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WASHINGTON - It's not exactly Magic, but it's a stunner nonetheless: Orlando has a two-game winning streak.
The team that began the week with a 19-game losing streak got 27 points from Tracy McGrady and a season-high 17 from Shammond Williams to defeat the Wizards 95-91 Wednesday night.
Williams made three 3-pointers and hit two clinching free throws with 8.1 seconds left for Orlando, which snapped an eight-game road losing streak.
"It's been awhile since we've been on a streak on the winning side," McGrady said. "I guess it took that 19-game losing streak for us to realize that we could be a pretty good team if we could all stay focused and execute on both ends of the court."
Larry Hughes scored 19 and Kwame Brown had 18 for Washington, which lost for the sixth time in eight games.
CELTICS 126, SONICS 112: Paul Pierce scored 36 and had 13 rebounds while Mike James added a career-high 24 points to lead host Boston to its third straight victory. The 126 points were a season-high for Boston, which beat its third straight Western Conference opponent after road wins against Denver and Utah.
GRIZZLIES 103, HAWKS 90: Mike Miller scored a season-high 22, including 11 in a key third-quarter rally, as host Memphis tied a franchise record with its sixth consecutive win. Miller had back-to-back 3-pointers late in the third as the Grizzlies took the lead for good. Earl Watson added 20 points, also a season high, and nine assists in place of injured regular starter Jason Williams.
SPURS 102, BLAZERS 77: Tim Duncan had 18 points and 14 rebounds as host San Antonio won its fourth straight. The Spurs, who began the night percentage points behind Utah for last place in the Midwest, placed four players in double figures. Portland dropped to 0-8 on the road.
BUCKS 94, WARRIORS 89 (OT): Michael Redd scored 25 and Dan Gadzuric had career highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds for host Milwaukee. The Bucks scored the first six of overtime, and the Warriors didn't score in OT until 10 seconds remained. The Bucks took an 87-85 lead with 38 seconds left in regulation, but Nick Van Exel tied it on a running floater with 17 seconds to play.
JAZZ 95, KNICKS 73: Greg Ostertag scored a season-high 16 with 12 rebounds and Andrei Kirilenko had another impressive stat line (10 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks, six steals, six assists) as Utah handed visiting New York its sixth straight loss. All five Utah starters scored in double figures.
CLIPPERS 100, MAVERICKS 99: Glen Rice, activated before the game, hit a jumper from the top of the key as time expired to give host Los Angeles the win and spoil Dirk Nowitzki's return for Dallas. Corey Maggette scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half for the Clippers, who overcame a 22-point deficit. Nowitzki had nine points and three rebounds.
Phoenix fires coachFrank Johnson was fired as coach of the Suns, a young team with high expectations that is off to an 8-13 start and has lost six of its last seven.
The Suns promoted lead assistant Mike D'Antoni, a star player and highly successful coach in Italy who coached the Denver Nuggets in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season.
"There's been something amiss all year, in my opinion," Suns owner Jerry Colangelo said. "The more I saw on the floor, the more I disliked what I saw as it related to body language, communication or lack of same."
D'Antoni, under contract through next season, promised to try to boost the tempo, beginning with tonight's home game against New Orleans.
Johnson spent 10 years in the Suns organization as a player, community relations official and coach. He replaced Scott Skiles as coach late in the 2001-02 season, going 11-20 the rest of the way. Last season he guided the team to a 44-38 record and a surprising playoff berth.
BLAZERS: Coach Maurice Cheeks was fined $7,500 by the NBA for verbally abusing officials and failing to leave the court in a timely manner after his ejection in a 93-79 loss to Memphis on Sunday.