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Heat and Celtics players scuffle after Boston’s Jermaine O’Neal fouled LeBron James in the second quarter of Sunday’s game in Miami, won by the Heat 100-77. It was Miami’s first win in four tries over Boston this season.
AP PHOTO
MIAMI — LeBron James scored 27 points, Dwyane Wade added 14 and the Miami Heat moved past the Boston Celtics into second place in the Eastern Conference with a 100-77 victory on Sunday.
Miami had been 0-3 against the Celtics this season. The Heat need a combination of two wins or Boston losses to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the East.
Chris Bosh added 13 points and eight rebounds for Miami.
Paul Pierce scored 24 points and Kevin Garnett added 21 for Boston, which lost for the 10th time in its last 19 games.
Bulls 102, Magic 99
ORLANDO, Fla. — Derrick Rose had 39 points and five assists, and Luol Deng added 15 points to help Chicago hold off Orlando.
Orlando’s Jameer Nelson appeared to tie it with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but an official review upheld an initial call of no basket. Ryan Anderson led the Magic with a career-high 28 points, Jason Richardson added 24 and Nelson had 17.
Chicago won its seventh consecutive game and for the 19th time in 21 games. The Bulls also kept alive their chances of finishing with the NBA’s best record, which would give them home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Magic fell to 1-3 this season without center Dwight Howard. He sat out Sunday, serving his second suspension of the season after picking up his 18th technical foul.
Grizzlies 111, Hornets 89
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — O.J. Mayo scored 18 points, Marc Gasol added 16 and Memphis continued its march to the postseason by beating New Orleans.
Hornets All-Star guard Chris Paul was held scoreless for the first time in his career, missing all six of his field goal attempts. An 88-percent free throw shooter, Paul went to the line once and missed both shots. He did have 10 assists.
Both teams already have clinched spots in the Western Conference playoffs but are now jockeying for seeding position. The victory pulled Memphis even with the Hornets for the seventh spot. The teams split the season series 2-2, but the Hornets own the second tiebreaker with a better record in the Southwest Division.
Marco Belinelli led the Hornets with 18 points.
Pistons 112, Bobcats 101
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rodney Stuckey scored 24 points, fellow reserve Charlie Villanueva added 20 and Detroit recovered from a terrible start to beat reeling Charlotte and snap an 11-game road losing streak.
Chris Wilcox chipped in with 14 points for the Pistons, who shot 56 percent from the field in their third straight win and second in three days since California investor Tom Gores reached a deal to buy the team.
Hours after coach John Kuester said he hopes to return for the last year of his contract, the Pistons overcame a 15-point, first-quarter deficit for their first road victory since Feb. 9 at Cleveland.
Gerald Henderson scored 21 points, Boris Diaw added 16 of his 20 points in the first quarter and Kwame Brown had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Bobcats, who have dropped six straight.
Raptors 99, Nets 92
TORONTO — Jerryd Bayless scored 19 points, James Johnson had a season-high 18 and Toronto beat New Jersey, snapping a three-game losing streak.
DeMar DeRozan and Ed Davis both scored 18 points and Julian Wright had 10 for the Raptors, who had to hold on after leading by as many as 21.
Reggie Evans had 15 rebounds for Toronto, which had lost nine of 10.
Brook Lopez had 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets, who have lost three straight and nine of 11. Sasha Vujacic, who scored 19, was the only other Nets player to reach double figures.