Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Magic breaks another streak

Times wires
Saturday, December 25, 2010

ORLANDO — The remolded Magic is the NBA's new streak-buster.

Brandon Bass had 21 points, Hedo Turkoglu had 15 and Orlando ended the Celtics' winning streak at 14 games 86-78 on Saturday for back-to-back wins against the NBA's best.

A Magic team that had lost eight of nine and orchestrated two blockbuster trades suddenly looks awfully scary in the Eastern Conference after victories over Boston and San Antonio.

"You see what the possibilities are," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "You see that you have a chance to be a really good team. We're not there yet by any means, but you have a chance to be a very good team. And I think that right there, that belief and that confidence that, if we will stay with it, we can be very good.

"That's a great thing for our team to get that belief that, yeah, this can work. We can do this."

Jameer Nelson (12 points) and J.J. Redick (10 points) made jumpers in the final minutes to help Orlando rally from 12 points down in the second half to cap another big comeback. The Magic ended the Spurs' 10-game winning streak Thursday night.

Kevin Garnett had 22 points and Paul Pierce 18, but injuries finally caught up with the Celtics against the team they beat last season in the East finals.

Heat pounds Lakers

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists while hitting a season-high five 3-pointers, and the Heat thrived on the holiday stage in a 96-80 victory over Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

Chris Bosh had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 18 points on a sore knee and Miami won its 14th in 15 games while flustering the two-time defending champions into a terrible offensive performance.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS: Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton had 20 points each, and the host Knicks held the Bulls to two baskets in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, pulling away for a 103-95 victory. … NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant had a season-high 44 points, 21 in the third quarter, and the host Thunder beat the Nuggets 114-106.

AROUND THE LEAGUE: The Wizards suspended forward Andray Blatche and center JaVale McGee for tonight's game for conduct detrimental to the team. The Washington Post reported that the two were involved in an altercation outside a Washington-area club early Friday.

Magic 86, Celtics 78

BOSTON (78): Pierce 6-14 4-4 18, Garnett 10-14 2-4 22, S.O'Neal 1-3 0-0 2, Robinson 2-15 2-2 7, R.Allen 3-13 2-3 9, Davis 4-12 8-8 16, Daniels 1-6 0-0 2, J.O'Neal 1-4 0-0 2, Bradley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-81 18-21 78.

ORLANDO (86): Turkoglu 6-10 0-0 16, Bass 8-15 5-6 21, Howard 1-4 4-10 6, Nelson 3-9 4-4 12, J.Richardson 2-8 0-0 5, Anderson 2-9 5-6 10, Redick 4-7 1-1 11, Arenas 2-9 0-2 5. Totals 28-71 19-29 86.

Boston 20 26 17 15— 78

Orlando 19 17 21 29— 86

3-Point GoalsBoston 4-17 (Pierce 2-4, R.Allen 1-5, Robinson 1-7, Daniels 0-1), Orlando 11-29 (Turkoglu 4-8, Redick 2-4, Nelson 2-6, J.Richardson 1-3, Arenas 1-3, Anderson 1-5). Fouled OutS.O'Neal. ReboundsBoston 53 (Pierce, Davis 8), Orlando 56 (Howard 11). AssistsBoston 15 (Pierce 5), Orlando 16 (Turkoglu 4). Total FoulsBoston 24, Orlando 18. TechnicalsPierce, Boston Coach Rivers, Boston defensive three second, Howard, Orlando Coach Van Gundy, Orlando defensive three second. A19,013 (18,500).

Heat 96, Lakers 80

MIAMI (96): James 8-14 6-6 27, Bosh 11-17 2-3 24, Ilgauskas 3-5 0-0 6, Arroyo 1-5 0-0 2, Wade 6-17 6-6 18, Howard 0-2 1-2 1, Jones 1-6 0-0 3, Dampier 1-1 0-0 2, Chalmers 4-11 2-3 13, Anthony 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-79 17-20 96.

