It was a good night for a couple of the NBA’s bad teams. And another reminder that the Miami Heat are now one of them.
The New York Knicks snapped a seven-game losing streak, and league-worst Minnesota ended an eight-game skid. Of course, the Timberwolves did it by beating Miami, so maybe that wasn’t saying much.
“We’re not exactly 28-5 this year,” Dwyane Wade said of his 8-27 Heat, who have the worst record in the Eastern Conference. “We’re one of the worst teams in the league as well.”
Rashad McCants continued his sharp shooting streak with 27 points and the Timberwolves (5-29) had their most complete offensive performance in recent memory. Al Jefferson added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Marko Jaric had 17 points and eight assists in Minnesota’s first victory since defeating Indiana on Dec. 21.
“We have too much talent to be down for too long,” McCants said. “I think it’s about time we start to get it together, jelling as a team, and going with our execution.”
In Chicago, Eddy Curry scored 29 points in his old home, and the Knicks erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Bulls 105-100. The center has struggled against his former team, including a scoreless outing in a loss at the United Center last month.
“I was thinking that I didn’t want every game against Chicago to be a bad game, to be a losing game,” he said.
In other games, it was: Houston 92, Washington 84; Milwaukee 87, Philadelphia 83; Cleveland 95, Seattle 79; Charlotte 115, New Jersey 99; the Los Angeles Lakers 117, Memphis 101; Utah 111, Indiana 89; and Sacramento 104, Orlando 100.
Jamal Crawford, also a former Bulls player, added 24 points. Stephon Marbury scored 18, including a clinching 3-pointer, as the Knicks improved to 2-13 on the road and 9-24 overall with their first victory since beating Cleveland on Dec. 19.
“We kind of relaxed and let them back in the game,” Chicago guard Chris Duhon said. “When you give a team like this confidence, they’re going to keep coming after you.”
The Bulls were playing without injured forward Luol Deng. The Heat know all about injury problems.
Wade isn’t 100 percent, but managed 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds for Miami, which played its sixth straight game without Shaquille O’Neal, who is in Los Angeles getting treatment for an injured hip.
The Wolves, after trailing by as many as 31 points in a loss to Dallas, couldn’t worry about someone else’s problems.
“Sunday’s game was embarrassing,” Jefferson said. “We had to take advantage of Shaq being out.”
Lakers 117, Grizzlies 101
At Memphis, Tenn., Derek Fisher scored 26 points on 10-of-11 shooting, and Kobe Bryant added 25 in the Lakers’ 13th win in 16 games.
The Grizzlies, who never led, were paced by Mike Miller with 19 points. Pau Gasol added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Rudy Gay finished with 15 points.
Cavaliers 95, SuperSonics 79
At Cleveland, LeBron James showed Kevin Durant how it’s done by scoring 22 points, and the Cavaliers didn’t wait until the fourth quarter to put away Seattle.
James, who scored 24 points in the fourth on Sunday when the Cavs (18-17) rallied for a win in Toronto, was able to sit out the final 8:36 as Cleveland coasted to its sixth win in seven games and moved over .500 for the first time since Nov. 30.
Durant scored 24 points before spraining his left ankle while making a jump shot with 7:31 left in the fourth quarter.
Bobcats 115, Nets 99
At Charlotte, N.C., Jason Richardson scored 25 points and the Bobcats overcame Jason Kidd’s third consecutive triple-double.
Gerald Wallace added 21 points and 11 rebounds and Emeka Okafor and Nazr Mohammed added 17 points apiece for the Bobcats, who shot 59 percent in their highest-scoring game of the season. Charlotte snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Nets had their five-game winning streak snapped despite Kidd’s 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. He became the first player since Detroit’s Grant Hill 11 seasons ago to have three straight triple-doubles.
Rockets 92, Wizards 84
At Washington, Luther Head scored a season-high 24 points and Rafer Alston had a double-double in Houston’s third consecutive victory.
Alston finished with 15 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and Yao Ming scored 21 points for Houston, which is 5-2 since McGrady went down last month with a left knee injury.
Jazz 111, Pacers 89
At Salt Lake City, Carlos Boozer scored 22 points and reserve Matt Harpring added 16 to help Utah hand the Pacers their worst loss of the season.
Danny Granger led the Pacers with 17 points and Jamaal Tinsley, who saw Indiana go 1-4 while he sat out with a hamstring injury, made his return with 13 points. The Pacers started their five-game Western Conference road swing with a 112-96 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
Kings 104, Magic 100
At Sacramento, Calif., John Salmons scored 21 points and Brad Miller had 20 to help the Kings snap a four-game home losing streak.
Beno Udrih had 17 points and Quincy Douby scored 14 for the Kings, who had lost two straight and six of seven games.
Dwight Howard had 29 points and 15 rebounds, but also committed six turnovers for Orlando, which has lost three straight. Rashard Lewis made six 3-pointers and scored 22 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Bucks 87, 76ers 83
At Philadelphia, Charlie Bell and Mo Williams each scored 21 points for Milwaukee, which has won three of four in 2008. Andrew Bogut had 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Charlie Villanueva added 15 points and 10 boards for the Bucks.
Andre Iguodala scored 21 points and Samuel Dalembert had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the 76ers, who have lost four straight.
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