Wade scores 23 as Miami streak hits 19
NBA: Dwyane Wade scored 23 points and the host Miami Heat extended their winning streak to 19 games, leading wire-to-wire in beating the Atlanta Hawks 98-81 on Tuesday night.
LeBron James scored 15 and Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers added 14 apiece for the Heat, who matched the fifth-longest streak in NBA history. They will try for their 20th straight win tonight at Philadelphia, the start of a five-game trip.
• Howard dominating in return: Dwight Howard scored a season-high 39 points, had 16 rebounds and was sent to the free-throw line 39 times by his former team as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic, 106-97.
The victory came in Howard’s first return to Orlando since his drama-filled offseason trade to the Lakers. He endured a chorus of boos throughout, and tied his own NBA record for free throw attempts.
The majority of them came as the Magic tried to employ an intentional foul strategy. It backfired, though, as the All-Star center hit on 16 of 20 attempts in the second half.
• Rubio has triple-double: Ricky Rubio had his first career triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 107-83 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Minneapolis.
• Blazers fall at home: Zach Randolph returned from an ankle injury with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies won their fifth straight game with a 102-97 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Blazers, whose playoff hopes are slipping away.
• Brook Lopez leads Nets: Brook Lopez scored 26 points and had a big dunk over twin brother Robin, Deron Williams added 21 points and 13 assists, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the visiting New Orleans Hornets 108-98.
• Mavericks win fourth straight: Vince Carter hit three key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 23 points off the bench as the visiting Dallas Mavericks won their fourth straight with a 115-108 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Djokovic advances at Indian Wells
Tennis: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic reached the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open when he beat Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (4), 6-1 for his 20th consecutive victory.
Djokovic moves on to play Sam Querrey, a 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 winner over Marinko Matosevic, at Indian Wells, Calif.
Maria Sharapova, an Australian Open finalist this year, defeated Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino of Spain, 7-5, 6-0. Victoria Azarenka, No. 2 in the world, got past Urszula Radwanska of Poland, 6-3, 6-1.
Seldom-used Luongo sharp in Canucks’ win
NHL: Mason Raymond scored the only goal in the shootout, and seldom-used Roberto Luongo stopped 26 shots through overtime to lead Vancouver past host Columbus 2-1.
Luongo, playing in his second game in 16 days, stopped all three Blue Jackets in the shootout. Jason Garrison had the lone goal before overtime for the Canucks, who had lost four straight (0-2-2).
• Dubnyk shuts out Avalanche: Devan Dubnyk stopped 36 shots for his first shutout in nearly a year and Shawn Horcoff scored a goal in his second straight game since returning from a broken knuckle, helping the visiting Edmonton Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 .
Sam Gagner, Magnus Paajarvi and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored.
• Sutter scores twice for Penguins: Brandon Sutter scored twice in the final seven minutes to cap a furious rally, and host Pittsburgh slipped past Boston 3-2. NHL scoring leader Sidney Crosby had an eight-game point streak snapped.
• Hot Hurricanes win: Riley Nash scored twice, Joe Corvo put one in off the goaltender’s mask, and Justin Peters got his second career shutout as surging Carolina beat host Washington 4-0. Peters made 26 saves for the Hurricanes, who have won six of seven.
Messi scores twice in Barcelona win
Miscellany: Lionel Messi started the comeback with two first-half goals, and host Barcelona overwhelmed AC Milan 4-0 to reach its sixth straight Champions League soccer quarterfinal and become the first team ever to advance after losing the first leg 2-0 on the road.
In the other match, Galatasaray won 3-2 at Schalke to advance on 4-3 aggregate.
• Austrian clinches ski jump title: Austrian ski jumper Gregor Schlierenzauer won his second World Cup overall title with four races to spare after finishing fifth at Kuopio, Finland.
Kamil Stoch of Poland won, followed by Japan’s Daiki Ito and Germany’s Severin Freund.