The Boston Celtics surprise slide continued on Tuesday, as the defending NBA champions were beaten 91-86 by an undermanned Portland Trail Blazers. Steve Blake had 21 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 for Portland, which was without All-Star guard Brandon Roy and was coming off a seven-game losing streak. The win move the Blazers equal top of the Northwest Division. Boston has lost three from four after having broken the franchise record for consecutive wins with 19. Prior to the holiday slump, the Celtics had lost only two games this season. Heat 104, Cavaliers 95: In Miami, Dwyane Wade had 21 points and 12 assists as Miami beat Cleveland and dropped LeBron James' pro record on his birthdays to 0-3. Mario Chalmers added 21 points and eight assists for the Heat who put the game away with a 16-3 run in the final quarter. On the day he turned 24, James scored 24 of his 38 points in the second half, almost enough to rally Cleveland out of its biggest deficit of the season, a 16-point hole at halftime. Bucks 100, Spurs 98: In San Antonio, Milwaukee hung on to beat San Antonio when Spurs star Tim Duncan missed a layup with 3.8 seconds to go. Michael Redd had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who snapped San Antonio's five-game winning streak. Hawks 110, Pacers 104: In Indianapolis, Joe Johnson scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help streaking Atlanta beat Indiana. The Hawks have won six straight games and nine of 10 to move within three games of Southeast Division leader Orlando. A Pacers' 3-pointer cut Atlanta's lead to one with 1:36 left but Johnson hit his own 3-pointer to make it 108-104 and two free throws to finish the scoring. It was the Pacers' fourth consecutive loss. Suns 101, Grizzlies 89: In Memphis, Tennessee, Shaquille O'Neal moved into eighth place on the NBA career scoring list as Phoenix beat Memphis. The Suns were without star Steve Nash (back spasms) but Leandro Barbosa filled in admirably with 28 points. He connected on 10 of 18 shots and scored 22 points in the second half. O'Neal had 24 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, and his fourth-quarter dunk moved him past Oscar Robertson on the career scoring list with 26,711 points. O'Neal was 8-of-13 from the field and missed only two of his 10 free throws. Hornets 97, Wizards 85: In New Orleans, Chris Paul had 15 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season, and New Orleans beat Washington. Knicks 93, Bobcats 89: In Charlotte, North Carolina, New York ended a six-game losing streak in beating Charlotte, and improved to 2-0 against its former coach Larry Brown. Kings 92, Clippers 90: In Sacramento, California, Sacramento snapped a six-game losing streak by downing Los Angeles. Sacramento won for the first time this season when trailing in the fourth quarter.
