Mavs make win No. 17 look easy

The Dallas Mavericks endured a minimum of stress in extending their franchise-record winning streak to 17 games.

Josh Howard scored 24 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 19, and the Mavericks took control early in embarrassing the Los Angeles Lakers 108-72 Sunday night in Los Angeles to match the longest winning streak in the NBA this season.

The loss was the most one-sided setback at home for the Lakers since they moved to Los Angeles from Minneapolis in 1960.

The Mavericks (52-9) lost to the Lakers in their last visit to Los Angeles a little over two months ago, snapping a 13-game winning streak. They were never in jeopardy this time after taking a 59-35 halftime lead.

Jason Terry scored 14 points, Jerry Stackhouse and Austin Croshere added 13.

Rockets 103, Magic 92: At Houston, Yao Ming had 37 points and four blocked shots in his biggest game since returning to the lineup, leading the Rockets to a victory over Orlando.

Yao, who also had seven rebounds, was playing his fourth game since returning from a broken right leg.

Heat 106, Wizards 104: At Miami, Udonis Haslem’s 10-footer in the lane with 0.3 seconds left capped a wild back-and-forth game and gave the Heat a victory over Washington.

The Heat blew a 16-point first-half lead, then rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to win their sixth straight overall and 12th straight at home – plus get within one game of Washington in the Southeast Division.

Trail Blazers 106, Warriors 87: At Portland, Zach Randolph had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers to a victory over Golden State, who were without top scorer Baron Davis.

Rookie Brandon Roy added 26 points for the Trail Blazers, who led by as many as 23 points.

Pistons 98, Clippers 80: At Los Angeles, Richard Hamilton scored 15 of his 23 points in the first quarter and Detroit beat the Clippers while Rasheed Wallace sat out a one-game suspension.

Nuggets 113, Sacramento 101: At Sacramento, Calif., Allen Iverson had 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds to spoil Ron Artest’s return to the Kings lineup, and Denver snapped a 20-game losing streak in Sacramento with a victory.

Bulls 94, Celtics 78: At Boston, Kirk Hinrich scored 26 points and Ben Gordon had 21 to lead surging Chicago to a victory over the Celtics.

Cavaliers 99, Pacers 88: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 26 points – his lowest total in 11 games – but the Cavaliers won their fifth straight, and handed wilting Indiana its ninth straight loss.