L.A. LAKERS (80): Artest 3-8 0-0 8, Odom 6-12 2-6 14, Gasol 8-17 1-1 17, Fisher 2-3 0-0 6, Bryant 6-16 4-5 17, Barnes 1-4 0-0 2, Bynum 3-5 0-0 6, Blake 0-5 0-0 0, Brown 3-9 3-3 10, Walton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-79 10-15 80.

Miami 20 27 28 21— 96

L.A. Lakers 14 24 26 16— 80

3-Point GoalsMiami 9-25 (James 5-6, Chalmers 3-9, Jones 1-6, Wade 0-1, Arroyo 0-3), L.A. Lakers 6-19 (Artest 2-2, Fisher 2-3, Brown 1-3, Bryant 1-3, Barnes 0-1, Odom 0-2, Blake 0-5). Fouled OutNone. ReboundsMiami 52 (Bosh 13), L.A. Lakers 47 (Odom 9). AssistsMiami 25 (James 10), L.A. Lakers 22 (Bryant 7). Total FoulsMiami 17, L.A. Lakers 23. TechnicalsJames, Miami defensive three second, Artest, Bryant. A18,997 (18,997).

Knicks 103, Bulls 95

CHICAGO (95): Deng 5-12 4-4 15, Boozer 11-25 4-7 26, Thomas 2-5 0-0 4, Rose 12-28 1-3 25, Bogans 1-3 0-0 3, Brewer 3-5 0-3 6, Asik 0-0 0-0 0, Gibson 2-2 0-0 4, Watson 2-5 1-1 5, Korver 2-6 1-2 7. Totals 40-91 11-20 95.

NEW YORK (103): Gallinari 5-9 2-4 15, Chandler 6-14 2-2 15, Stoudemire 10-18 0-2 20, Felton 9-18 0-0 20, Fields 5-7 2-2 14, Williams 2-2 0-0 6, Douglas 3-8 0-0 8, Turiaf 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 42-79 7-12 103.

Chicago 20 34 29 12— 95

New York 21 31 33 18— 103

3-Point GoalsChicago 4-14 (Korver 2-4, Bogans 1-3, Deng 1-4, Watson 0-1, Rose 0-2), New York 12-22 (Gallinari 3-4, Williams 2-2, Fields 2-2, Douglas 2-3, Felton 2-7, Chandler 1-4). Fouled OutNone. ReboundsChicago 53 (Boozer 19), New York 49 (Fields 11). AssistsChicago 15 (Rose 8), New York 25 (Felton 12). Total FoulsChicago 20, New York 16. A19,763 (19,763).

Thunder 114, Nuggets 106

DENVER (106): Smith 1-4 4-4 6, Martin 4-8 2-4 10, Nene 8-13 5-7 21, Billups 10-16 7-7 30, Afflalo 1-4 0-0 2, Lawson 7-13 3-4 19, Harrington 3-5 0-0 9, Forbes 2-4 2-2 6, Andersen 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 37-70 24-30 106.

OKLAHOMA CITY (114): Durant 14-20 12-15 44, Green 5-15 2-3 12, Krstic 2-4 0-0 4, Westbrook 7-19 5-7 19, Sefolosha 1-2 2-2 4, Ibaka 2-2 0-0 4, Harden 6-11 7-8 21, Collison 0-3 0-0 0, Maynor 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 40-81 28-35 114.

Denver 34 24 27 21— 106

Oklahoma City 26 30 32 26— 114

3-Point GoalsDenver 8-17 (Billups 3-4, Harrington 3-4, Lawson 2-5, Forbes 0-1, Afflalo 0-1, Smith 0-2), Oklahoma City 6-17 (Durant 4-7, Harden 2-6, Green 0-4). Fouled OutNone. ReboundsDenver 44 (Nene 12), Oklahoma City 43 (Krstic 8). AssistsDenver 15 (Lawson 5), Oklahoma City 22 (Green 6). Total FoulsDenver 25, Oklahoma City 21. TechnicalsOklahoma City defensive three second. A18,203 (18,203).

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