Mens Basketball

O'Neal leads Heat to best start ever

MIAMI - Shaquille O'Neal has the Miami Heat off to its best start ever after scoring 20 points, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking three shots in a 103-93 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. Dwyane Wade continued his strong start, too, with 22 points and nine assists, and Udonis Haslem chipped in with 18 points and 10 rebounds for Miami. The Heat is 4-0 for the first time in club history and set a record by winning its 14th straight regular-season home game dating back to last season. O'Neal arrived in Miami from the Los Angeles Lakers promising to bring the Heat an NBA title. So far, the Heat has been unbeatable with O'Neal, who also had four assists against the Wizards. Former UA star Gilbert Arenas scored 20 points for Washington, which lost to the Heat for the second time in four nights and for the first time this season failed to score 100 points. Antawn Jamison finished with 14, well off the 27.3-point average he carried into the game. ● Magic 94, Mavericks 84: In Orlando, Fla., Grant Hill scored 17 points and had nine rebounds, and Steve Francis nearly posted a triple-double for Orlando. Francis had 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Hedo Turkoglu had 19 points in a reserve role, and rookie Dwight Howard added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 20 points but made only five of 16 shots from the field. Dallas (4-1) shot just 29 percent (28 of 96) from the field. The Mavericks lost shooting guard Michael Finley to a sprained ankle in the third quarter. He is listed as day to day after a collision with Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu. ● Nets 64, Trail Blazers 60: In East Rutherford, N.J., Alonzo Mourning scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and New Jersey found some late offense to beat Portland in what was nearly the lowest scoring game in modern NBA history. The 124-point total was only five off the previous record for combined scoring futility. Boston beat Milwaukee 62-57 in a game at Providence, R.I., in 1955, the first year of the NBA's 24-second clock. ● Knicks 96, 76ers 88: In New York, Jamal Crawford scored 22 points, Stephon Marbury had 13 points and 12 assists and Nazr Mohammed scored 18 to help New York win its first game of the season. Trevor Ariza, a 19-year-old second-round draft pick from UCLA, finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Allen Iverson led Philadelphia with 29 points and 10 assists but committed nine of the Sixers' 28 turnovers. Andre Iguodala added 13 points and Willie Green 12. ● Cavaliers 93, Hawks 79: In Atlanta, LeBron James scored 25 points, equaling the Hawks' entire output in the second half. Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 27 points to help Cleveland win for the first time this season. Atlanta dropped to 0-4. Antoine Walker led Atlanta with 22 points. Al Harrington added 14. ● Pacers 102, Timberwolves 101: In Minneapolis, Jermaine O'Neal had 22 points and eight rebounds to help Indiana hold off Minnesota. Minnesota missed two late chances to win. Kevin Garnett's turnaround jumper fell short with five seconds left, but the Timberwolves retained possession after the ball went out of bounds. Latrell Sprewell could not convert his 23-footer from the wing as the buzzer sounded. Garnett had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists for Minnesota. ● Lakers 106, Hornets 98: In New Orleans, Kobe Bryant scored 31 points - including 14 of 14 from the foul line - to lead Los Angeles past New Orleans. The Hornets trailed by 33 points in the third quarter but outscored the Lakers 42-19 in the fourth to make it close. ● Rockets 90, Grizzlies 87: In Houston, Tracy McGrady left in the third quarter with a hip injury, and Houston hung on against the winless Grizzlies. McGrady strained his right hip and said he was not sure if he would be able to play Thursday against Minnesota. He finished with 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Juwan Howard scored 20 points and Yao Ming added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets. ● SuperSonics 108, Nuggets 88: In Denver, Ray Allen scored 30 points to help Seattle prolong Denver's early-season misery. Rashard Lewis scored 27 points, Luke Ridnour had 11 assists, and the Sonics, not viewed by many as a playoff team this year, improved to 3-1. Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points for the Nuggets, who fell to 1-4 with the NBA champion Detroit Pistons coming to town next. ● Kings 108, Raptors 92: In Sacramento, Chris Webber had 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 of Sacramento's 31 assists in their first victory of the season. Brad Miller had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings, who were back in vintage form after opening with three road losses.