ORLANDO - Dwight Howard scored 20 and the Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks 105-100 in a preseason game Saturday night.
Steve Francis added 16 and eight assists for the Magic, which played without Grant Hill. The All-Star forward has a lower abdominal strain and is expected to miss another week.
Howard had 18 in the first half as the Magic led by as many as 22 points.
Atlanta rallied behind Al Harrington, who led the Hawks with 33 points. The Hawks took a 90-87 lead with 7:08 left before the Magic put its starters in for the stretch run. Hedo Turkoglu's 3-pointer with 50 seconds left gave the Magic a 102-98 lead and DeShawn Stevenson followed with two free throws to secure the victory.
Josh Childress added 18 points and Josh Smith 12 for the Hawks.
KNICKS 96, SPURS 90: Visiting New York trailed 85-80 with 3:50 left before going on a 16-5 run to close out the game. Brent Barry tied the score at 90 with two free throws, but Jamal Crawford made an 18-footer to give the Knicks the lead for good. The defending champion Spurs have lost six of the last seven.
GRIZZLIES 82, ROCKETS 78: Visiting Houston was trailing 80-78 with six seconds to play when Derek Anderson threw the ball out of bounds on a bad pass. Damon Stoudamire drew a foul on the next play and made two free throws. Houston took a 54-42 lead early in the third quarter on a turnaround jumper by Yao Ming. But the Grizzlies used a 12-2 run capped by a reverse layup by Mike Miller to close the Rockets' lead to two.
WOLVES 89, BUCKS 85: Kevin Garnett had 11 points and nine rebounds in the decisive third quarter, when visiting Minnesota used a 14-2 run to take the lead for good. Garnett had six points during the spurt, as Minnesota turned a 57-53 deficit into a 67-59 advantage. The Bucks went without a field goal from the 8:46 mark of the third until Andrew Bogut tipped in a missed shot with 0.7 seconds left. The Bucks had the ball down 87-85 with 20.7 seconds left but T.J. Ford missed a layup with eight seconds remaining.
CELTICS 90, NETS 69: Rookie Ryan Gomes scored 15 points for Boston in his first visit to his home state as a professional. The game was held in Uncasville, Conn., about 70 miles from the former Providence star's hometown of Waterbury. After Linton Johnson tipped in a shot to give the Nets an 18-16 lead with 10:43 left in the half, the Celtics used a 16-0 run to take a 32-18 lead with 3:56 left. Boston scored 24 points off 20 New Jersey turnovers.
PISTONS 87, HEAT 66: Shaquille O'Neal had 17 in the first half, but Dwyane Wade was the only other Miami player with as many as five, and host Detroit took a 37-34 lead at the half. Detroit led by as many as 22 down the stretch. Rasheed Wallace left in the third quarter with a leg injury, but it is not considered serious.
KINGS 100, BLAZERS 80: Visiting Sacramento's Corliss Williamson had 13 of his 18 points in the first quarter. The Kings opened a double-digit lead early in the game and never lost it. Sacramento led 15-4 after Williamson's fastbreak layup and the Kings were up by as many as 26 in the first half.
DRESS CODE: An online gambling site, bodog.com, announced it will pay any fines incurred by Allan Iverson or any other player who gets assessed for violating commissioner David Stern's new fashion rules. In addition, bodog.com will make an equal donation to a charity of the player's choice. Bodog founder and CEO Calvin Ayre feels the players' pain. "I can understand the frustration felt by the many basketball players who feel that they have been forced to conform with the league's new dress code," he said.
WIZARDS: Antawn Jamison (bruised right shoulder) and Gilbert Arenas (poked in the eye) were nursing injuries after early exits from Friday's game against Denver. Jamison was able to practice Saturday, but Arenas sat out. Both will be game-time decisions today.
