Magic grant trio of teams permission to talk to Howard

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Magic spokesman Joel Glass says the team has granted New Jersey, Dallas and the L.A. Lakers permission to talk to Dwight Howard's agent Dan Fegan to discuss possible trades.

Howard denied an ESPN report on Friday after the Magic's first training camp practice that said he met with Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and general manager Billy King on Thursday in Miami without the Magic's permission. It followed reports that Howard planned to request a trade to the Nets.

Fegan said in statement that any claims of tampering are false.

Howard is eligible to opt out of his current contract in July 2012.

The Magic practice again Saturday. Former Boston forward Glen Davis is expected to be in attendance after a trade for the Magic's Brandon Bass is finalized.

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Martin, Hayes, Lopez and Williams shines on their respected teams

WEST - At Houston, Kevin Martin scored 23 points, Chuck Hayes had a career-high 21 points and nine rebounds as Houston snapped a seven-game losing streak to Phoenix with a 95-93 win.

Kyle Lowry added 18 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Rockets, who stayed three games behind Memphis in the race for the final playoff spot.

Vince Carter scored 21 to lead the Suns, who played without point guard Steve Nash for the second straight game.

The Suns slipped 2 1/2 games behind the Grizzlies in the race for the No. 8 playoff spot in the West.

EAST - At Newark, New Jersey, Brook Lopez scored 20 points, and Deron Williams added 16 and made the clinching three-pointer, as New Jersey extended its longest winning streak in three years to five games with an 88-79 victory overt the Boston Celtics.

Kris Humphries had 16 points and 15 rebounds, following his strong performance against Blake Griffin by turning in one against Kevin Garnett to help the Nets snap a nine-game home losing streak against the Celtics. (AP)

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Rose, Deng power Bulls past Nets

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) – Derrick Rose scored 21 points and Britain's Luol Deng added 19 to spark the Chicago Bulls over New Jersey 84-73, putting the Bulls on top of the NBA's Eastern Conference.

The Bulls on Thursday stretched their win streak to six games, their longest triumphant run in six seasons, while the Nets saw a five-game win streak, their longest in five years, come to an end in what was their lowest-scoring game of the season.

"We've got a great team," Deng said. "We've got guys who come off the bench and do a good job of carrying us. We just have to keep on playing. We know we still have a long way to go."

Chicago improved to 49-18, breaking their tie with Boston for the top mark in the East in the fight for a home-court edge in the playoffs.

"We just want to take it step by step," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

"If we do the right things every day, the results will take care of themselves."

New Jersey fell to 22-44, six games behind Indiana for the last playoff spot in the East.

Kyle Korver added 12 points while rookie Omer Asik added 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Bulls, who led 43-36 at half-time and 60-50 after three quarters before the Nets pulled even three times in the fourth quarter, the last on two Korver free throws with 4:06 to play.

Deng and Rose answered with baskets and the Nets never pulled even again. Deng scored 10 points in the first half while Rose had eight of his in the third quarter and Korver scored seven of his in the fourth quarter.

The Nets as a team shot only 35 percent from the field (29-of-83) and connected on only 3-of-19 3-point attempts against the NBA's second-ranked defensive unit.

"That's what we've been doing the whole year, playing defense," Rose said. "If our offense isn't going, and that rarely happens, we rely on our defense.

"At first, they were getting everything they wanted. Then we just closed down the paint and rebounded the ball."

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 22 points while Sasha Vujacic and Kris Humphries each scored 13 points. Humphries added 16 rebounds while Deron Williams passed around 11 assists but shot only 1-of-12 for just five points.

"We could have played a lot better and shot a lot better, but they are a good defensive team," Williams said. "That's what they pride themselves on."

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Wade, James, Bosh carry Heat past Nets, 101-89

MIAMI (AP) –  Terrance Williams sent LeBron James into the stands — and into overdrive. Just like that, a close game turned into a Miami Heat runaway.
Dwyane Wade had 29 points and 10 rebounds (his 96th double double giving sole possession of 4th place in Miami Heat history), James scored 14 of his 23 points in the third quarter — seven in the last 32 seconds after getting flagrantly fouled by Williams — and the Heat rolled past New Jersey 101-89 on Saturday night for their second easy win over the Nets in a week.
A 25-10 run over the final 7 minutes of the third allowed the Heat to finally take control, sending the Nets to their fourth straight loss.
Wade and James had a few highlight-reel moments. James went behind-the-back, one of his nine assists, to set Wade up for a dunk late in the first half; Wade returned the favor on a lob for a spectacular alley-oop on a 2-on-1 runout in the third quarter, prompting the two to meet in a twisting, side-bumping airborne celebration.
Then Williams really got James flying.
James was coming down the right side of the court in transition when Williams simply drove a shoulder, hockey-style, into the side of the NBA's two-time reigning MVP. James toppled over the row of courtside photographers and into some of the most expensive seats in the house for an impromptu meet-and-greet with fans.
Williams was called for a flagrant-one foul, James made one of the two ensuing free throws, then a 3-pointer on the extended possession. The next time down, James struck from 3-point range again to close the third quarter and give Miami an 87-68 lead and essentially put away the game.
Chris Bosh scored 21 points for Miami, which started a six-game homestand. The Heat have held all seven opponents under 100 points, and did so again Saturday while shooting 49 percent.
Anthony Morrow scored 25 for the Nets, 4-for-7 from behind 3-point arc, and is 15 made 3's shy of being eligible to pass Steve Kerr for No. 1 on the league's all-time accuracy list from beyond the arc. ... ,the Nets got also 12 from Brook Lopez — who made three of his first four shots in the game's opening 2:11, and went 2 for 12 the rest of the way. And Heat fans didn't forgive Williams, either: He was booed every time he touched the ball the remainder of the evening.
For the seventh game of their season, the Heat were almost implored to take a Game 7 approach.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra — who wasn't thrilled with the "energy and effort," two of his favorite buzzwords, in the early going of Miami's loss at New Orleans on Friday night — wrote the word "desperate" six times on the massive whiteboard that covers one wall of the home locker room.
Miami didn't exactly respond with that mantra in mind.
New Jersey ran out to a 12-5 lead and led for much of the game's first 18 minutes, before a three-point play by Wade put the Heat ahead 40-39 with 5:47 left until halftime. Morrow's jumper early in the third quarter tied the game at 55, but Carlos Arroyo scored on the next Heat possession and Miami wouldn't trail again.
Eventually, Miami started to click a little bit, too.
With two Nets players in front of him in transition, Wade made a nifty pass to James for a swooping left-handed layup and the foul, the three-point play putting Miami up 62-55. And the other "Big 3" guy got into the act on the next possession, with James finding Bosh for a dunk that was immediately followed by a long scream under the basket.
It was the 900th career game for Heat swingman Jerry Stackhouse.

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