and Jason Kidd's 77th career triple double included 18 assists, leading New Jersey to victory in Washington.

The Nets dominated overtime, led by Carter's 8 points and Nenad Krstic's 6.

Mavericks 103, Trail Blazers 96 -- Dirk Nowitzki had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and visiting Dallas held off Portland. Portland briefly went ahead, 46-44, on Martell Webster's 3-pointer to start the second half, but the Mavericks then took control and led, 73-61, on Nowitzki's layup.

Nuggets 108, Bobcats 101 -- Carmelo Anthony scored 36 points and visiting Denver forced Charlotte into a franchise-worst 29 turnovers.

Clippers 92, Hornets 76 -- Elton Brand had 22 points and 10 rebounds and five other players scored in double figures for host Los Angeles.

Kings 107, Raptors 92 -- Kevin Martin scored 26 points and Sacramento extended its home winning streak against Toronto to nine games.

Lakers 91, Grizzlies 81 -- Kobe Bryant scored 21 points, Lamar Odom had 20 points and 16 rebounds, and host Los Angeles beat hapless Memphis in Phil Jackson's 500th game as the Lakers' coach.