O’Neal, Walker lead scorching Heat to victory over Raptors

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shaquille O’Neal registered a second
career triple-double and Antoine Walker scored a season-high 32
points to lead the Miami Heat to a 106-97 victory over the
fading Toronto Raptors in Florida on Tuesday.

Miami’s leading scorer Dwyane Wade was absent with the flu,
leaving O’Neal to take charge with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a
career-high 10 assists.

O’Neal’s only other triple-double came in November 20, 1993
for the Orlando Magic against the New Jersey Nets.

Derek Anderson contributed 17 points for Miami while Gary
Payton and Udonis Haslem each added 15 as the Heat moved closer
to clinching the Eastern Conference second seed, lowering their
magic number to two with New Jersey’s loss to the Chicago
Bulls.

Mike James paced Toronto with 32 points, becoming the first
Raptor to score 30 or more points in four consecutive games.

Morris Peterson had 23 points and Darrick Martin added 13
in a losing cause.

With Wade out of the line-up, the Raptors concentrated
their efforts on slowing down O’Neal, double-teaming the Heat’s
gigantic center.

O’Neal ran into early foul trouble but inflicted enough
damage in 28 minutes of work to send the slumping Raptors to
their ninth straight defeat.

“I knew they (Raptors) were going to double me so I just
trying to keep my guys involved,” O’Neal told reporters.

“They kept doubling me and I just kept passing and my team
mates were making me look good.

“I just always try to have a positive impact on the game.”

The Heat took command right from the tip off, leading 31-21
after the first quarter and 61-51 at the halftime intermission.

Toronto rallied in the third, trimming the Miami lead to
82-77 but would get no closer, the Heat opened the final
quarter with 10-3 run.

In Chicago, Ben Gordon bagged 36 points, including 21 in
the final quarter, as the Bulls downed the New Jersey Nets
104-101 to move into a tie with the Philadelphia 76ers for the
Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot.

Kirk Hinrich chipped in with 22 points and dished out nine
assists and Andres Nocioni had 20 points and added a
career-high 17 boards as the Bulls continued their stretch
drive for a post-season berth recording their fifth win in six
games.

Vince Carter led New Jersey with a game-high 43 points but
it was not enough to keep the Nets from absorbing their second
loss in three games.

In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant nailed 31 points and Lamar Odom
had a triple double as the Lakers eased to a 111-100 win over
the slumping Golden State Warriors.

Odom had 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to earn his
ninth career triple-double but first in a Lakers uniform.

Smush Parker contributed 18 points to the Lakers total
while Kwame Brown had 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Jason Richardson had 20 points for the Warriors, who
dropped their ninth consecutive game.