Shaq scores 33; Heat notch 7th straight win

Shaquille O’Neal scored 33 points, and the Miami Heat rode an 18-2 second-half surge to a seventh straight victory, 107-90 over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday at Miami.

O’Neal added 13 rebounds, was 10 for 18 from the floor and – most surprisingly, considering he was a 46.2 percent foul shooter coming into the game – hit on 13 of 18 tries from the line.

Dwyane Wade added 20 points for the Heat, who won their 11th straight at home and expanded their lead in the Eastern Conference to eight games over idle Detroit. Miami (47-16) has 19 regular-season games remaining.

Kevin Garnett had 22 points and 19 rebounds for Minnesota, which came in with a three-game winning streak. The Timberwolves had won seven of their last eight games against Miami and led by eight points with 2:21 left in the third quarter, but shot just 31.8 percent the rest of the way.

Troy Hudson added 20 points for Minnesota.

Lakers 100, Mavericks 95: At Dallas, Kobe Bryant scored 36 points and made two huge plays on each end of the court in the last 1:20, giving Los Angeles a nice start to a long road trip with a victory over Dallas.

Los Angeles, in a tight, three-way race for the West’s eighth and final playoff seed, had lost three straight road games.