Heat 104, Knicks 94
MIAMI — As the Miami Heat expected, the New York Knicks were much improved in Game 2.
Better, yes — but not good enough.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points, Chris Bosh added 21 and the Heat beat New York 104-94 on Monday night, sending the Knicks to an NBA-record-tying 12th straight post-season loss.
Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points on 12-for-26 shooting for New York, which got 18 points from Amare Stoudemire and 13 apiece from Tyson Chandler and J.R. Smith. The only other team to lose 12 straight playoff games is the Memphis Grizzlies, who dropped their first dozen post-season contests from 2004 through 2006.
New York's last post-season win came April 29, 2001. The Knicks get another chance to snap the drought Thursday when they host Game 3.
Mario Chalmers scored 13 points and Mike Miller and Shane Battier each shot 3 for 5 from 3-point range on their way to 11-point games for the defending East champion Heat, who shot 52 per cent.
Baron Davis, who sat most of the first half and has been battling back issues, finished with 12 points for the Knicks.
Along with the Grizzlies, the Knicks were one of four teams in NBA history with 11-game post-season losing streaks, according to STATS LLC, joining Denver (1988-94) and the Baltimore Bullets (1965-70).
Pacers 93, Magic 78
INDIANAPOLIS — David West had 18 points and 11 rebounds to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic 93-78 on Monday night and even the Eastern Conference first-round series at one game apiece.
Danny Granger and George Hill each added 18 points and Paul George had 17 points and eight rebounds for Indiana.
Glen Davis led the Magic with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but he shot 5 for 16 from the field. J.J. Redick scored 13 points and Jameer Nelson added 12 for Orlando.
The Pacers were heavy favourites in the series because Dwight Howard, Orlando's All-Star centre, is out with a back injury. Indiana lost Game 1 81-77 on Saturday, and the frustrated Pacers fought hard to avoid taking a two-game deficit to Orlando on Wednesday.
Indiana outrebounded Orlando 26-13 in the second half and held the Magic to 36 per cent shooting overall. Indiana has held the Magic below 40 per cent shooting in both games.
The Pacers won despite making just 2 of 20 3-point attempts and Granger, the team's leading scorer this season, shooting just 7 for 21 from the field.
Orlando led 44-42 at halftime despite shooting just 32 per cent from the field. The Magic stayed in the game with 12 offensive rebounds. Davis had 14 points and eight rebounds in the first half.
Thunder 102, Mavericks 99
OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Kevin Durant added 26 in an off-shooting performance and the Oklahoma City Thunder clawed out a 102-99 victory over defending champion Dallas on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Durant hit two free throws with 50.4 seconds left to give Oklahoma City a 98-97 lead, and James Harden hit four more foul shots to close it out for the Thunder.
Jason Terry missed two 3-point attempts from the left wing in the final 5 seconds that could have tied it.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 31 points and Shawn Marion scored 15. The Mavericks led in the closing minutes of both road games but couldn't even manage a split.
Game 3 is Thursday night in Dallas.
