No Shaq, No Sweat for the Best in East

Cross another item off Miami’s to-do list. The Heat has wrapped up home-court advantage for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Dwyane Wade matched his career-high with 39 points and the Heat easily overcame Shaquille O’Neal’s absence in winning its 18th straight home game, 104-86, and ending the Bulls’ nine-game winning streak.

“The only thing we’re going to be judged on is the playoffs. Fine; that’s the nature of the business,” Heat Coach Stan Van Gundy said. “But it’s a long season and you’ve got to take some pride in the accomplishments along the way. ... To play 82 games better than anybody in your conference is a heck of an accomplishment.”

Udonis Haslem added 16 points and 15 rebounds before his ejection with 2:52 left after retaliating for a hard foul committed on Wade by Andres Nocioni. Called for a flagrant foul and a technical, Nocioni was not ejected but left the game.

O’Neal sat out because of a stomach ailment.

Denver 94, Memphis 91 -- Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points and the Nuggets held the Grizzlies without a field goal for 7 1/2 minutes spanning the third and fourth quarters to move ahead of them into the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoff race at Memphis, Tenn.

Golden State 122, Houston 117 -- Baron Davis scored a career-high 40 points and had 13 assists at Oakland to lead the Warriors to their season-best sixth victory in a row despite Tracy McGrady’s 44 points. It was the Rockets’ third loss in a row.

Indiana 97, New York 79 -- Stephen Jackson celebrated his 27th birthday by scoring 33 points and the Pacers won their fourth in a row despite a three-for-15 shooting night from Reggie Miller in his final appearance at Madison Square Garden. Miller finished with 13 points and left to chants of “Reg-gie, Reg-gie.”

New Jersey 111, Cleveland 80 -- Vince Carter scored 27 points at Cleveland to help the Nets move within one game of idle Philadelphia for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.

LeBron James scored 24 points but could not keep Cleveland from its eighth loss in 12 games. Cavalier center Zydrunas Ilgauskas also left in the third quarter because of a sprained right finger.

Sacramento 122, Seattle 101 -- Peja Stojakovic scored 24 points at Sacramento and the Kings shot 58.8% to prevent the SuperSonics from sweeping their four-game season series.

Boston 116, Washington 108 -- The Celtics blew a 16-point lead but made all 17 of their free throws in the fourth quarter and closed with a 21-12 run at Washington to beat the Wizards behind 25 points from Paul Pierce and 21 from Raef LaFrentz.

Gilbert Arenas made 21 free throws on 25 attempts -- both career highs -- and tied his career-high with 43 points for Washington.

Dallas 114, Orlando 105 -- Erick Dampier scored 16 points in his first start since missing 21 games because of a foot injury, helping the Mavericks secure their fifth straight 50-win season.

Utah 90, Portland 79 -- Matt Harpring had 17 points at Salt Lake City and the Jazz ended a three-game losing streak. Portland lost its fifth straight overall and 10th in a row on the road.

New Orleans 96, Atlanta 86 -- Lee Nailon scored 19 points at Atlanta and the Hornets extended the Hawks’ losing streak to 13 games.