Vince Carter scored 24 points, Dwight Howard had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic won their fifth straight game, 104-96, over the Raptors yesterday in Toronto.
J.J. Redick scored 19 points, Jason Williams contributed 16, and Rashard Lewis added 11 for the Magic, who have won eight of 10.
Chris Bosh scored 22 points, Jose Calderon had 16, and Hedo Turkoglu scored 12 for Toronto, which has lost four of five.
Carter finished 9 for 24 from the field after going 2 for 11 in the first half.
With Howard and Carter already on the bench, things looked good for Toronto when Lewis also sat down after picking up his fifth foul at 10:27 of the fourth. Five seconds later, Turkoglu tied it at 80 with a pair of free throws.
But without their three leading scorers, the Magic didn’t fold. Redick and Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers, Redick made a jumper, and Ryan Anderson hit two free throws to give Orlando a 90-80 lead with 7:19 left.
Williams added another three before Carter and Howard returned with 6:05 remaining, but Toronto wasn’t done. Trailing by 13 after two Howard free throws, Jarrett Jack made a three from the corner before Johnson hit a layup, then put back Turkoglu’s miss to make it 97-91 with 2:32 left.
Carter made sure the Raptors didn’t get any closer, making two free throws and later hitting a jumper to keep Orlando’s lead secure.
Heat 102, Hornets 101 - Dwyane Wade scored 31 points, and Udonis Haslem hit a jumper with 15.4 seconds remaining to lift Miami over visiting New Orleans, snapping the Heat’s season-worst three-game slide.
Haslem finished with 14 points off the bench, including both field goals for Miami in the final minute. He tied the game at 100 with 45 seconds left, then after Marcus Thornton put the Hornets ahead with a free throw, Haslem won it with a shot from the left side.
Thornton had 24 points and David West added 13 for New Orleans, which is still without injured point guard Chris Paul (ankle).
Suns 117, Pistons 91 - Amare Stoudemire scored 21 points and Steve Nash added 20 for Phoenix, then sat out the fourth quarter to watch the Suns rout road-weary Detroit for the Pistons’ fifth straight loss.
Nash made 7 of 8 shots and had nine assists. Jason Richardson scored 17 points as the Suns (11-3), with six players in double figures, improved to 5-0 at home and tied Atlanta and Orlando for the best record in the league.
Charlie Villanueva and rookie DaJuan Summers each scored 13 for Detroit.
Lakers 101, Thunder 85 - Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, including an astonishing basket from behind the backboard, and Los Angeles cruised past visiting Oklahoma City.
Pau Gasol, playing his second game since coming back from a right hamstring strain, had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Bobcats 104, Pacers 88 - Nazr Mohammed scored 18 points, Boris Diaw added 17, and host Charlotte beat Indiana to snap a seven-game losing streak.