NBA

NBA: Dallas 113, New Jersey 98

Dallas -- Josh Howard scored 24 points Wednesday and Dallas got 23 each from Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki to defeat New Jersey 113-98.

Dallas outscored New Jersey 40-15 in the third period to turn the game into a rout and complete a 3-1 homestand.

Former Maverick Devin Harris led New Jersey with 18 points, but the Nets dropped their fourth in a row.

Harris was sent to New Jersey a year ago as part of an eight-player deal that brought Kidd to Dallas. Harris has averaged 21.5 points per game this season, but he was coming off a 10-point effort against Houston Tuesday.

A 3-pointer by Kidd touched off a 35-11 run that closed the third period.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.

NBA: New Orleans 117, Orlando 85

New Orleans -- Chris Paul made 14-of-22 shots and scored 36 points Wednesday, pushing New Orleans to a 117-85 blasting of Orlando.

The Hornets won for the fourth time in six games, blowing the contest open in the third period thanks to Paul's big performance that included six rebounds and 10 assists.

Rasual Butler chipped in 15 points and David West had 14 as part of the Hornets' 58-percent shooting performance.

Rashard Lewis paced Orlando with 17 points. The Magic tried 33 shots from 3-point range and made 13 of them.

New Orleans had a seven-point lead 3 minutes deep into the third period and closed the quarter on a 25-8 run.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.

NBA: Chicago 113, Milwaukee 104

Milwaukee -- Kirk Hinrich scored 12 of his season-high 31 points in the final 6 minutes Wednesday and Chicago pulled away late to defeat Milwaukee 113-104.

The game was tied midway through the fourth quarter before Hinrich made a layup and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions.

Chicago picked up the victory on the day the Bulls made a six-player trade with Sacramento. Chicago acquired center Brad Miller and forward John Salmons from the Kings for forwards Andres Nocioni, Cedric Simmons and Michael Ruffin, along with center Drew Gooden.

Luol Deng added 21 points for the Bulls, winners out two out of three, and Derrick Rose had 18.

Milwaukee, which had a three-game winning streak halted, got 32 points from Richard Jefferson and 17 from Charlie Villanueva.

NBA: Minnesota 111, Miami 104

Miami -- Sebastian Telfair recorded a career-best 30 points and led a 3-point assault Wednesday that brought Minnesota a 111-104 victory over Miami.

The Timberwolves made 14-of-22 from 3-point range and Telfair hit six of the shots from beyond the arc. The win was the first since Minnesota lost their best player, Al Jefferson, to a season-ending knee injury and halted a five-game losing streak.

Ryan Gomes chipped in 20 points and Kevin Love had 16 for Minnesota, which held a 49-24 rebounding edge. The 24 rebounds were the second fewest ever for Miami.

Miami was led by 37 points and 12 assists by Dwyane Wade. Jermaine O'Neal, traded to Miami from Toronto last week, scored 13 points in his debut with the Heat.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Randy Foye and Telfair put the Timberwolves in front for good with 90 seconds to go.

NBA: Charlotte 103, Indiana 94

Charlotte, N.C. -- Gerald Wallace scored 25 points Wednesday and helped Charlotte dominate the second half en route to a 103-94 win over Indiana.

A nine-point run in the third quarter allowed the Bobcats to open a 14-point lead and they went on to win for the third time in four games.

Raymond Felton added 16 points and Vladimir Radmanovic had 15 for the Bobcats.

Indiana, which has dropped 10 straight games on the road, also lost Danny Granger early in the second quarter with a sprained right foot. Troy Murphy led the Pacers with 18 points and 16 rebounds.

The Pacers, who have just six road victories this season, have not won away from home since Jan. 7 in Phoenix.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.

NBA: West 146, East 119

Phoenix -- Former teammates Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal shared MVP honors at the NBA All-Star Game, leading the West to a 146-119 win over the East.

Playing together for the first time since O'Neal left the Lakers for Miami after the 2004 season -- Bryant scored 27 points and O'Neal scored 17 on 8-of-9 shooting on his home court in Phoenix. The pair bickered frequently as teammates from 1996-2004 in LA, but they played together on three NBA championship teams as well.

The All-Star Game MVP award was the third for each -- Bryant having won it in 2002 and 2007 while O'Neal took the honor in 2004 and shared it with Tim Duncan of San Antonio in 2000.

Accepting the award after the game, O'Neal said it would probably be his last.

"At 36, I'm just glad the coaches voted me in," he said. "I'm just happy Kobe was looking for me today, other guys were looking for me today."

