MIAMI – Shaquille O’Neal had his second career triple-double, Antoine Walker scored a season-high 32 points, and the Miami Heat overcame Dwyane Wade’s absence to beat Toronto 106-97 on Tuesday night and send the Raptors to their ninth straight loss.
O’Neal finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, doing so in only 28 minutes because of foul trouble. And Walker, who was shooting only 30 percent and averaging eight points per game in April – as the Heat got off to a 2-4 start – connected on 13 of 26 shots, plus added eight rebounds and five assists.
Toronto was within three points late in the third quarter before the Heat pulled away, with Walker’s 3-pointer with 5:16 remaining – followed by a kiss of his hands, which he raised skyward – giving Miami a 101-86 lead.
Grizzlies 92, Timberwolves 76
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Pau Gasol had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Chucky Atkins added 17 points, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the injury-depleted Minnesota Timberwolves 92-76.
Memphis won for the fourth time in five games and moved a half-game ahead of the idle Los Angeles Clippers for the fifth playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Spurs 104, SuperSonics 95
SAN ANTONIO – Tony Parker had 27 points and nine assists, and the San Antonio Spurs increased their lead in the Western Conference to one game by beating the Seattle SuperSonics 104-95.
San Antonio (60-18) recorded a 60-win season for the third time in franchise history, the last coming when the Spurs won the NBA title in the 2002-03 season.
Bulls 104, Nets 101
CHICAGO – Ben Gordon scored 21 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, leading the short-handed Chicago Bulls over the New Jersey Nets 104-101 and into a tie with Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot.
The Bulls and 76ers trail Milwaukee and Indiana by a game.
New Jersey trails Miami by 31/2 games for the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
. The Nets have five games left and the Heat four.
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