MIAMI – Dwyane Wade scored 23 points and the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to 19 games, leading wire-to-wire in beating the Atlanta Hawks 98-81 on Tuesday night.

LeBron James scored 15 and Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers added 14 apiece for the Heat, who matched the fifth-longest streak in NBA history. They will try for their 20th straight win on Wednesday at Philadelphia, the start of a five-game trip.

Only three teams have won at least 20 consecutive games in the same season: the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33), the 2007-08 Houston Rockets (22) and the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20).

 

CAVALIERS 95, WIZARDS 90: Dion Waiters scored 20 points, Alonzo Gee added 17 and Cleveland held off a late run to win at home.

Cleveland played its first game since Kyrie Irving sprained his left shoulder Sunday against Toronto. The All-Star point guard, who watched the game from the bench with his left arm in a sling, could miss the next month — and maybe the rest of this season.

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TIMBERWOLVES 107, SPURS 83: Ricky Rubio had his first career triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, leading Minnesota to a win at Minneapolis.

Rubio made 9 of 17 shots and grabbed his 10th board with 9:14 to play in the game, giving his home fans something to cheer about in a long, frustrating season. Alexey Shved broke out of a big slump to score 16 points and J.J. Barea added 17 points for the Wolves, who hit 12 3-pointers.

NETS 108, HORNETS 98: Brook Lopez scored 26 points and had a big dunk over twin brother Robin, Deron Williams added 21 points and 13 assists, and Brooklyn won at home.

Brooklyn squandered a 10-point lead in the third quarter before pulling off some timely baskets in the fourth to hang on for the win, bouncing back from a poor performance in a loss Monday at Philadelphia.

 

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LAKERS 106, MAGIC 97: Dwight Howard scored a season-high 39 points, had 16 rebounds and was sent to the free-throw line 39 times by his former team as Los Angeles won at Orlando, Fla.

The victory came in Howard’s first return to Orlando since his drama-filled offseason trade to the Lakers. He endured a chorus of boos throughout, and tied his NBA record for free-throw attempts.

 

MAVERICKS 115, BUCKS 108: Vince Carter hit three key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 23 points off the bench as Dallas won its fourth straight with a win at Milwaukee.

Dirk Nowitzki had 19 points and O.J. Mayo added 14 for Dallas.

NOTES

BULLS: Derrick Rose says he’s still not sure if he’ll play this season and the obstacles are more mental than physical at this point as he tries to return from knee surgery.

It’s been exactly 10 months since Rose had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

 


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