Heat tie third-lowest score in NBA history

TORONTO: Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker each scored 14 points and the Toronto Raptors held Miami to the third-lowest point total in the shot-clock era, beating the Heat 96-54 on Wednesday.

Miami was just five points off the NBA record-low since the shot clock was introduced in the 1954-55 season, Chicago's 49-point effort against the Heat in April 1999.

Jose Calderon had 10 points and 10 assists, and Rasho Nesterovic scored 12 points to help the Raptors snap a season-high five-game losing streak. The 42-point margin of victory was the largest in franchise history, beating Toronto's previous mark of 39.

Toronto's Chris Bosh had eight points and eight rebounds in his return after missing 10 games with a sore right knee. The Raptors were 2-8 without Bosh, including 0-5 on a just-concluded West Coast trip.

In New Orleans, the Houston Rockets are not enjoying their latest streak.

After seeing their 22-game win streak end Tuesday, the Rockets were dealt another defeat on Wednesday, losing 90-69 to the New Orleans Hornets.

On Tuesday, it was the third quarter that led to Houston's demise as the Boston Celtics outscored the Rockets, 32-16. On Wednesday, an ex-Rocket contributed to Houston's fourth-quarter collapse.

Former Rocket Bonzi Wells scored 20 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Hornets to victory. The game was tied, 59-59, before Wells went off and the Rockets fell flat.

David West had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Chris Paul added 21 and 10 assists for New Orleans (46-21), which moved one-half game ahead of Houston (46-22) for the top spot in the Southwest Division and even with the Los Angeles Lakers (46-21) for first in the Western Conference.

Tracy McGrady scored 15 points but was just 6-of-21 from the field, and Shane Battier and Scola added 14 points each for the Rockets.

At Philadelphia, Andre Miller scored 28 points and Philadelphia spoiled Allen Iverson's return to Philadelphia.

Iverson, playing in Philly for the first time since being traded to Denver in December 2006, led all scorers with 32 points and added eight assists in the 76ers' 115-113 win over the Nuggets.

Samuel Dalembert scored the decisive basket with 32.9 second remaining for Philadelphia. He had 17 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points for the Nuggets, who are scrambling for a playoff spot in the tough Western Conference.

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Vince Carter had a season-high 39 points and 10 assists and New Jersey moved into a tie with Atlanta for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 125-117 victory.

Richard Jefferson added 33 points and Devin Harris had a career-high 26 points and nine assists despite playing on a sprained ankle as the Nets had a season-high point total.

Joe Johnson had 24 points to lead six Hawks in double figures.

In Orlando, Florida, Antawn Jamison had 31 points and 11 rebounds and Washington shut down Dwight Howard offensively in a 87-86 win over Orlando.

Hedo Turkoglu had a career high with 39 points for the Magic, but Howard had only three points and 14 rebounds. He sat much of the game in foul trouble, turned the ball over four times and shot 1-for-6.

DeShawn Stevenson, who played 2 1/2 seasons for Orlando, scored 14, while Caron Butler had 11 points and nine rebounds and Brendan Haywood had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Agencies

(China Daily 03/21/2008 page24)