Heat turn up defense in win

Shaquille O'Neal had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Miami held Cleveland to 36 percent shooting on the way to beating the visiting Cavaliers, 86-81, yesterday -- the Heat's first win since star guard Dwyane Wade dislocated his shoulder last week.

Jason Kapono had 17 points and 11 rebounds for his second career double double and Alonzo Mourning added 15 points in 18 minutes for the Heat (27-28), who improved to 2-7 this season without Wade, the reigning NBA Finals MVP who suffered the shoulder injury last Wednesday and is expected to miss several weeks.

LeBron James had game highs of 29 points and seven assists for the Cavaliers (32-24), who fell to 1-12 when shooting less than 40 percent.

Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, playing his first game since his wife went into pre-term labor and delivered stillborn twins earlier this month, had 8 points and nine rebounds.

Nets 101, Knicks 92 -- Vince Carter scored 40 points to lead host New Jersey past New York.

The win moved the Nets (27-30), who are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, two games ahead of the Knicks in both the Atlantic Division and playoff race. Stephon Marbury paced the Knicks with 22 points.

Pistons 95, Bulls 93 -- Chris Webber made a putback with 2.2 seconds left and matched a season high with 21 points to lift Detroit over Chicago in Auburn Hills, Mich.

In his first game at The Palace since leaving to play for Chicago, Ben Wallace wanted to get a reaction from the crowd and he got one. He was greeted by a mix of boos and cheers when he was introduced, then was booed virtually every time he touched the ball. He finished with 6 points and eight rebounds.

Suns 115, Hawks 106 -- Amare Stoudemire scored a season-high 43 points and added 16 rebounds and Phoenix beat Atlanta to improve to 13-0 in road games against the Eastern Conference.

Shawn Marion had 21 points and Leandro Barbosa added 19 as the Suns moved closer to their hopes of completing an undefeated swing through the conference. The Suns have visits left at Indiana tomorrow and Philadelphia Wednesday as they try to become the first NBA team to sweep its interconference road schedule.

Kings 110, Pacers 93 -- Kevin Martin scored 35 points, Mike Bibby added 28, and Sacramento beat host Indiana without Ron Artest.

Artest was a no-show against his former team for personal reasons, a team spokesman said without elaborating. Indiana fans disliked Artest for his role in the brawl between Pacers players and Pistons fans two seasons ago and for his public trade request last season.

Timberwolves 98, Wizards 94 -- Ricky Davis scored 27 points and Kevin Garnett added 26 points and 17 rebounds, helping host Minnesota hold on to beat Washington.

Lakers 102, Warriors 85 -- Maurice Evans scored a career-high 26 points and Kobe Bryant also had 26, helping visiting Los Angeles beat Golden State for the seventh straight time.

Rockets 97, Magic 93 -- Tracy McGrady had 34 points, including a rally-deflating 20-foot jumper with 33 seconds left, to help visiting Houston beat Orlando.