RESULTS, SCHEDULE

* at Dallas 91, Portland 80: “They look for me to do a lot on this team. Whatever I need to do to get us going, I’m going to do it,” said Josh Howard, who had 23 points and a season-high 14 rebounds to help the Mavericks overcome a subpar game from Dirk Nowitzki, who went without a point for the game’s opening 20 minutes 45 seconds. He finished with 11 points.

* at Toronto 91, Cleveland 82: LeBron James, the league’s leading scorer, was out of the Cavaliers’ lineup because of a sprained left index finger. The Cavaliers are 6-2 in the eight games that James has not played since the start of the 2005-06 season.

* at Philadelphia 85, Washington 84: The Wizards got to within 85-84 and had a chance to win the game, but former USC star Nick Young missed a three-point shot from 26 feet with 1.9 seconds left.

* New Orleans 92, at Atlanta 86: The Hornets improved to 17-9 in their last 26 games against the Hawks. They won with a 22-10 advantage in points off turnovers. The Hawks committed 20 turnovers.

* Boston 95, at Miami 85: Jason Williams made three three-point baskets to spark a 24-3 run to move the Heat to within seven points with 3:56 left, but the margin didn’t get any smaller, and Miami lost for the 11th time in 15 games.

* San Antonio 106, at Minnesota 91: The Spurs closed the third quarter with an 8-0 run that grew to 14-0 on consecutive three-pointers by Bruce Bowen and Brent Barry to start the fourth. The Timberwolves had built their biggest lead, 80-66, before that spurt and didn’t fall behind until Tim Duncan’s free throw with 9:05 left made it 83-82.

* at Phoenix 110, Orlando 106: The Magic, which trailed by 10 points starting the fourth quarter, pulled to within 107-106 with 11.4 seconds remaining on two free throws by Rashard Lewis. Shawn Marion then made one of two free throws, Lewis missed a three-pointer, and Steve Nash clinched the victory with two free throws with 3.8 seconds left.

* at Seattle 95, Indiana 93: Kevin Durant scored 22 of his 35 points in the second half to help the SuperSonics become the final NBA team to win a home game this season. Seattle was 0-7 at home and had lost 11 consecutive home games dating to last season. But Durant showed off the skills that made him the No. 2 overall pick in the draft to help Seattle (3-14) avoid the worst 17-game start in franchise history.

* at New York 91, Milwaukee 88: Jamal Crawford made the go-ahead basket with 28 seconds left as the Knicks erased a 17-point deficit.

* at Denver 123, Clippers 107: Corey Maggette finished with 26 points in his second game back from a strained right hamstring. Chris Kaman had 16 points but was a rebound shy of his fourth consecutive double-double.

* at Utah 120, Lakers 96: Derek Fisher finished with three points and two assists in his return to Utah, where he played last season but asked over the summer to be released from his contract so he could better treat his 1-year-old daughter’s cancer.