Francis leads Magic past Spurs

Steve Francis scored 29 points, seven in a late game-breaking run, and the Orlando Magic snapped a seven-game losing streak to San Antonio by beating the Spurs 93-87 on Wednesday night in Orlando, Fla.

Hedo Turkoglu added 16 points, and Grant Hill had 13 for Orlando.

Tony Battie had nine points and 11 rebounds, and his defense on Tim Duncan kept the two-time Most Valuable Player from being a factor down the stretch.

San Antonio lost for the first time in five games.

Duncan led the Spurs with 24 points but didn’t score after a free throw with 5 minutes, 58 seconds left.

Bulls 89, Pistons 82: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Ben Gordon scored 19 points and fellow reserve Tyson Chandler had 13 points and 11 rebounds as Chicago won its fifth straight game, beating Detroit.

Chicago hadn’t won five in a row since Michael Jordan led them on a 14-game run during the 1997-98 championship season. Detroit has lost four of six.

Chauncey Billups led all scorers with 32 for the Pistons.

Hawks 113, Mavericks 100: At Atlanta, Antoine Walker scored 25 points, and the Hawks snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Dallas.

Held to less than 70 points in two of their last three losses, the Hawks enjoyed their best offensive game of the season. Atlanta set a scoring high and had six players in double figures for the first time.

Nets 92, Cavaliers 90: At East Rutherford, N.J., Richard Jefferson capped the highest scoring night of his career by sinking an alley-oop layup off an inbounds pass with 0.8 seconds left, giving New Jersey a victory over Cleveland.

Jefferson scored 42 points, the final two coming when he rolled free of defender LeBron James, caught Jabari Smith’s lob pass and dropped the ball through.

James had 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Cavaliers.

Celtics 114, Knicks 109: At Boston, Mark Blount scored 22 points, Paul Pierce had 21, and Kendrick Perkins shattered his career high with 13 rebounds as the Celtics turned back division-leading New York.

Nazr Mohammed had 22 points and 18 rebounds for the Knicks.

76ers 102, Pacers 90: At Indianapolis, Allen Iverson scored 40 points, ending his streak of 50-point games at two, but still led Philadelphia to a win over Indiana.

The Pacers led by five with just more than six minutes to play, but Philadelphia closed the game with a 19-2 run – helped by two technical fouls from Jamaal Tinsley.

Bobcats 90, Rockets 87: At Houston, expansion Charlotte won on the road for the first time, getting 21 points and 11 rebounds from rookie Emeka Okafor in a victory over the Rockets.

Jason Kapono added 16 points for Charlotte, a loser in its first 10 road games. The victory gave Charlotte a sweep over a team many once believed would be among the NBA’s elite. The Bobcats defeated the Rockets 101-100 in overtime on Saturday.

Warriors 109, Grizzlies 99: At Oakland, Calif., Jason Richardson scored 24 points, Troy Murphy had 19 points and 13 rebounds and Golden State snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Memphis.

Speedy Claxton scored 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter for the Warriors, who hit a season-best 11 3-pointers while rallying from an early 15-point deficit.

Pau Gasol had 19 points to lead Memphis.

Trail Blazers 104, Bucks 95: At Milwaukee, Nick Van Exel had season highs with 26 points and six 3-pointers, and Zach Randolph added 22 points to help Portland hand Milwaukee its 15th loss in the past 18 games.

Raptors 98, Jazz 86: At Toronto, Donyell Marshall scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Raptors past Utah.

Chris Bosh added 18 points for the Raptors, who are 2-2 since trading Vince Carter to New Jersey.

Lakers 101, Hornets 89: Chucky Atkins scored a season-high 30 points, Chris Mihm had 21 rebounds to match the highest total in the NBA this season, and Los Angeles beat visiting New Orleans.

Around the league

Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal participated in a short practice with his team and said his bruised left calf is improving. Whether O’Neal plays against the Kings tonight will be a game-time decision. … The Los Angeles Lakers placed center Vlade Divac on the injured list because of a sore back and activated forward Brian Grant.