James Posey

On the night Miami retired Alonzo Mourning's number, Orlando's big man wrecked the party. Dwight Howard scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, passing Wilt Chamberlain as the youngest NBA player to reach the 5,000-board mark, and the Magic kept their grip on the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference by beating the Heat, 101-95, last night in Miami. Rashard Lewis scored 21 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:32 remaining for Orlando (55-18), which stayed five games behind Cleveland and percentage points ahead of defending champion Boston in the East race.

Shaquille O'Neal made his first seven shots and scored a season-high 32 points, Jason Williams added 20 points and the surging Miami Heat beat the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, 105-91, last night. O'Neal finished 13-for-16 from the field and added nine rebounds. Williams shot 9-for-13 and Eddie Jones had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who shot 58 percent to win their fifth straight overall, 11th in a row at home and move within 2 1/2 games of Washington for the Southeast Division lead.

LeBron James looked playoff ready. The New Jersey Nets aren't quite there yet. James scored 35 points in 36 minutes and the Cleveland Cavaliers secured home-court advantage for the first round of the NBA playoffs with a 94-76 win last night over the Nets, who blew a chance to inch closer to a postseason berth. Larry Hughes added 19 points for Cleveland, tied with idle Chicago at 47-32 for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs have three games left, and they'll probably have to win them all and hope the Bulls - who own the tiebreaker between the clubs - stumble to avoid a possible first-round matchup against the Miami Heat.

Kenyon Martin ended a late offensive drought with a key three-point play in the final 30 seconds as the New Jersey Nets outlasted the New York Knicks, 81-78, last night in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series. The Nets, having won the first three games, will try to wrap up a sweep Sunday. After two days in which the Knicks' Tim Thomas and Martin trashed each other - Martin took part in the Nets' morning practice wearing the back page of a newspaper with the headline "Whiny Tim" taped across his jersey - the teams kept things clean at the first playoff game at Madison Square Garden in three years.

The New Jersey Nets wrapped up the Atlantic Division title - and shut up the New York Knicks. Lucious Harris matched his season high with 24 points to help the Nets win their third straight division title with a 108-83 victory over the visiting Knicks last night. The Knicks fired up the Nets with comments that they wouldn't mind facing New Jersey - missing injured Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin - in the opening round of the playoffs. Richard Jefferson, who had 18 points for New Jersey, took the Knicks' remarks to heart.

The owners of the New Jersey Nets have told real estate developer Bruce Ratner that they intend to sell him the basketball team for $300 million, sources familiar with the situation said. The sale makes it likely that the Nets, who currently play at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., will move to Brooklyn, N.Y., where Ratner is seeking to build an arena. Ed Stier, the Nets official overseeing the sale, said "the negotiating process is still going on. " No contracts have been signed, said the sources, who asked not to be identified.

The Miami Heat was able to get by without Shaquille O'Neal. James Posey's three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining lifted the Heat, 90-87, over the visiting Seattle SuperSonics last night. Dwyane Wade scored 31 points despite going 8-for-23 for the defending NBA champions, who improved to 2-2. Reserve Dorell Wright had nine points, five rebounds and a career-high six assists. Rashard Lewis scored 23 points and Ray Allen added 18 for Seattle. O'Neal missed a second straight game because of a bruised left knee.

Michael Jordan's old Chicago jersey hangs over the Miami Heat's home floor, a tribute to the six-time NBA champion. Now, a new bunch of Bulls want a title of their own after ending the Heat's reign atop the league with a four-game sweep. Ben Gordon scored 24 points and Luol Deng had 22 yesterday, leading Chicago past host Miami, 92-79, in Game 4 to clinch the first-round Eastern Conference series. The Bulls advanced in the postseason for the first time since Jordan's last title in 1998.

It turns out that Shaquille O'Neal's $100 million, 5-year contract with the Miami Heat was only the first big news for the Miami Heat. Last night, the Heat helped engineer the largest trade in NBA history, a five-team, 13-player deal. Antoine Walker was dealt from Boston to Miami, which also acquired acquired point guard Jason Williams and small forward James Posey from Memphis, while the Grizzlies received guard Eddie Jones, a Temple product, from the Heat. The New Orleans Hornets and Utah Jazz also were involved in the deal.

He arrived in the Boston Celtics' locker room last night wearing a black Phillies jacket with a white logo, because he will never give up the homeboy part of him. He was, he said emphatically, in Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies and Yankees in the World Series, because he "had to be. " "Had to see my Phils," Rasheed Wallace said last night after the unbeaten Celtics (5-0) tore through the 76ers, 105-74. But he made no predictions as the Phils go into Game 6 tonight. "Take it a game at a time," 'Sheed said.

