NBA Daily Results

vs(From the Associated Press) - When he arrived in Cleveland, Shaquille O’Neal made it clear there would be no more double-teaming Orlando’s Dwight Howard. He’d handle things himself, as he did Thursday night. Oh, and he wants his cape back. “I don’t really consider it manning up until you play me straight up,” O’Neal said. “I’ve never doubled anybody. So you tell me who the real Superman is.” LeBron James had 32 points and 13 assists as the Cavaliers—with a big fourth-quarter defensive effort from O’Neal—matched their franchise record by winning their 13th straight game with a 115-106 victory over the Magic. It was a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference finals, and both teams are again on top of the East this year, but O’Neal, who had 10 points and six rebounds on Thursday, has made a huge difference for Cleveland...O’Neal and Howard—both nicknamed “Superman”—were plagued with foul trouble most of the night, taking some of the luster off their physical battle in the post. But O’Neal kept his word by taking care of Howard by himself, while the Magic employed a consistent double team on O’Neal...Howard, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds, immediately spun around O’Neal for a dunk. The Magic didn’t score again for five minutes as James and the Cavaliers built a 105-98 advantage. O’Neal plugged up the middle during his 19 minutes on the floor, something the Cavaliers sorely needed during their battles with Orlando last season...Orlando, playing for the fourth time in five nights, had won nine of its last 11. J.J. Hickson had 20 points, and Anderson Varejao had 16 off the bench...Orlando’s Rashard Lewis added 19 points, Vince Carter had 14 and Jameer Nelson had 13. When Howard picked up his fourth foul five minutes into the third quarter, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy pulled him, something he later regretted. Most of Howard’s fouls came when O’Neal was off the floor. “In retrospect, I should have left (Howard) in the game and played him straight through,” Van Gundy said. “That was a mistake. Down the stretch, I should have gone back to having the ball in Dwight’s hands and I didn’t. I’ll take the responsibility for that.”

vs(From the Associated Press) -
After a month-long stretch of mediocre play, the San Antonio Spurs broke out with an emphatic victory over a top-notch team. George Hill scored 17 points after starting in place of an injured Tony Parker and the Spurs headed into the All-Star break by routing the Northwest Division-leading Denver Nuggets 111-92 on Thursday night. DeJuan Blair also scored 17 points, Tim Duncan added 16 and Manu Ginobili 15 for the Spurs, who snapped a three-game losing streak to Denver, including an 0-2 mark this season in San Antonio. “It was big,” said Roger Mason, who had 14 points. “We’ve been struggling with our consistency. It lets us know how good we can be. This Denver team was playing probably the best in the league. They won in L.A., they beat Dallas pretty good. It shows what we can do when we focus, communicate and do the things we’re capable of.”...The Nuggets were missing their best defensive player, Kenyon Martin, who sat out a second consecutive game because of tendinitis in his left knee. “They were hungry. They were intense and angry and had an attitude,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “It was kind of payback for the two wins we took from them down there. Sometimes, I think when we don’t score, when we don’t have offense, we get frustrated. Other than the first quarter, we shot under 35 percent all night.” Nene had 20 points and Carmelo Anthony 19 for the Nuggets, who lost for only the fourth time in 28 games this season at the Pepsi Center. Down by nine at the half, the Nuggets narrowed the deficit to 56-52 on a fastbreak layup by Nene before San Antonio pulled away again. The Spurs used a 7-0 burst capped by Mason’s 3-pointer to go in front 72-58 with 4:27 left in the third, and took an 83-70 advantage into the fourth quarter. They continued pulling away from there, scoring 12 of the first 16 points in the final period to extend their lead to 95-74, their biggest to that point. “I think in the back of their minds, they knew that we won on their court, got ‘em twice down there, and they saw this as an opportunity to get one going into the break,” Anthony said. “It was just one of those nights.”