- DALLAS: Caron Butler scored seven of his 23 points in a key run for Dallas to start the second half as the Mavericks went on to win their fifth straight game, 106-95 over the struggling Miami Heat on Saturday.
Even though LeBron James and Dallas-born Chris Bosh have joined Dwyane Wade in Miami, the Mavericks extended their regular-season dominance over the Heat (9-8).
Dallas has won 13 consecutive games in the series since March 2004, and 16 of 17. That obviously doesn’t include the 2006 NBA Finals, when the Heat won in six games after losing the first two.
Miami lost for the fourth time in five games. The Heat were coming off a 99-90 home win over Philadelphia on Friday night that snapped a three-game losing streak.
At Washington, Dwight Howard scored a season-high 32 points, including the game-winning putback with 4.3 seconds left, and had 11 rebounds to give Orlando a win over Washington.
Quentin Richardson scored 20 for the Magic, who have won seven of their last eight games in Washington.
Gilbert Arenas scored a season-high 31 points, but his floater at the buzzer hit the back of the rim and bounced away.
Nick Young scored 21 points, and Andray Blatche scored 10 points and had 13 rebounds for the Wizards, who ended a three-game home winning streak.
At Milwaukee, Brandon Jennings scored 32 points and made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left to seal a for Milwaukee over Charlotte.
Stephen Jackson was ejected less than six minutes into the game.
Jackson thought he was fouled and began arguing with referee Eli Roe. The Bobcats’ scoring leader with 19.2 points per game, Jackson got two technicals and was done with 7:31 left in the first quarter D.J. Augustin scored 26 points for Charlotte, which made it 102-101 after Kwame Brown made one of two free throws with 7.1 seconds left.
Gerald Wallace scored 19 points.
At Minneapolis, Dorell Wright scored a career-high 30 points and set a franchise record with nine 3-pointers to help Golden State snap a five-game losing streak.
Monta Ellis had 26 points, 10 assists and seven steals in 48 minutes and David Lee returned from an eight-game absence for the Warriors, who won for just the second time since Lee went down with a staph infection in his left elbow on Nov. 10.
Kevin Love had 21 points and 22 rebounds for the Timberwolves, his fourth 20-20 game of the season. The Timberwolves turned the ball over 22 times, leading to 32 Golden State points and negating a 55-32 advantage in rebounds.
Michael Beasley had 28 points and nine rebounds for the Wolves, who have lost four in a row.
At Cleveland, Mo Williams scored 25 points and J.J.
Hickson added 16 as Cleveland snapped out of a fourth-quarter offensive funk to beat Memphis.
Williams hit a clutch 10-foot floater with 6.5 seconds left, added a season-high 12 assists and made four 3-pointers for the Cavaliers, who missed their first 13 shots in the fourth, but regrouped and won their seventh straight at home over Memphis.
Rudy Gay scored 17 points for the Grizzlies, who had their winning streak stopped at three.
At New York, Jamal Crawford scored 21 points as Atlanta snapped New York’s winning streak at five games.
Al Horford added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks, who trailed by 18 at the half and closed within four points in the fourth quarter on a driving lay-up by Wilson Chandler and a free throw after the score. The Hawks then scored seven straight on a 3-pointer by Crawford, a hook shot by Horford and his turnaround jumper.
Amare Stoudemire had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who were going for their first six-game winning streak since Larry Brown was the coach, from Jan. 2-13, 2006.
At Philadelphia, Jrue Holiday had 20 points and 13 assists, and Thaddeus Young sparked a fourth-quarter spurt to lead Philadelphia past New Jersey to snap a three-game losing streak.
Andre Iguodala contributed 16 points and Lou Williams added 15 for the Sixers, who returned to Philadelphia after losing three straight on the road, including a 99-90 loss to the Miami Heat on Friday night. Saturday’s win was their second in 10 games.
Brook Lopez led New Jersey with 25 points, Devin Harris added 19 and Kris Humphries pulled in 15 rebounds.
At Sacramento, California, Derrick Rose had 30 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for Chicago, which rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Sacramento.
The Bulls trailed by 13 at halftime, but held the Kings to 28 second-half points, outscoring them 27-9 in the fourth.
Luol Deng had 22 points and nine rebounds,and Joakim Noah had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls, who concluded their seven-game road trip that started Nov. 16 with a victory in Houston.
Jason Thompson had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Kings, who have lost four straight and 10 of 11. Tyreke Evans had 17 points and nine assists for the Kings.

