The Miami Heat took control from the start to record a 107-100 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA on Tuesday. Michael Beasley scored a season-high 27 points and Dwyane Wade had 18 points and 12 assists for Miami. Beasley was 8 of 15 from the field and 11 of 12 for free throws as the Heat shot 53.3 percent from the field. Greg Oden grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds and scored 13 points for Portland, which shot .391 in losing its third consecutive game. The Blazers were without forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who has a bruised right knee. Miami scored the game's first seven points on the way to a 32-28 lead at the end of the first quarter. Celtics 108, Bobcats 90: In Charlotte, North Carolina, Boston cruised past Charlotte for its fifth straight victory. Ray Allen broke out of his shooting slump with 27 points and Kendrick Perkins added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who had little trouble slowing the Bobcats, who had won four straight. Entering shooting 30 percent from 3-point range, Allen took only nine shots, but hit 5 of 6 3-pointers, including one from behind the plane of the backboard with 1 second left to give the Celtics a 62-39 halftime lead. Charlotte never recovered as Gerald Wallace scored just five points after getting into early foul trouble. Nazr Mohammed had 16 points for the Bobcats. Lakers 110, Hornets 99: In Los Angeles, the hosts won their seventh straight, downing New Orleans, to take the overall NBA lead. Andrew Bynum scored 21 points and Kobe Bryant added 18 on a light night of work. Darren Collison scored 20 points for the Hornets, who lost their fifth straight road game. New Orleans has the NBA's second-worst road record at 1-9, only ahead of the 0-11 New Jersey Nets, and is winless on the road since Nov. 9. Nuggets 135, Warriors 107: In Denver, the home team had their biggest score of the season to record an easy win over Golden State. Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and Chauncey Billups had 22 to be among seven Nuggets in double figures. Anthony Morrow's 27 points led the Warriors, who fell to 2-8 on the road. Up by 14 at halftime, the Nuggets extended their lead to 107-84 by the end of the third quarter. Knicks 126, Suns 99: In New York, the hosts snapped a five-game losing skid and gave their coach a resounding victory over his old team Phoenix. Danilo Gallinari had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and David Lee added 24 points for the Knicks, who rang up a season-best 71 first-half points, then blew it open when Gallinari scored seven points in a span of barely a minute midway through the third quarter. Steve Nash had 20 points and eight assists for the Suns, who had won four straight by an average of 21 points. It was a sweet victory for coach Mike D'Antoni, who parted ways with the Suns after a first-round playoff loss in 2008. Wizards 106, Raptors 102: In Toronto, Antawn Jamison had 30 points and 12 rebounds to lead Washington over Toronto. Gilbert Arenas had 22 points and nine assists for the Wizards. Chris Bosh had 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost four straight.
