O’Neal Sits as Heat Rallies Past Cavaliers

While LeBron James and Dwyane Wade waged a shootout, Shaquille O’Neal struggled.

By the fourth quarter O’Neal was on the bench, replaced by Alonzo Mourning, who helped the Heat earn its latest come-from-behind victory Sunday by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-92, at Miami.

James scored 47 points for Cleveland and Wade had 35 for Miami, but it was Mourning who took charge during the decisive stretch. The backup center finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and several shot-changing defensive plays in 23 minutes.

The Heat, once down by 15 points, trailed at halftime for the sixth game in a row. They’ve rallied to win five of them.

O’Neal played only 2 1/2 minutes in the fourth quarter, and he sat for the first 7 1/2 minutes while Miami rallied from a five-point deficit to take an 83-77 lead.

Coach Pat Riley said he kept Mourning in the game because the lineup on the court was playing well.

“They just kept raising the energy level,” Riley said. “I hate to break that up.”

O’Neal’s thoughts were unknown: He left the arena without talking to the media after finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds and five turnovers in 29 minutes. He also struggled to defend Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had 21 points and six rebounds.

Philadelphia 94, Memphis 91 -- Allen Iverson sat out the second half because of a sprained right ankle, but Chris Webber picked up the slack, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help the visiting 76ers end a three-game losing streak.

Iverson was hurt near the end of the first half. The 76ers said his X-rays were negative and that he’d be reevaluated today.

Jake Tsakalidis led Memphis with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Sacramento 85, Dallas 80 -- Brad Miller had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Kenny Thomas scored six points in the final minute and the Kings moved into the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot with their 12th straight home victory.

Sacramento moved half a game ahead of New Orleans and half a game behind the seventh-place Lakers, who visit Arco Arena on Tuesday.

Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Dallas.

Portland 111, Phoenix 101 -- Zach Randolph had 32 points and 14 rebounds to help the Trail Blazers end a four-game losing streak by upending the Suns at Portland, Ore.

Shawn Marion had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns.

New Jersey 95, New Orleans 84 -- Vince Carter scored 27 points, and the Nets held on after leading by 19 points in the fourth quarter at Oklahoma City to hand the Hornets their season-worst sixth straight loss.

The Hornets pulled to within 82-74 with 2:42 left but could get no closer in dropping Coach Byron Scott to 0-4 against his former team. Chris Paul scored 17 for the Hornets.

San Antonio 88, Houston 81 -- Tim Duncan had 20 points and 10 rebounds at San Antonio to help the Spurs prevail despite blowing all but two points of an 11-point fourth-quarter lead.

Yao Ming had 25 points for Houston, which remained winless in 10 games against Southwest Division rivals.

Detroit 94, Charlotte 78 -- Richard Hamilton scored 24 points and Tayshaun Price had 23 to help the Pistons improve to 28-2 at home.

Raymond Felton led Charlotte with 18 points.

Toronto 93, Indiana 89 -- Mike James made a go-ahead jumper with 8.2 seconds left at Toronto to help the Raptors end a three-game losing streak.

Morris Peterson scored 25 points for Toronto. Stephen Jackson had 26 for Indiana.

Boston 106, Denver 101 -- Paul Pierce scored 36 points at Boston, and the Nuggets went the final 4:35 without a field goal as their four-game winning streak ended. Carmelo Anthony scored 36 for Denver.