O’Neal Scores 40, but Wade Is Hurt

Shaquille O’Neal scored a season-high 40 points, and the Miami Heat overcame the loss of leading scorer Dwyane Wade to beat the Washington Wizards, 106-83, Monday night at Miami for its fifth straight win.

Wade sprained his left ankle grabbing a loose ball with 3:18 left in the first half, and did not return. A Heat spokesman said Wade’s second-half absence was “more precautionary than anything else.”

O’Neal, who had 34 points against Toronto last month, added 12 rebounds and five blocked shots as Miami beat Washington for the seventh consecutive time. O’Neal had 12 of his 15 fourth-quarter points during a 26-11 run.

Gilbert Arenas had 18 points for Washington.

Phoenix 121, Orlando 100 -- Point guard Leandro Barbosa scored 19 points in relief of foul-plagued Steve Nash at Phoenix and the Suns set a team record for best start to a season, improving to an NBA-best 18-3.

Quentin Richardson scored 26 points to lead the NBA’s highest-scoring team to its fourth 120-plus-point game. Nash, limited to 27 minutes, scored a season-low six points but had 10 assists.

Grant Hill scored 23 points for Orlando.

Cleveland 92, Memphis 86 -- LeBron James had 31 points, eight assists and seven steals at Memphis, Tenn., helping the Cavaliers overcome a nine-point third-quarter deficit for the victory.

Pau Gasol led the Grizzlies with 19 points.

Dallas 94, Chicago 93 -- Michael Finley made the winning 17-footer with 3.2 seconds left and scored 27 points to rally the Mavericks at Chicago. The Bulls’ Kirk Hinrich missed a 15-footer as time expired. Eddy Curry had 20 points for Chicago, which led, 90-84, with 3:11 left.

*

Portland Trail Blazer Coach Maurice Cheeks was fined $7,500 by the NBA for failing to leave the court in a timely manner after a loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday. Cheeks was upset over a call late in the game.... The Indiana Pacers signed forward Michael Curry, 36. To make room for Curry, the Pacers waived Tremaine Fowlkes.