NEW YORK - The NBA's board of governors approved a realignment plan for next season that creates three divisions of five teams each in the Eastern and Western conferences.
The expansion Charlotte Bobcats, the league's 30th team, were placed in the Eastern Conference and the New Orleans Hornets were moved to the Western Conference. The Hornets played in Charlotte before moving to New Orleans two seasons ago.
Teams will play divisional opponents twice at home and twice on the road. They will play conference opponents outside their division three or four times, and teams from the other conference twice - at home and away.
Divisional winners each earn a playoff berth. The remaining five playoff berths for each conference will be based on regular-season records with no regard to divisional alignment.
Homecourt advantage through the playoffs will be based on regular-season records. That means a divisional winner will not necessarily have homecourt advantage in the playoff series.
Magic skid hits 10
SALT LAKE CITY - Andrei Kirilenko scored 25 and had 10 rebounds, Matt Harpring had 14 points and 19 rebounds and Utah extended Orlando's losing streak to 10 straight by beating the Magic 90-88 Monday night.
Greg Ostertag had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Carlos Arroyo had 16 points and five assists for the Jazz, unbeaten at home.
Tracy McGrady scored 29 to lead the Magic, but he had just three in the final quarter on four shots. McGrady missed a 3 at the buzzer that would have won it.
MAVS 105, BLAZERS 98: Dirk Nowitzki overcame a slow start to energize a third-quarter rally, and Steve Nash had his first career triple double to lead Dallas. Nowitzki, who made his first two shots and then went more than 27 minutes without scoring, had 20 points and eight rebounds. Nash had 14 points, 12 assists and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Rasheed Wallace scored 31 for Portland, 0-4 on the road.
KNICKS 89, CELTICS 86: Michael Doleac scored host New York's final four points and grabbed eight of his nine rebounds while playing the entire fourth quarter. Doleac, subbing for starting center Dikembe Mutombo, made up for his two turnovers and a missed open jumper earlier in the fourth by hitting the Knicks' final field goal with 1:55 left. His two free throws with 5.4 seconds left provided the final margin. Paul Pierce missed an off-balance 3 on Boston's last possession.
WIZARDS 106, HAWKS 97: Jarvis Hayes keyed a fourth-quarter run with a go-ahead 3-pointer and visiting Washington snapped a four-game losing streak. Larry Hughes led the Wizards with 26, and Gilbert Arenas added 23. Washington outscored the Hawks 30-19 down the stretch, started by the 3 from Hayes.
ROCKETS 74, 76ERS 66: Cuttino Mobley scored 19, and Yao Ming and Jim Jackson each added 12 to lead visiting Houston, which won for the seventh time in nine games. The Rockets shot 33 percent; the Sixers were worse at 32.
SUSPENSION CUT: Maurice Taylor's suspension was reduced to six games by the league, and the union withdrew its grievance over the penalty. Taylor originally was suspended 10 games without pay for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
KNICKS: Antonio McDyess will take the next step in his recovery from a fractured kneecap today when he scrimmages five-on-five.
