MIAMI: Dwyane Wade had 28 points and eight rebounds, Michael Beasley scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half and the Miami Heat took control in the opening minutes on the way to beating the Atlanta Hawks 92-75 on Monday night.
Udonis Haslem scored 12 points and Quentin Richardson added 10 rebounds for Miami, which snapped a three-game losing streak and moved within 3 1/2 games of Atlanta for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat held Atlanta—which came in averaging 104.9 points—to a season low, plus finished with a 52-30 rebounding edge.
Jamal Crawford scored 23 points off the bench for the Hawks, who have lost four straight for the first time since January 7-13, 2009. Joe Johnson scored 11 and was the only starter in double figures for Atlanta, which is 2-6 since Dec. 19 and 1-6 this season when scoring less than 96 points.
Thunder 98, Bulls 85: In Chicago, Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Kevin Durant added 25 and Oklahoma City dominated the third quarter in a victory over Chicago.
Westbrook and Durant had eight points each during a 27-6 run in the third, when the Thunder shot 65 percent to take control. It was Oklahoma City’s sixth victory in seven games.
Derrick Rose scored 19 points and Joakim Noah had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls, who were booed by their fans as they shot 22 percent in the decisive third period.
Chicago had won four games in a row since reports emerged that coach Vinny Del Negro’s job was in jeopardy. General manager Gar Forman refused to give Del Negro a vote of confidence last week.
Durant, the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer at 28.4 points per game, had his string of 30-point games snapped at seven, a franchise record.
Hornets 91 Jazz 87: In Salt Lake City, Chris Paul stole the ball and drove for a layup with 27 seconds left to help New Orleans end a late threat for its first victory in Utah in almost four years.
Paul scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and Devin Brown finished with a career-high 30 as the Hornets overcame 19 turnovers and ended a six-game losing streak at Utah.
New Orleans outscored Utah 25-11 in the third quarter and never let the Jazz regain the lead.
Deron Williams had 17 points and 11 assists, giving him 3,003 assists for his career, and Carlos Boozer added 18 points and 14 rebounds for Utah, which lost its third straight.
Clippers 105, Trail Blazers 95: In Los Angeles, Chris Kaman scored 20 points and Eric Gordon added 19 as Los Angeles Clippers pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Martell Webster scored a season-high 25 points, including five 3-pointers, Andre Miller had 22 points and 16 assists and Juwan Howard added 16 points for the Blazers, who beat the Clippers 103-99 last week in Portland.
The Clippers led by four points going into the final 12 minutes. They opened with an 18-6 spurt, including six by Rasual Butler , to take their largest lead of the game, 95-80. The Blazers went nearly 4 minutes without a basket in that stretch.
Butler scored 11 of his 13 points in the period. Baron Davis had 15 points and nine assists for the Clippers.
