NBA: Chris Bosh stars as Miami Heat defeat Indiana Pacers for 18th straight victory

Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant guide Los Angeles Lakers to 90-81 win over Chicago Bulls.

Chrish Bosh added 24 points to help Miami Heat prevail over the Indiana Pacers.

Mario Chalmers scored 26 points and Chris Bosh added 24 as the Miami Heat won their 18th straight game, easily topping the Indiana Pacers 105-91.

The 18-game streak equals the seventh longest in NBA history, and is the league's best since the Boston Celtics won 19 straight during the 2008-09 season. Miami will try for No 19 when it hosts Atlanta on Tuesday night.

The win also gave Miami (47-14) a victory over every NBA team this season. The Heat lost both previous meetings with Indiana.

Dwyane Wade scored 23 points for the Heat, who controlled the game despite a season-low 13 points from LeBron James. Ray Allen added 11 for Miami.

David West scored 17 of his 24 points in the first half for the Pacers, who fell nine games behind Miami in the Eastern Conference standings. Roy Hibbert scored 15, DJ Augustin had 14 and Paul George scored 10 for Indiana.

Raptors 100, Cavaliers 96

Amir Johnson scored 17 points and matched his career high with 16 rebounds, and Alan Anderson scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Cavaliers star guard Kyrie Irving was knocked out by an apparent shoulder injury late in the third quarter as Cleveland lost for the fourth time in five games.

Irving was hurt when he collided with Toronto rookie Jonas Valanciunas on a baseline drive with 2:04 left in the third. He shot the resulting free throws one-handed. Irving made the first but missed the second before walking off and heading to the locker room. He finished with 12 points.

Irving missed 11 games between Nov. 21 and Dec. 8 with a broken finger. He also sat out three games between February 26 and March 1 with a sore right knee.

Lakers 90, Bulls 81

Dwight Howard scored 16 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, Kobe Bryant chipped in with 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for Los Angeles.

The Lakers improved to 33-31, the first time this season they have been two games over .500. They also moved one-half game ahead of the Utah Jazz and into sole possession of the No. 8 and final play-off spot in the Western Conference.

The Lakers led almost throughout, only briefly falling behind by two points in the second quarter, and led by as many as 18 in the third period.

Nate Robinson led the Bulls with 19 points, and Joakim Noah had 18 points and 17 rebounds.

Howard made 8 of 14 shots from the floor but missed all five free throws. His 21 rebounds marked the fourth time this season he has grabbed at least 20.

Thunder 91, Celtics 79

Kevin Durant had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Russell Westbrook scored 15 points as the Thunder stretched their winning streak to five games.

The Thunder limited Boston to 25 percent shooting in the second half after the Celtics shot 51 percent in the first. Oklahoma City used an 11-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter to close it out.

The Celtics had pulled within 68-65 after three quarters before going without a basket for the first 5 minutes of the fourth, and they never could recover.

Paul Pierce had 20 points to lead Boston, which had its own run of five straight wins broken. Kevin Garnett chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Magic 99, 76ers 91

Jameer Nelson had 24 points and 10 assists, and Nik Vucevic added 14 points and 17 rebounds. The win ended the Magic's seven-game home losing streak, their longest skid in Orlando since 2003/04.

Arron Afflalo and Tobias Harris added 17 and 15 points, respectively. The double-double was the 35th of the season for Vucevic.

Thaddeus Young had 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, followed by Damien Wilkins with 16 points in his first start of the season.

Philadelphia has dropped five straight and 13 in a row on the road.

Hornets 98, Trail Blazers 96

Ryan Anderson capped a 20-point performance with a layup as he was fouled with 1.8 seconds left, and the Hornets snapped a three-game skid.

Anderson also hit a 3 with 15.6 seconds left that gave the Hornets a 95-93 lead, but Portland rookie Damian Lillard reached the 20-point mark for a sixth straight game by draining a 3 with 11.2 seconds left.

Greivis Vasquez, who also had 20 points, then dribbled out of traffic along the perimeter and found Anderson inside for the winning bucket.

Anthony Davis had 18 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans.

Wesley Matthews scored 24 points and LaMarcus Aldridge 16 for Portland, which fell three games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final play-off spot in the Western Conference.

Mavericks 100, Timberwolves 77

Vince Carter had 22 points and nine rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 points for Dallas.

Brandan Wright added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Mavericks, who have won three straight and four of their last five in a last-ditch push for the play-offs. They entered the day in 11th place in the West, three games out of the eighth spot.

Derrick Williams had 18 points and nine rebounds for the lethargic Timberwolves, who had no energy on the second night of a tough back-to-back that started in Denver. JJ Barea scored 16 points, but Minnesota's bench managed just six other points. The Wolves are 6-25 since Kevin Love broke his hand for the second time on January 8.

Follow us