The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Chicago Bulls pulled the necessary stops late in their game to hand the Boston Celtics their eighth loss of the season.

The Orlando Magic, meanwhile, continued to string wins together, upstaging the injury-plagued Dallas Mavericks.

Orlando 117, Dallas 107

The Dallas Mavericks continue to slide with the absence of their leading scorer and main guy, Dirk Nowitzki.

Without Nowitzki, the Orlando Magic easily disposed of the Mavericks, 117-107.

Center Dwight Howard dominated the interior by posting 23 points and 13 rebounds. Jason Richardson also chipped in 20 points.

The Magic rallied from a 16-point lead by the Mavericks at the end of halftime.

With Nowitzki out for the moment and Caron Butler already out for the season, guard DeShawn Stevenson led the Mavericks by finishing with 24 points.

The Mavericks have now lost two in a row, with their record falling down to 26-10. With the loss, defending champions Los Angeles Lakers are just half a game behind the Mavericks in the West.

The Magic have now won nine straight games, making it the longest active winning streak in the NBA.

Chicago 90, Boston 79

In a battle of two of the best point guards in the NBA, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls came out on top, outplaying Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics.

Rose scored a game-high 36 points to help the Bulls stop the Celtics, 90-79. Aside from Rose, power forward Carlos Boozer scored 22 points and hauled down 12 rebounds in the win.

Rose used speed to stump Rondo, in the end drawing five fouls from the Celtics’ starting point guard.

For the Celtics, forward Paul Pierce tallied 21 points, but that wasn’t enough to extend the Celtics’ four-game winning streak.

The victory improves the Bulls' record to 24-12, putting the team in fourth place in the East. The Celtics on the other hand, are now virtually tied with the Miami Heat for the best record in the conference.

Oklahoma 109, Memphis 100

In Oklahoma, the NBA’s leading scorer Kevin Durant erupted for 40 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Memphis Grizzlies, 109-100.

For the second straight time in 14 days, Durant was able to reach the 40-point mark. Durant was responsible for dashing the Grizzlies’ comeback by hitting two free throws, then sinking a jumper from the left elbow with less than a minute remaining.

Aside from Durant, point guard Russell Westbrook tallied 22 points and 11 assists for the Thunder.

For the Grizzlies, power forward Zach Randolph had a double-double performance by finishing with 27 points and 16 rebounds.

With the win, the Thunder’s record improved to 25-13 to end up in fourth place in the West. The Grizzlies on the other hand, fell to ninth place, which is three and a half behind the Portland Trailblazers.

Utah 103, Houston 99 (OT)

In Houston, Paul Millsap exploded for 12 points in the last five minutes to help the Utah Jazz win against the Houston Rockets in overtime, 103-99.

Aside from Millsap, who finished with 27 points, Al Jefferson also had a superb performance as he scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

For the reeling Rockets, Argentine forward Luis Scola had 24 points on top of 10 rebounds.

The Jazz are now tied with the Thunder for fourth place in the West, with both teams having identical 25-13 records.

The Rockets on the other hand, have lost five in a row, putting their record at 16-21 for the season.

Atlanta 108, Indiana 93

In Atlanta, Josh Smith came alive in the final quarter to give the Atlanta Hawks the push that they need to seal the victory against the Indiana Pacers, 108-93.

Josh Smith finished with 27 points to lead the Hawks, while Joe Johnson added 24 to push the team’s winning streak to four.

For the Pacers, forward Danny Granger led the team by tallying 16 points. With the loss, the Pacers have now lost three straight.

In spite of that, the Pacers are still in seventh place in the East with a 14-20 record. The Hawks on the other hand, improved to 25-14.

Detroit 112, Philadelphia 109 (OT)

In Michigan, unheralded guard Austin Daye sank a clutch three-pointer in regulation to send the game between the Detroit Pistons and the Philadelphia 76ers into overtime.

Lou Williams had the chance to win it in regulation, but muffed two free throws that could have given the 76ers a five-point lead with 6.2 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Daye received a pass in the corner, then launched the tying three right before the time expired.

In the overtime period, the Pistons closed out the game after two free throws that were converted by point guard Rodney Stuckey.

The Pistons have now improved their record to 12-24 while the 76ers fell to 15-22.

Milwaukee 115, New Jersey 92

After a tough game against the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks bounced back from the loss by routing the New Jersey Nets, 115-92.

Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Bucks with 24 points, while Turkish-born player Ersan Ilyasova tallied 22 points and 13 rebounds.

The Bucks, who are the NBA’s worst-shooting team, shot exceptionally well from the field by hitting 60 percent of their field goal attempts.

For the Nets, Kris Humphries finished the game with a season-high 22 points.

With the win, the Bucks are now virtually tied with the 76ers for the eighth spot in the East. The Nets on the other hand, lost two in a row, with their record falling to 10-27.

Charlotte 104, Washington 89

The Washington Wizards remain the only team in the league without any win on the road this season.

Earlier, the Wizards lost against the well-oiled Charlotte Bobcats squad to stay 0-18 when playing away from home.

Thanks to the sniping of Stephen Jackson and D.J. Augustin who finished with 21 and 20 points respectively, the Bobcats pulled out a 104-89 victory against the Wizards.

With the win, the Bobcats improved their win-loss slate to 13-21 while the Wizards are just a few games away from the bottom-dwelling Cleveland Cavaliers squad.