NEW YORK – Kurt Thomas put aside his anger about losing his starting job and drew a key charging foul with 15.6 seconds left to help the New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards 89-87 Sunday night.

Allan Houston tied his season high with 39 points, scoring 11 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks ran almost every play for him. His 23-footer with 18.1 seconds left broke an 84-84 tie and gave New York the lead for good.

Larry Hughes had 19 points for Washington, but made two poor plays on the offensive end in the final 16 seconds – committing a charging foul against Thomas, then taking an off-balance 2-pointer and looking for a bailout call with his team trailing by three.

Thomas came off the bench for the first time since April 8, 2001, and he wasn’t happy about it.

Heat 90, Raptors 89

TORONTO – Dwyane Wade scored 23 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 28 seconds left, and had a key block on Vince Carter to lead the Miami Heat past the Toronto Raptors 90-89 Sunday for their third straight victory.

Brian Grant added 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, and Lamar Odom had 17 points and 16 rebounds.

Donyell Marshall scored 25 points for the Raptors, who have lost two straight games after winning five in a row following their Dec. 1 trade with the Chicago Bulls.

Toronto’s Carter and Jalen Rose didn’t play in the fourth quarter until there were just two minutes left. After Carter’s short jumper gave Toronto a 89-88 lead with 1:55 remaining, the Raptors didn’t score again.

Jazz 94, 76ers 86

PHILADELPHIA – Andrei Kirilenko scored 30 points and Matt Harpring added 27 to lead the Utah Jazz to a 94-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.

The 76ers played without Allen Iverson, the NBA’s leading scorer at 28.9 points per game, He sat out for the second time in three games because of swelling in his right knee.

Carlos Arroyo added 15 points to help the Jazz win for only the second time in nine road games. Kenny Thomas led the 76ers with 16 points and Derrick Coleman and Kyle Korver each had 14.

The Jazz pulled away with a late 18-9 run. They took the lead on Raul Lopez’s three-point play, and got consecutive 3-pointers from Raja Bell and Kirilenko to help push the lead to 10.

Sonics 108, Bucks 102

SEATTLE – Ronald Murray scored 23 points and rookie Richie Frahm added a career-high 17, leading the Seattle SuperSonics to a 108-102 comeback victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

Vladimir Radmanovic had 17 points for the Sonics, who trailed by 18 in the first half.

Seattle lost its leading scorer, forward Rashard Lewis, to a strained left shoulder in the third quarter. He played only three minutes in the second half and finished with 10 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes.

NHL
Blackhawks 1, Stars 1

CHICAGO – Chicago goalie Michael Leighton made 31 saves and Dallas’ Marty Turco stopped 29 shots in a 1-1 tie Sunday night.

Steve Sullivan opened the scoring for the Blackhawks in the first period, and Dallas’ Sergei Zubov tied it in the second with a short-handed goal.

The Blackhawks, 1-10-3-3 in their last 17 games, have 12 goals in their last seven contests. The Stars are 1-5-1 in their last seven, scoring just five goals during that span. Dallas has not scored more than one goal in any of those contests.

Oilers 3, Mighty Ducks 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Raffi Torres scored the go-ahead goal with 5:29 remaining and Radek Dvorak had two assists in the Edmonton Oilers’ 3-2 victory over Anaheim on Sunday night.

Cory Cross and Jason Chimera also scored and Ty Conklin made 28 saves to help the Oilers win for only the second time in their last 11 games.

Anaheim’s Petr Sykora scored the tying goal on a power play 34 seconds into the third period.

Andy McDonald also scored for the Ducks and playoff MVP Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 26 saves after a three-game benching.

Torrez beat Giguere to the stick side from short range for his ninth goal and second game-winner of the season, after cruising down the slot with a pass from Dvorak.

Edmonton, which entered with an NHL-worst 73.2 penalty-killing percentage, didn’t have to deal with Anaheim’s power play until Cross was sent off for interference with 1:24 left in the second period. But Sykora scored with two seconds left on the penalty – the 12th straight game in which the Oilers allowed a power-play goal, tying a franchise record.

Sykora got a pass from Sergei Fedorov and one-timed it past Conklin’s stick from 20 feet out in the slot for his 10th goal. Giguere also got an assist on the goal.

The Oilers, who won all four meetings with Anaheim last season, had two potential goals waved off by instant replay. The second one would have snapped a 1-1 tie at 16:44 of the first period – but Shawn Horcoff was ruled to have directed the puck with his skate toward the front of the crease, where it caromed off the skate of Anaheim defenseman Ruslan Salei and under Giguere’s left leg.

But Chimera beat Giguere with a 20-foot slap shot from the left circle at 14:58 of the second period to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead.

McDonald opened the scoring at 3:16, tucking his sixth goal between Conklin’s glove and the right post after Vitaly Vishnevski’s wrist shot bounced high in the air off the leg of Edmonton’s Scott Ferguson and landed just to the side of the crease.

Giguere stopped five shots during Edmonton’s 5-on-3 advantage, after Sergei Fedorov was sent off for hooking Steve Staios and Steve Rucchin was banished 13 seconds later for high-sticking Mike York. But the Oilers pulled even at 11:21 of the first with Cross’ second goal in 19 games and fourth this season.

Giguere, expecting Dvorak to circle the back of the net with the puck, hugged the right post. But Dvorak stopped short and passed in front to Cross, who had a gaping hope to shoot at.

Notes: The Ducks are 3-for-27 on the power play in their last nine games. … A trade that would send unsigned Edmonton C Mike Comrie to Anaheim is being held up by Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe, who wants Comrie to pay the club $2.5 million first. Lowe and Ducks GM Bryan Murray agreed to the deal last Monday – before Comrie’s agent informed Murray of the extra stipulation. “There’s no time frame at this moment, but it may get to that,” Murray said before the game. … The Ducks recalled 21-year-old D Mark Popovic from Cincinnati of the AHL. … Adam Oates, who helped the Ducks get to the Stanley Cup finals in his only season with the team, faced them for the first time since signing a one-year, $1.95 million contract with the Oilers on Nov. 17. Anaheim had declined to pick up his $3.5 million option.

AP-ES-12-14-03 2230EST