Heat surge past Magic

With their winning streak in jeopardy, the Miami Heat wisely turned to Shaquille O’Neal.

Mixing finesse and muscle, Shaq sparked a 13-point run late in the fourth quarter and the Heat won their eighth game in a row, beating the Orlando Magic 117-107 Sunday night in Miami.

The winning streak is Miami’s longest since March 1998, and the past four victories have come against teams above .500.

The Heat trailed for much of the game and were down 103-102 with five minutes left before O’Neal helped them surge ahead.

On consecutive possessions O’Neal hit a dunk, fed Eddie Jones for a 3-pointer that put Miami ahead to stay, then passed to Christian Laettner for a layup to make it 107-103. O’Neal’s three-point play a minute later made it 110-103.

The score was 115-103 before Steve Francis hit a layup for the Magic – their only points in the final five minutes.

O’Neal finished with 27 points. Jones shot 8 for 10 and scored 25 points. Dwyane Wade added 22 despite missing 14 of 20 shots.

Playing their intrastate rivals for the first time this season, Orlando was eager to challenge Miami’s supremacy atop the Southeast Division. Instead the Magic lost for the fourth time in five games and fell four games behind the Heat.

Knicks 94, Jazz 93: At New York, Jamal Crawford scored 11 of his 24 points in the final five minutes, including a rare four-point play and a sweet crossover move that led to a key basket in New York’s victory over Utah.

Crawford’s running floater made it 90-86 with 27 seconds left, and Stephon Marbury’s two free throws with 6.4 remaining gave the Knicks a four-point lead.

Marbury had 19 points and 12 assists, Michael Sweetney scored 13 and Kurt Thomas grabbed 14 of the Knicks’ 29 rebounds as New York won at home over the Jazz for the first time in more than eight years.

Raptors 110, Nets 99: At Toronto, Lamond Murray scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and Toronto beat New Jersey for their first victory of the post-Vince Carter era.

Murray, who could play more now that Carter is gone, recorded his highest scoring game with Toronto. He scored 12 points as the Raptors began the fourth quarter on a 17-4 run.

Richard Jefferson had 38 points for the Nets.

Kings 107, Hornets 71: At Sacramento, Calif., Peja Stojakovic scored 21 points, and Sacramento pulled away in the second half for a blowout victory over New Orleans.

It was another long night for the Hornets, who at 2-21 have the worst record in the NBA. New Orleans has lost two straight and 13 of 14.

Brad Miller had 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Kings, who played their reserves most of the fourth quarter and recorded their biggest margin of victory this season. Chris Webber sat out because of a sore left knee.

Grizzlies 92, Clippers 82: At Los Angeles, Pau Gasol scored six of his 20 points in the final 5:05 and Jason Williams added a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch to lift Memphis past Los Angeles.

Mike Miller’s fourth 3-pointer of the game and 500th of his career capped a 13-2 run that turned a two-point deficit into an 85-79 lead for Memphis with 3:06 to play.

The Clippers have lost five straight and six of seven.

Anthony won’t play tonight

Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony will miss tonight’s game against the Phoenix Suns because of a sprained ankle.

Anthony sprained his left ankle during a game against Miami on Friday when he landed on the foot of Heat center Shaquille O’Neal. He also missed the Nuggets’ loss to Orlando on Saturday.