Howard crashes Mourning tribute, leads Magic over Heat

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 on Monday night in Miami.

Dwyane Wade scored 13 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter for the Heat.

The halftime ceremony featured the reading of a letter from President Barack Obama, plus brief speeches from Gov. Charlie Crist, Heat president Pat Riley, Mourning’s former Georgetown coach, John Thompson, and fellow former Hoya Patrick Ewing, a longtime mentor.

•Jazz survive Knicks’ rally: Deron Williams had 24 points and 13 assists and the Utah Jazz beat the New York Knicks 112-104 in Salt Lake City, rallying after blowing a huge lead.

The Jazz led by 24 points early in the third quarter, but fell behind by a point in the fourth before regrouping and closing the game on a 20-11 run.

Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 11 rebounds and Kyle Korver scored 16 as the Jazz won their 15th straight home game.

•Summers declares for draft: Georgetown junior DaJuan Summers is skipping his senior year and declaring himself eligible for the NBA draft.

NHL

Sharks put out Flames

Jonathan Cheechoo scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 victory over the Flames in Calgary, Alberta.

Dan Boyle also scored for San Jose, and Joe Thornton had two assists.

The Sharks reached 50 wins for the second time in franchise history and moved four points ahead of Detroit in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy.

•Rangers’ Lundqvist posts shutout: Brandon Dubinsky and defenseman Dan Girardi scored 2:04 apart during New York’s three-goal second period, and Henrik Lundqvist earned his 20th NHL shutout to lift the Rangers to a 3-0 victory that sent the visiting New Jersey Devils to a season-high fifth straight loss.

Ryan Callahan added his 21st goal for the Rangers.

Football

Moats accepts officer’s apology

NFL player Ryan Moats said he accepts the apology offered by a Dallas police officer who stopped him with a drawn gun in a hospital parking lot as his mother-in-law was dying.

The Houston Texans running back said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he hopes officer Robert Powell was sincere in his apology.

Powell stopped Moats’ SUV outside Baylor Regional Medical Center in suburban Plano on March 18 after the vehicle rolled through a red light. Moats’ wife, Tamishia, and other relatives were also in the car.

The officer pulled out his gun and threatened Moats with jail as the player pleaded to be allowed to go inside the hospital. Moats’ mother-in-law, 45-year-old Jonetta Collinsworth, died while Powell wrote Moats a ticket and lectured him.

•Saints re-sign Harrington: The New Orleans Saints have re-signed backup quarterback Joey Harrington.

•San Francisco adds OT Smith: Offensive tackle Marvel Smith has signed a two-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers, who expect him to be their starting right tackle.

•Houston receiver to play again: University of Houston sophomore receiver Patrick Edwards, who broke his leg when he ran into a metal service cart in a game at Marshall last year, plans to play this season.

Edwards also said he will pursue legal action against Marshall.

Auto racing

Harvick’s late push earns victory

Kevin Harvick passed Kyle Busch with just over nine laps to go and held on through an abbreviated final restart to win the rain-delayed and caution-filled trucks race before a sparse crowd at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia on Monday.

Busch had led for 139 laps in the Kroger 250 before Harvick got to the inside heading into the third turn and pulled ahead after dueling side-by-side to the flag stand.

Harvick’s pass came after several laps running his Chevrolet right on the bumper of Busch’s Toyota.

After a crash brought out the 13th of 14 cautions, Harvick outran Ron Hornaday Jr. on the restart on lap 249 until another crash allowed him to coast to the victory under a caution.

Miscellany

Mancuso claims giant slalom title

Julia Mancuso capped a weekend of national championship skiing that featured blowing snow and blowing volcanic ash with a victory in the giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine Championships in Girdwood, Alaska.

Mancuso was second in both runs to finish in a combined 2 minutes, 12.62 seconds, and it was enough to squeak by 21-year-old Megan McJames, who finished in 2:12.77.