He arrived in the Boston Celtics' locker room last night wearing a black Phillies jacket with a white logo, because he will never give up the homeboy part of him. He was, he said emphatically, in Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies and Yankees in the World Series, because he "had to be. " "Had to see my Phils," Rasheed Wallace said last night after the unbeaten Celtics (5-0) tore through the 76ers, 105-74. But he made no predictions as the Phils go into Game 6 tonight. "Take it a game at a time," 'Sheed said.

On the night Miami retired Alonzo Mourning's number, Orlando's big man wrecked the party. Dwight Howard scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, passing Wilt Chamberlain as the youngest NBA player to reach the 5,000-board mark, and the Magic kept their grip on the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference by beating the Heat, 101-95, last night in Miami. Rashard Lewis scored 21 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:32 remaining for Orlando (55-18), which stayed five games behind Cleveland and percentage points ahead of defending champion Boston in the East race.

Paul Pierce had a party the night of the NBA lottery last May. When the Ping-Pong balls had finished bouncing, his Boston Celtics didn't get the first pick, as most everyone in Beantown had hoped. Nor the second pick. Nor the third. Nor the fourth. The Celtics were doomed to the fifth pick overall. But even though Pierce left the party early, it wasn't because he was upset. He was actually delighted. "I knew it was a pick we would probably have to trade," Pierce said last week.

Michael Jordan's old Chicago jersey hangs over the Miami Heat's home floor, a tribute to the six-time NBA champion. Now, a new bunch of Bulls want a title of their own after ending the Heat's reign atop the league with a four-game sweep. Ben Gordon scored 24 points and Luol Deng had 22 yesterday, leading Chicago past host Miami, 92-79, in Game 4 to clinch the first-round Eastern Conference series. The Bulls advanced in the postseason for the first time since Jordan's last title in 1998.

LeBron James looked playoff ready. The New Jersey Nets aren't quite there yet. James scored 35 points in 36 minutes and the Cleveland Cavaliers secured home-court advantage for the first round of the NBA playoffs with a 94-76 win last night over the Nets, who blew a chance to inch closer to a postseason berth. Larry Hughes added 19 points for Cleveland, tied with idle Chicago at 47-32 for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs have three games left, and they'll probably have to win them all and hope the Bulls - who own the tiebreaker between the clubs - stumble to avoid a possible first-round matchup against the Miami Heat.

Shaquille O'Neal made his first seven shots and scored a season-high 32 points, Jason Williams added 20 points and the surging Miami Heat beat the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, 105-91, last night. O'Neal finished 13-for-16 from the field and added nine rebounds. Williams shot 9-for-13 and Eddie Jones had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who shot 58 percent to win their fifth straight overall, 11th in a row at home and move within 2 1/2 games of Washington for the Southeast Division lead.

The Miami Heat was able to get by without Shaquille O'Neal. James Posey's three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining lifted the Heat, 90-87, over the visiting Seattle SuperSonics last night. Dwyane Wade scored 31 points despite going 8-for-23 for the defending NBA champions, who improved to 2-2. Reserve Dorell Wright had nine points, five rebounds and a career-high six assists. Rashard Lewis scored 23 points and Ray Allen added 18 for Seattle. O'Neal missed a second straight game because of a bruised left knee.

The Dallas Mavericks could see it. They could feel it. They could smell it. And then, they let it go. And the Miami Heat, somehow, are still alive in these NBA Finals. After getting throttled by Dallas throughout the second half of Game 3 - and facing a prohibitive series deficit of three games to none - Miami made a desperate rally in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter that was enough, just enough, to defeat the Mavericks, 98-96, last night. Trailing by 89-76 with 6 minutes, 15 seconds left in the fourth, the Heat looked dead.

EASTERN CONFERENCE No. 1 Detroit Pistons (64-18) vs. No. 8 Milwaukee Bucks (40-42) Know the drill: With a veteran unit and back-to-back appearances in the NBA Finals, the Pistons know what they must do, especially on defense. They were the third-stingiest team this season in allowing points. Milwaukee's Michael Redd is one of the top perimeter shooters in basketball, and he gets ample support there from Bobby Simmons and Charlie Bell. Jamaal Magloire and rookie Andrew Bogut are tough inside but run into foul problems.

Miami Heat star Shaquille O'Neal will miss 2 to 4 weeks with a sprained right ankle, adding to the team's early-season injury woes. O'Neal, who is wearing a protective cast, flew with his team to Milwaukee yesterday after learning results of an MRI exam performed earlier in the day. The updated diagnosis was formally announced after the team's arrival in Milwaukee, where the Heat will play the Bucks tonight. The news probably wasn't surprising to teammates, who seemed resigned to playing without the 12-time All-Star center after seeing him hobble and grimace after Thursday's 105-102 loss to Indiana.