Magic rally from 24 down to stun Heat

NBA: Jason Richardson scored 24 points, 11 of them to kickstart what became a wild 40-9 run, and the Orlando Magic rallied from 24 points down in the second half to stun the host Miami Heat 99-96 on Thursday night.

LeBron James scored 29 and Dwyane Wade had 28 for Miami, which trailed 97-96 with 9.6 seconds left. J.J. Redick pushed the lead to three with a pair of free throws, and Chris Bosh and James missed 3-point attempts in the final seconds.

• Afflalo’s late 3 helps Nuggets hold off Jazz: Aaron Afflalo shook off a sore ankle to score 19 points, including a 3-pointer with 11.4 seconds to play, and the Denver Nuggets held off the Utah Jazz 103-101 in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz had an unlikely chance to send the game into overtime, but Andrei Kirilenko fumbled the ball away as the buzzer sounded.

Utah’s Devin Harris hit a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds to play. Kirilenko then stole the inbound pass under the basket but lost control as he went up for the potential tying layup.

Hazell leads Seton Hall past St. John’s

Men’s basketball: Jeremy Hazell scored a season-high 31 points and Seton Hall, the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big East, made a season-best 12 from beyond the arc in an 84-70 victory over No. 15 St. John’s in Newark, N.J., snapping the Red Storm’s (19-10, 11-6 Big East) six-game winning streak.

Freshman Fuquan Edwin had 19 points for the Pirates (12-17, 6-11), who had lost three straight and five of six.

Lucic’s late goal lifts Bruins over Lightning

NHL: Milan Lucic broke a 1-all tie on a goal with 3:42 left and the host Boston Bruins won their seventh straight and moved alone into second place in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tim Thomas had 27 saves for the Bruins.

• Heatley sparks Sharks in win over Wings: Dany Heatley scored twice to lead the San Jose Sharks to their eighth straight victory, 3-1 over the Detroit Red Wings in San Jose, Calif.

The win was the 17th in the past 20 games for the Sharks, who have moved from outside the playoff picture in mid-January to third place in the Western Conference, just three points behind second-place Detroit.

• Kings beat Coyotes on Stoll’s PP goal: Jonathan Bernier recorded his third NHL shutout and Jarret Stoll converted a penalty to Phoenix’s Rostislav Klesla into a power-play goal with 7:47 remaining, leading the host Los Angeles Kings to a 1-0 victory over the Coyotes.

• Boyce, Maple Leafs top conference-leading Fylers: Darryl Boyce scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period to rally the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 win over the host Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers lost consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 20 and 28.

• Predators shut out West-best Canucks: Blake Geoffrion scored the go-ahead goal 1:59 into the third period, Pekka Rinne stopped 29 shots and the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Rudisha, Lagat win to kick off season

Miscellany: David Rudisha kicked off the 2011 IAAF World Challenge series with a commanding win in the 800 meters at the Melbourne Track Classic in Melbourne, Australia.

Rudisha won in 1 minute, 43.88 seconds, with American Nick Symmonds finishing second in 1:45.09.

In the upset of the night, Australia’s Jeff Riseley beat reigning Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya to win the 1,500 in 3:36.71.

American Bernard Lagat (WSU) won the 5,000 meters in 13:08.43, holding off Australia’s Ben St. Lawrence over the last 200 meters.

• Queen’s, Guelph play longest college hockey game: Morgan McHaffie ended the longest game in college hockey history, scoring in the sixth overtime to give Queen’s a 2-1 victory over Guelph in a Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s playoff game in Guelph, Ontario.

McHaffie’s goal 17:14 into the sixth extra period ended the game at 167 minutes, 14 seconds – including over 107 minutes of extra time. That’s the longest game on record in CIS or NCAA hockey – women’s or men’s.