EDS: UPDATES with Heat-Suns; WILL be UPDATED.
By The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -Josh Smith had 25 points and a season-high 16 rebounds and Joe Johnson scored 24 points as Atlanta won its third straight, 98-87 over Orlando on Monday night.
It was the Magic’s second straight loss, and their first losing streak this season. The Hawks led all but the opening 90 seconds, and held Orlando’s prolific 3-point shooters in check almost all game. Orlando shot a season-low 39.7 percent. The Hawks shot 42.7 percent, but capitalized on 19 Magic turnovers for 29 points.
Hedo Turkoglu led Orlando with 22 points, while Dwight Howard had 14 points and 18 rebounds. Howard was just 6-of-14 from the free throw line.
Anthony Johnson had 15 points and five assists for Atlanta, and Smith added four blocks and five assists.
76ers 100, Rockets 88
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Andre Iguodala scored 16 points and Andre Miller had 17 points and 12 assists for Philadelphia, which led by as many as 31 points in its third straight victory.
Willie Green scored 20 points for the Sixers.
Houston’s Tracy McGrady scored 12 points before leaving the game in the second half with a sprained right ankle. Bonzi Wells scored 24 points, Luther Head had 18 and Yao Ming 12 for the Rockets.
Kyle Korver’s 3-pointer capped a 15-2 run that helped the Sixers take a 56-42 lead into halftime.
Mavericks 99, Knicks 89
NEW YORK (AP) – Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 36 points for Dallas.
Josh Howard, who scored a career-high 47 points Saturday in a victory over Utah, added 22 to help the Mavericks beat the Knicks for the 11th time in 12 meetings.
Dallas shot 54 percent from the field.
Zach Randolph scored 24 points, all in the second half, and grabbed 11 rebounds, for the Knicks, who lost their third straight. New York cut a 23-point deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter.
As usual with the Knicks, basketball was only part of the story.
Earlier Monday, Madison Square Garden and Knicks coach Isiah Thomas reached an $11.5 million settlement in the sexual harassment case brought by former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders.
Heat 117, Suns 113
PHOENIX (AP) – Dwyane Wade scored 10 of his 31 points in the final four minutes and Miami ended its longest road trip of the season with a victory.
The Heat, in their sixth game away from home in nine days, had double-digit leads in all four quarters to beat Phoenix for the first time in three seasons.
Udonis Haslem added 21 points, Shaquille O’Neal had 18 and Dorell Wright 16 as the Heat put six players in double figures and shot 59 percent to win consecutive games for the first time this season.
The Suns made five 3-pointers, three by Grant Hill and two by Steve Nash, in the final 1:10 but could get no closer than 111-108.
Hill, Raja Bell, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire all scored 19 points for Phoenix, which lost its second straight to a team with one of the NBA’s worst records. The Suns were beaten at Minnesota on Saturday.
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