ORLANDO, Fla. — LeBron James scored 36 points, Shaquille O’Neal provided an inside presence and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 102-93 on Wednesday night in a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals.

Only this one had a different look.

O’Neal battled boos and bruises to score 10 points and keep Dwight Howard in foul trouble for most of the night, giving James and Co. all the inside strength they sorely lacked last season. Mo Williams added 28 points to help the Cavs take a 15-point halftime lead, go ahead by 20 after three quarters and roll to an easy victory.

Vince Carter had 29 points, and Howard had only 11 points for the Magic. Orlando was without suspended All-Star forward Rashard Lewis.

Bucks 108, Nuggets 102
MILWAUKEE – Rookie Brandon Jennings scored 14 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and Andrew Bogut added 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 108-102 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and 10 rebounds for Denver.

Rockets 104, Grizzlies 79
HOUSTON – Luis Scola had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and Carl Landry scored 20 points in the Houston Rockets’ 104-79 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Trevor Ariza scored 17 points, Kyle Lowry had 10 assists, and rookie Chase Budinger had 15 points for the Rockets, who’ve won the last seven meetings against Memphis in Houston.
Blazers 107, Timberwolves 84
MINNEAPOLIS — Greg Oden had 18 points and 11 rebounds in three quarters to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 107-84 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Rudy Fernandez added 15 points for the Blazers, who have won four in a row and are off to their best start since 1999 at 6-3.

Jonny Flynn had 15 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost eight in a row since a season-opening win over New Jersey.

Oden was the No. 1 overall pick in 2007. But he missed his first season because if a knee injury, then was underwhelming in 61 games for the Blazers last season.

Against the smaller Timberwolves, he looked like the dominant player he was at Ohio State. Oden commanded double- and triple-teams in the post, challenged shots on defense and threw down dunk after rim-rattling dunk against a Timberwolves team that is looking more confused and overwhelmed by the day.

They lost by 41 points to struggling Golden State on Monday and have been outscored by 87 points in the last three games.

Al Jefferson, who is still recovering from knee surgery in February and has not yet regained the lift in his legs, was no match for Oden on the interior. Giving up two inches and at least 20 pounds, Jefferson was consistently overpowered down low, and his teammates were usually late getting over to help.

Jefferson finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

Pistons 98, Bobcats 75
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Charlie Villanueva had a season-high 30 points and outscored Charlotte by himself in the third quarter, leading the Detroit Pistons to a 98-75 win over the Bobcats on Wednesday night.

The Pistons have a .500 record after winning two straight for the first time this season.

Gerald Wallace scored 12, Flip Murray had 11 points and Raymond Felton added 10 for the offensively challenged Bobcats, who have lost three straight.

Charlotte started the second quarter with a two-point lead, then got outscored 61-31 over the next two periods.

Villanueva had 18 points in the third – six more than Charlotte’s team had in the quarter.

76ers 82, Nets 79
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Marreese Speights converted a go-ahead three-point play with 1:10 to play and the Philadelphia 76ers beat New Jersey 82-79 on Wednesday night, extending the Nets’ franchise worst start to 0-8.

Thaddeus Young had 20 points to lead the 76ers, and Speights finished with 19 points and nine rebounds as Philadelphia snapped a two-game losing streak.

Brook Lopez had 23 points and 14 rebounds, but the center did not get a call on a drive to the basket with about 14 seconds to play that could have given the Nets the lead.

New Jersey missed three shots that would have given it the lead in the final minute and turned the ball over with less than 5 seconds to play on an inbounds play when a 3-pointer would have tied it.

Pacers 108, Warriors 94
INDIANAPOLIS — Danny Granger scored 31 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Golden State Warriors 108-94 on Wednesday night for their third straight win.

Granger’s rebounds were important because forward Troy Murphy, the team’s No. 2 rebounder, sat out for the third straight game with a bruised lower back.

Roy Hibbert and Earl Watson each added 16 points for the Pacers. Guard T.J. Ford left the game in first quarter with back spasms and did not return.

Corey Maggette led the Warriors with 21 points, and Anthony Randolph added 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Former Pacer Stephen Jackson scored seven points for the Warriors. He was booed loudly during pregame introductions.

Indiana’s defense has been the constant in the win streak. The Pacers have held their past three opponents to 90 points per game.

Granger, who played power forward instead of his usual small forward spot because Murphy was out, attacked the basket more than he had been and broke out of his shooting slump. He shot 12-for-24 after making just 26 of 75 shots his previous four games.

Pacers rookie Tyler Hansbrough had 11 points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes, but he shot just 3 for 12 from the field.

Indiana shot 52 percent and led 64-47 at halftime. Indiana led 79-59 late in the third quarter, but the Warriors ended the third quarter on an 11-5 spurt to cut their deficit to 84-70.

Golden State came within 98-91 on a highlight-reel dunk by Ellis, but the Warriors got no closer.

Hawks 114, Knicks 101
NEW YORK — Al Horford scored a season-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Josh Smith added 22 points and 12 boards, and the Atlanta Hawks sent the New York Knicks to their fifth straight loss with a 114-101 victory Wednesday night.

Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby each had 19 points for the Hawks, who trailed by 14 in the first half but dominated the final 24 minutes. Too deep and athletic for the Knicks, the Hawks seized control late in the third quarter and pulled away midway through the fourth.

Former Knicks guard Jamal Crawford added nine of his 11 in the second half.

Toney Douglas scored a season-high 23 points in his first start for the Knicks (1-8), off to their worst start since also dropping eight of nine to open the 2002-03 season.

Raports 99, Bulls 89

TORONTO — Chris Bosh had 28 points and 11 rebounds, and Jose Calderon added 18 points to help the Toronto Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls 99-89 on Wednesday night.

Andrea Bargnani had 16 points, and Hedo Turkoglu 11 as Toronto evened its record at 4-4. The Raptors won for the third time when playing at home against an opponent playing the second game of a back-to-back.

Joakim Noah fouled out with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and rookie Taj Gibson scored a career-high 18 points for Chicago, which had a 6:30 scoreless drought in the fourth quarter and lost its second straight following a three-game winning streak.

Luol Deng also had 18 points, and Derrick Rose had 14 for the Bulls, who shot a miserable 10 for 40 in the second half.

After piling up 60 points in the first half, Chicago looked set to eclipse its season high of 93 points. But after outrebounding Toronto 28-18 and building a 14-0 edge in second chance points in the first two quarters, the Bulls were outworked after the break. Toronto finished with a 47-46 edge in rebounding.

Trailing 88-85 with 6:24 to play, Toronto surged ahead with an 8-0 run. Bosh made a pair of free throws, Calderon’s driving layup gave the Raptors their first lead of the second half, Bargnani made two free throws after a clear path foul by Noah and Calderon capped the run with a jumper, making it 93-88 with 5:04 left.

Chicago didn’t score again until Kirk Hinrich hit a free throw with 10 seconds to go.

Down 25-18 late in the first, Hinrich scored five quick points to pull the Bulls to within two, 27-25, after one.

After scoring eight in the first, Gibson opened the second by tying it with a breakaway dunk off a Toronto turnover. Deng scored eight in the second, including a jumper with 23 seconds left, as the Bulls took a 60-53 edge into the break.

Toronto began undoing the rebounding disadvantage in the third, outrebounding Chicago 15-7. Rookie DeMar DeRozan had seven for the Raptors, who cut the deficit to 78-77 heading into the fourth.