In brief: Magic ride Howard, Carter to win
Basketball: Dwight Howard had 22 points and 17 rebounds, Vince Carter added 21 points and the Orlando Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks 93-76 on Thursday night in Atlanta.
The Hawks, attempting to tie Phoenix for the NBA’s best record, dropped to 11-4. They missed a chance to improve to 8-0 at home for the first time since 1993-94.
Orlando wiped away the disappointment of a one-point home loss to Miami on Wednesday night with its sixth win in seven games.
Atlanta, which has dropped two straight following a seven-game winning streak, blew a 14-point lead after Joe Johnson banked in a jumper to begin the third quarter.
The Magic went on a 25-10 run that ended with Carter’s three-point play and a 64-63 advantage with 2:09 left in the third.
Johnson finished with 22 points for the Hawks, who fell a half-game behind Orlando for the Eastern Conference and Southeast Division lead.
•Sixers guard Williams out eight weeks: Philadelphia 76ers guard Lou Williams will miss eight weeks after having surgery on his jaw.
Williams broke his jaw in Philadelphia’s loss to Washington on Tuesday night. His averages of 17.4 points and 5.1 assists are second-highest on the team behind Andre Iguodala.
•Creighton takes Michigan to OT, loses: Manny Harris had 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds to lead No. 15 Michigan to an 83-76 overtime win over Creighton at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla.
Harris had a three-point play and added a dunk as Michigan went up 76-73 with three minutes left in the extra session.
Creighton trailed 74-73 at the two-minute mark of overtime on Antoine Young’s basket.
After Harris made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left to put Michigan up 69-67, Young forced overtime on a last-second layup.
•Clemson upset by Texas A&M: B.J. Holmes scored 20 points to help Texas A&M upset No. 19 Clemson 69-60 in the first round of the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif.
David Loubeau added 12 points and nine rebounds and Bryan Davis had 10 points for the Aggies (4-0), who will face No. 8 West Virginia in a semifinal game.
Texas A&M led by as many as 17 early in the second half before Clemson (4-1) pulled to 58-56 when Tanner Smith made two free throws with 5:14 remaining.
A free throw and then Holmes’ 3-pointer gave the Aggies some breathing room and Clemson could never recover.
•Wright leads Lady Cavs over Indiana: Monica Wright had 22 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 15 Virginia beat Indiana 84-79 at the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas.
Whitny Edwards added 17 points and China Crosby had 12 points and seven assists for the Cavaliers (4-1), who advanced to the championship game of the Reef Division. Virginia will face South Dakota State.
With the score tied at 15-15 early on Virginia scored the next eight points and built its lead to 40-24 at the half.
Indiana (3-2) wouldn’t go away, starting the second half with a 7-0 spurt and the Hoosiers later cut their deficit to two points, but could get no closer.
McIlroy, McDowell lead World Cup event
Miscellany: Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell shot a better-ball 58 to give Ireland a three-stroke lead over Argentina after the first round of the World Cup of Golf in Shenzhen, China.
Argentina’s Tano Goya and Rafael Echenique were at 11-under 61, with Japan another shot behind. The United States pair of Nick Watney and John Merrick was tied for 15th at 5-under 67 after four birdies by Watney.
Defending champion Sweden was tied with Italy, Canada and South Korea six strokes off the lead in the $5.5 million tournament at the Mission Hills Golf Club. Today’s second round will be alternate-shot, as will Sunday, while Saturday will be better-ball again.
Aiming to win Ireland’s third World Cup, McDowell and McIlroy each birdied six holes on the 7,251-yard course. McIlroy eagled the par-5 15th hole.
•Federer, Del Potro advance to ATP semifinals: Juan Martin del Potro squeaked into the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals by beating Roger Federer 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3 — the slimmest possible margin to advance and knock Andy Murray out of the tournament in London.
That result means Del Potro and Federer both advance after a three-way tie in Group A. All three players finished the round-robin stage with two wins and identical 5-4 set records. However, Murray was eliminated after winning the lowest percentage of games. Had Del Potro lost just one more game against Federer, Murray would have advanced at the Argentine’s expense.
•Sosa sued in Dominican court: Sammy Sosa is being sued for $203,000 by a businessman who claims the former Major Leaguer owes him for commission on a house sale, among other things.
Carim Abu Nabaa alleges that Sosa has not paid him a commission of $150,000 on a house sale, $43,000 for a luxury watch, and $10,000 for getting Reggaeton singer Don Omar to perform at Sosa’s 41st birthday party.
Jose Enrique Alevante, a lawyer for Abu Nabaa, told AP his client helped Sosa sell a $3 million house in the Dominican Republic and that he was owed a 5 percent commission on the sale.