NBA names finals MVP award after Russell

Phoenix -- The NBA has named its annual most valuable player award for the playoff finals after Boston Celtics great Bill Russell beginning this season.

Commissioner David Stern made the announcement in Phoenix, the site of this year's all-star contest.

"Who better to name this prestigious award for than one of the greatest players of all time and the ultimate champion?" Stern asked during a news conference Saturday. "He is respected by colleagues, coaches, fans, and his legacy clearly has withstood the test of time."

"This is a bittersweet award," Russell said. "This is quite flattering. I just lost my special partner (but) I accept this for my team. My team included our coach, Red Auerbach."

Russell's wife Marilyn died of cancer three weeks ago.

NBA Finals MVP award to honor Bill Russell

Phoenix -- The NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award will permanently be named after Hall of Fame Celtics center and Coach Bill Russell, the league announced in Phoenix.

Commissioner David Stern made the announcement Saturday in Phoenix during the league's All-Star festivities.

Russell, 75, led the Celtics to 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons as player and coach. He won the NBA MVP award five times between 1956 and 1969, and Boston won eight straight NBA titles between 1958 and 1966.

Russell led the Celtics to league titles in two of his three seasons as player-coach after longtime Coach Red Auerback retired.

Russell -- who spent his entire NBA career with the Celtics -- averaged 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds per game in that time. A 12-time all-star, he was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 1975.

ESPN and NBA to utilize Cisco TelePresence technology

Arizona, February 14: The National Basketball Association (NBA) and ESPN announced that by utilizing Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) TelePresence(TM) technology the ESPN will bring NBA players and legends closer to fans at the NBA All-Star Game, this weekend.

ESPN will broadcast NBA All-Star Weekend reports on the network's news and information shows, directly from the Cisco TelePresence. With the implementation of TelePresence, the sports network will be able to deliver a higher level of interactive sports broadcasting for major events happening across the globe.

In addition to TelePresence, the NBA will utilize the Cisco(R) wireless press center for real-time mobile media reporting on multiple All-Star events happening in Phoenix.

Executive vice president of technology and operations, NBA, Steve Hellmuth said," By bringing Cisco TelePresence to the Jam Session show floor, we will be able to provide our fans with unprecedented access to both current NBA players and legends."

NBA all-stars square off Sunday

Phoenix -- Dwight Howard and the Eastern Conference team go against Kobe Bryant and the Western conference in the NBA All-Star Game Sunday in Phoenix.

Howard, of the Orlando Magic, became the first player ever to get more than 3 million votes in fan balloting, ending up with 3,150,181. Bryant, of the Los Angeles Lakers, had the most votes among the western stars, totaling 2,805,397.

The all-star contest -- 58th for the league -- begins at 9 p.m. at the US Airways Center.

The East leads the all-star series, 35-22.

Howard is joined on the East's starting team by Boston's Kevin Garnett, playing in his 12th all-star contest; Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Allen Iverson of the Detroit Pistons.

NBA: Miami 95, Chicago 93

Chicago -- Shawn Marion scored on a dunk with 1.1 seconds remaining Thursday, giving the Miami Heat a wild 95-93 victory over Chicago.

Miami stormed to a seven-point lead with just over a minute to play thanks to eight consecutive points, but the Bulls put on a 7-0 run to tie it. The last three points in that surge came on Ben Gordon's free throws after he was fouled attempting a 3-point shot.

The Heat and Bulls then traded turnovers in the final 4 seconds, the second turnover coming when Dwyane Wade stole an inbounds pass from Thabo Sefolosha.

Wade then fired the ball to Marion, who caught Miami flatfooted with his game-winning dunk.

Miami, which had lost five of its last seven games, was led by Wade with 24 points and Michael Beasley with 21.

NBA: Denver 82, Orlando 73

Orlando -- Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points Wednesday and Denver put on a big run late in the second quarter en route to an 82-73 victory over Orlando.

The Magic scored only 29 points in the entire first half and lost for the third time in five games. Denver improved to 4-1 on a season-long, eight-game road trip that will be interrupted by the All-Star break.

Anthony made 15-of-18 shots from the foul line, helping the Nuggets win in Orlando for the first time in 17 years. Kenyon Martin added 13 points for the Nuggets.

Dwight Howard scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Magic. Rashard Lewis hit just 4-of-13 field goal attempts and scored 12 points.

Orlando, which shot a mere 30.4 percent from the field for the game, trailed by six points midway through the second period. Denver then closed the half on a 14-3 run for a 46-29 lead at intermission.