The Miami Heat were losing night after night with Shaquille O’Neal on their roster. They hope they can reverse their fortunes without the big man.
“It was big when we got Shaquille and when we won a title with him, and it’s a significant day to lose him,” Heat coach and president Pat Riley said Wednesday. “It was just a move we felt we had to make.”
A few hours after the Heat traded O’Neal to the Phoenix Suns, Miami fell to Detroit 100-95 and dropped to an NBA-worst 9-38. O’Neal, who won his fourth title in Miami two years ago, went to Phoenix for four-time All-Star Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.
Dwyane Wade had heard rumblings about O’Neal being traded before Wednesday, but never believed it would happen.
“You don’t see a guy like Shaquille O’Neal getting traded very often,” Wade said.
Rasheed Wallace, who had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead Detroit to its sixth straight win, said he can see the pluses and minuses for the Suns in their deal for the banged-up O’Neal.
ace said. “But it ups their chances with him because he’s still going to get double-teamed.”
O’Neal already was in Phoenix, where he sat in a suite and watched his new teammates fall to New Orleans 132-130 in double overtime.
“We feel like our players are giddy with the possibilities,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said, “and he’s ready and focused.”
In other NBA games, it was: Boston 111, the Los Angeles Clippers 100; Orlando 100, New Jersey 84; Atlanta 98, the Los Angeles Lakers 95; San Antonio 85, Washington 77; Indiana 103, New York 100; Utah 118, Denver 115 in overtime; Dallas 107, Milwaukee 96; Portland 100, Chicago 97; and Seattle 105, Sacramento 92.
In Auburn Hills, Mich., Miami led 22-18 after the first quarter and despite trailing by 11 after the third, the short-handed team didn’t give up. Wade, who had 30 points and 12 assists, pulled the Heat within a point with just under 3 minutes left and he set up Ricky Davis’ 3-pointer to make it 94-92 with 21.5 seconds to go.
Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups made enough free throws on the next three possessions to seal the win for the Pistons.
“Our problem was, we didn’t anticipate a tough game,” Billups said. “We played a little dangerous.”
Miami, the NBA’s only team without 10 wins, has lost five in a row and 20 of 21.
Hornets 132, Suns 130, 2OT
ime for New Orleans.
Chris Paul scored 42, one off his career high, but had only two after regulation for New Orleans. Jannero Pargo scored 12 of his 22 points in the two overtimes.
Amare Stoudemire had 26 points and a season-best 20 rebounds for Phoenix.
Celtics 111, Clippers 100
Rajon Rondo scored a career-high 24 points to go with eight assists and five rebounds, coming back from a flagrant foul that knocked him to the floor to lead Boston at home.
A night after losing by one point to Cleveland, the Celtics avoided a losing streak despite missing All-Star Kevin Garnett for the fifth straight game.
Magic 100, Nets 84
At Orlando, Fla., Dwight Howard had 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Magic avenged a one-point loss to New Jersey last month.
Vince Carter led the Nets with 18 points, while Jason Kidd had 13 points and seven assists.
Hawks 98, Lakers 95
Joe Johnson scored 28 points, including four free throws in the final 23 seconds for Atlanta.
Josh Smith, who had 17 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and five blocks, hit one of two free throws with 7.1 seconds left to push the Hawks’ lead to three. Sasha Vujacic answered with a layup for the Lakers with 3.7 seconds left.
The Lakers quickly fouled Johnson, who made two free throws, and Derek Fisher missed a last-second 3-pointer.
Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Spurs 85, Wizards 77
At Washington, Robert Horry got San Antonio in gear after a lackluster 2 1/2 quarters, scoring seven of his season-high nine points in a 17-4 run.
Tim Duncan had 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Spurs, who are 3-2 on their nine-game road trip and improved to .500 (11-11) on the road this season.
Antawn Jamison scored 18 points for the Wizards, who have lost five straight. Pacers 103, Knicks 100
Kareem Rush scored 24 points, and visiting Indiana used a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter to snap a seven-game losing streak.
Zach Randolph scored 26 points for the Knicks, who dropped their seventh straight after making just three field goals in the final 8 1/2 minutes.
Jazz 118, Nuggets 115, OT
Kyle Korver’s 27 points, including four free throws in the final 19 seconds of overtime, sent visiting Utah to its 10th straight win.
Allen Iverson, who scored 34 points, was short on a jumper from the left corner with 5 seconds left.
Deron Williams led the Jazz with 29 points, including a 3-pointer with 17.8 seconds left in regulation that tied it at 106.
Mavericks 107, Bucks 96
Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his first career triple-double, and Dallas stretched its home winning streak to eight games.
Mo Williams, including 28 in the first half.
Trail Blazers 100, Bulls 97
Brandon Roy scored 28 points and Portland held off Chicago. LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points for the Blazers, who led by as many as 13 in the second half.
Chicago threatened in the final minutes, and Andres Nocioni’s 3-pointer closed it to 98-97 with 0.8 seconds left, but officials had to rule whether Chris Duhon’s foul on Roy came before the buzzer.
The officials added 0.5 seconds to the clock, Roy went to the foul line and made both of his shots for the final margin.
SuperSonics 105, Kings 92
Earl Watson had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double for visiting Seattle.
Ron Artest scored 20 points for the Kings, who had their season-best four-game winning streak snapped.
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