Miami forward LeBron James, right, drives to the basket against Washington Wizards forward Maurice Evans. (Nick Wass/Associated Press)

(PhatzRadio/ CBC Sports) -LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the visiting Miami Heat had a surprisingly tough time against the lowly Wizards — even after No. 1 draft pick John Wall was ejected.

James finished with 35 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Wade had 33 points and nine assists, and Chris Bosh scored 26, helping Miami get past Washington 123-107 Wednesday night and avoid what would have been a second consecutive embarrassing loss.

Washington was left without its best player when Wall and two Miami reserves — Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwan Howard — were kicked out of the game. The Heat led by as many as 13 before the Wizards managed to make it a one-point game in the fourth quarter. But Wade immediately responded with a three-point play, and Washington never again got closer than two.

The brouhaha involving Wall came with 8:48 remaining in the first half — and with Washington actually ahead, 37-36. The six-foot-four Wall moved out to play tight defence on 7-3 center Ilgauskas near the three-point arc. While protecting the ball, Ilgauskas appeared to elbow Wall in the face at least once. Wall responded by swinging his right hand at Ilgauskas.

Wall and Ilgauskas each was assessed a flagrant foul-2 and ejected.
Mavericks 106, Clippers 100

LOS ANGELES — Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points and the Dallas Mavericks rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 106-100 Wednesday, improving the NBA’s best road record to 27-10 with their fifth straight win.

Nowitzki missed the first of two free throws midway through the period, snapping his streak of 74 in a row — longest in the league this season — that dated to the fourth quarter against Indiana on March 4.

He got ample chance to make up for it, when Mo Williams was hit with consecutive technicals and ejected with 6:02 remaining and Nowitzki made both. Williams scored 19 points, making all nine of his free throws.

Blake Griffin had 25 points and 17 rebounds for his 57th double-double of the season. He came off the bench in the fourth to erase most of the Clippers’ 16-point deficit, scoring six points in an 11-0 run that left them trailing 96-91 with 3:20 left.

But Jose Barea answered with five straight points to push the Mavs’ lead to 101-91. He finished with 22 points. Jason Kidd had 10 assists.

Earlier in the fourth, Nowitzki scored six points — four on free throws — in the Mavs’ 13-1 run that produced their first double-digit lead of the game, 96-80. Nowitzki missed another free throw in the final minute.
Bulls 108, Timberwolves 91

MINNEAPOLIS — Derrick Rose had 23 points and 10 assists in three quarters to help Chicago remain 2 1/2 games ahead of Boston and Miami in the race for the top seed in the East.

Carlos Boozer had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls, who recorded 31 assists on 41 field goals.

Kevin Love had 16 points and nine rebounds, but was limited to 27 minutes in his first game back from a strained left groin for the Timberwolves, who lost their eighth straight game.
Hawks 85, Magic 82

ATLANTA — Joe Johnson’s floating one-hander in the lane put Atlanta ahead with 55.4 seconds remaining and Orlando’s Jameer Nelson missed two chances to tie it.

Josh Smith led the Hawks with 26 points, and Johnson added 18. Nelson paced Orlando with 20 points, but he missed a jumper with 38 seconds left, then badly on a drive with six seconds left.

Jason Collins hit one free throw, giving the Magic one last chance to send the game to overtime, but Orlando managed a long three-point attempt by Hedo Turkoglu that didn’t come close.

Atlanta won its third in a row and took the season series 3-1.
76ers 108, Rockets 97

PHILADELPHIA — Jrue Holiday had 24 points and 12 assists, and Thaddeus Young scored 22 points to lead Philadelphia.

Andre Iguodala had 10 assists, and Spencer Hawes and Jodie Meeks each scored 12 points for the 76ers, who can clinch a playoff spot with one more win or one more loss by Charlotte.

Kyle Lowry had 19 points, Kevin Martin had 18, Luis Scola 17 and Chase Budinger 15 for the Rockets, who came in trailing Memphis by two games for the final playoff berth in the West.
Hornets 95, Trail Blazers 91

NEW ORLEANS — Carl Landry scored 21 points and New Orleans jumped ahead of Portland for sixth place in the Western Conference.

Chris Paul had 11 points and 12 assists, and Emeka Okafor had 15 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 1:38 left. Willie Green added 12 points, 10 in the fourth quarter.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 15 rebounds for Portland, which is tied with New Orleans in the standings but has lost the tiebreaker with the Hornets having won three of four meetings.

Andre Miller added 19 points for Portland.
Knicks 120, Nets 116

NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points for the second straight game, including the tiebreaking jumper with 1:08 left, and New York rallied from a 16-point deficit.

Chauncey Billups added 33 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points for the Knicks, who have won two in a row after a six-game losing streak and trimmed their magic number for clinching a playoff spot to three.

Deron Williams had 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for New Jersey.
Grizzlies 110, Warriors 91

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tony Allen scored 21 points to help assure Memphis of its first winning season since 2005-06.

Allen added eight rebounds and four assists, and Mike Conley and Zach Randolph scored 20 apiece for the Grizzlies, who improved to 42-33. Conley also had seven assists, and Randolph had 13 rebounds and six assists.

Monta Ellis and Dorell Wright each had 16 points for Golden State.
Pacers 111, Pistons 101

INDIANAPOLIS — Darren Collison scored 20 points, Danny Granger added 17 and Indiana used a 31-12 run in the second quarter to pull away.

Josh McRoberts added 15 points and Roy Hibbert 12 for the Pacers, who maintained their hold on the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference — one game ahead of Charlotte.

Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting. Richard Hamilton added 19, Tayshaun Prince and Greg Monroe 14 each and Chris Wilcox 10.
Bobcats 98, Cavaliers 97

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Boris Diaw scored 26 points and hit the tiebreaking free throw with 14 seconds left to lead Charlotte.

Diaw added 11 assists and seven rebounds, and Kwame Brown had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Bobcats, who won their fourth straight game to remain one game behind Indiana for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Ramon Sessions had 24 points and J.J. Hickson had 20 for Cleveland.
Nuggets 104, Kings 90

DENVER — Ty Lawson scored 20 points, J.R. Smith and Danilo Gallinari had 17 each and the Denver Nuggets beat the surging Sacramento Kings 104-90 on Wednesday night.

Al Harrington scored 15 and Nene had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Nuggets, who won their fourth straight and increased their lead over Portland to 2 1/2 games for the fifth spot in the Western Conference playoff race. The Trail Blazers lost at New Orleans on Wednesday.

Marcus Thornton scored 27 and Tyreke Evans had 22 off the bench for the Kings, whose four-game win streak was snapped.

The game was close for most of the second half before the Nuggets took control in the fourth.
Thunder 116, Suns 98

PHOENIX — Kevin Durant and James Harden scored 22 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder completed the best regular-season month in franchise history with a 116-98 victory over the fading Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.

Michael Westbrook added 16, Serge Ibaka 15 and Kendrick Perkins 13 as the Thunder won their fifth in a row, 11th in their last 12 and 50th of the season. Their 14-2 March was the best monthly record in franchise history. As the Seattle SuperSonics, they went 14-3 twice — in March of 1994 and November of 1996.

Vince Carter, now coming off the bench for Phoenix, scored 28 in the Suns’ fourth straight loss. Three of Carter’s top four scoring games for the Suns have come against Oklahoma City.

Referee Kenny Mauer threw out Suns reserves Aaron Brooks and Zabian Dowdell with 1:05 to play.

Oklahoma City outscored Phoenix 37-25 in the fourth quarter.

Phoenix trailed 55-51 at the half and never caught the Thunder after that.