Howard sees 20-20 as Magic beats Bobcats

Give another round to Dwight Howard in the debate over who should have been the No. 1 pick in 2004.

Howard posted his second 20-20 game this season with 24 points and 21 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic ran away from the Charlotte Bobcats, 97-83, Saturday night at Orlando, Fla.

It was the fourth time in his career that Howard had 20 points and 20 rebounds, and the second against Emeka Okafor, taken one spot behind Howard with the No. 2 pick in ’04. Howard was seven for 12 from the field and 10 for 13 from the line in 30 minutes.

Darko Milicic had 14 points and eight rebounds and Grant Hill scored 15 points as Orlando won its fourth straight game.

Okafor made 13 of 15 shots from the field for 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds but received very little support. Sean May had 12 points for the Bobcats and rookie Adam Morrison 10, but Morrison was held scoreless in the second half.

New Orleans 99, Minnesota 96 -- Peja Stojakovic made a three-point shot with 0.6 seconds to play to lift the Hornets at Minneapolis.

Chris Paul scored a career-high 35 points and Stojakovic finished with 20 as the Hornets sent the Timberwolves to their sixth defeat in seven games.

Kevin Garnett led Minnesota with 22 points and 17 rebounds.

Washington 111, Cleveland 99 -- Gilbert Arenas came out of a recent slump by scoring 45 points -- 25 more than LeBron James -- and the Wizards won at home to end a three-game losing streak.

Arenas was 14 for 22 from the field for the 22nd 40-point game of his career.

Golden State 107, Seattle 95 -- Monta Ellis scored a career-high 31 points, matched his career high with seven assists and also grabbed seven rebounds, leading the Warriors to their sixth straight home victory at Oakland.

Ray Allen had a season-high 34 points and 11 rebounds for Seattle, which lost its third in a row.

Denver 117, Toronto 109 -- Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points -- his sixth straight game of 30 or more points -- and the Nuggets won at home for the first time this season.

T.J. Ford scored 26 points and had a career-high 18 assists for the Raptors. Chris Bosh had 31 points and nine rebounds.

Miami 93, Atlanta 88 -- Dwyane Wade scored 37 points, Jason Williams made the go-ahead basket on a three-pointer from the corner, and the Heat broke a three-game losing streak with an overtime victory at Atlanta.

Atlanta, which started the season 4-1, lost its third in a row to fall back to .500.

Detroit 104, Houston 92 -- Richard Hamilton scored 30 points and Chauncey Billups had 23 as the Pistons beat the Rockets at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Yao Ming scored 33 points and had 16 rebounds for the Rockets.

Dallas 89, Memphis 84 -- Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and the host Mavericks extended their winning streak to five games.

Rookie Rudy Gay scored 23 points for the Grizzlies, who lost their seventh straight.

Boston 122, New York 118 -- Paul Pierce scored 39 points for the Celtics at New York.

Reserve Jamal Crawford scored 37 points for the Knicks, who had won two straight.

Portland 86, New Jersey 68 -- Zach Randolph had 20 points and 16 rebounds at East Rutherford, N.J. Vince Carter led the Nets with 18 points.

Indiana 102, Milwaukee 100 -- Jermaine O’Neal had 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocked shots for the Pacers at Milwaukee.

Michael Redd scored 21 points for the Bucks.