Dwyane Wade had 28 points and eight rebounds, Michael Beasley scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half as the Heat took control in the opening minutes on the way to beating the Atlanta Hawks, 92-75, last night in Miami.
Udonis Haslem scored 12 points and Quentin Richardson added 10 rebounds for Miami, which snapped a three-game losing streak and moved within 3 games of Atlanta for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat held Atlanta - which came in averaging 104.9 points - to a season low, plus finished with a 52-30 rebounding edge.
Hornets 91, Jazz 87 - Chris Paul stole the ball and drove for a layup with 27 seconds left to help New Orleans end a late threat by Utah in Salt Lake City. It was the Hornets’ first win in Utah in almost four years.
Paul scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and Devin Brown finished with a career-high 30 points as the Hornets overcame 19 turnovers and ended a six-game losing streak at Utah.
Thunder 98, Bulls 85 - Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Kevin Durant added 25 and Oklahoma City dominated the third quarter in a victory over host Chicago.
Westbrook and Durant had eight points each during a 27-6 run in the third, when the Thunder shot 65 percent to take control of the game. It was Oklahoma City’s sixth victory in seven games.
Derrick Rose scored 19 points and Joakim Noah had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls.
Elsewhere in the NBA - Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas says he took unloaded guns from his locker in a “misguided effort to play a joke” on a teammate.
Arenas released a written statement after meeting with law enforcement officials. And Arenas’ lawyer says the player voluntarily met with prosecutors and detectives and answered every question during a two-hour interview.
In his statement, Arenas repeated his earlier assertion that he brought four guns to the Verizon Center to store in his locker in order to get them out of his house and away from his children. He said he mistakenly believed that recent changes in D.C. law made it legal for him to store unloaded guns there.
Arenas said he took the unloaded guns out of his locker on Dec. 21 “in a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate.” He denied threatening or assaulting anyone. The New York Post has reported that Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other.
“Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong,” Arenas said. “I should not have brought the guns to D.C. in the first place, and I now realize that there’s no such thing as joking around when it comes to guns - even if unloaded.” . . .
Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol has a mild to moderate strained left hamstring and is doubtful for tonight’s game against Houston. However, forward Ron Artest could rejoin the Lakers as soon as tonight after missing five games following a fall at his home on Christmas night.
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