NBA Scores And More: Miami Heat Streak Ended By Mavericks; New Magic Start Slow

The Miami Heat have two losses in their last 14 games, both of them to the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs beat the Heat 98-96 in Miami on Monday night, ending the Heat's 12-game win streak that began after Dallas knocked off the new superpower during Thanksgiving weekend.

There are two huge wows from this particular edition of the Heat-Mavericks rivalry. Perhaps most outrageous is that Dallas held LeBron James scoreless in the first half. The Mavericks boast a strong defense anchored by Tyson Chandler, but keeping the one-time scoring champ and two-time defending MVP out of the scoring ledger for two quarters in an obviously big game is above and beyond. LeBron took just three shots in the first half, obviously missing them all. He also had four turnovers, and played just 12 minutes due to three quick fouls.

King James got it going in the second half (19 points), but Mavericks sixth man Jason Terry stole the show in the fourth. Terry was held scoreless for the first three quarters, shooting 0-5. JET hit his first shot of the night -- a mid-range jumper -- with 10:40 left in the game to pull Dallas within three. He'd score 17 more the rest of the way as the Mavericks wrestled a small lead away and held on. Terry's huge fourth included three three-pointers and some critical free throws.

Speaking of threes, Mike Miller made his Heat debut. He's already looking forward to his second game with Miami, as he shot just 0-4 in just four minutes of action. Two of them came here, on what I liked to call The Possession That Never Ends:

In case you're keeping track, that possession entailed 56 seconds, seven Heat misses by four of the five Heat players on the floor, seven Heat offensive rebounds by all five of the Heat's players and one coach (Rick Carlisle) with a right to be pretty upset. The Heat went 1-8 on a single possession. I knew we said they'd revolutionize the game, but ...

• Mavs Moneyball quotes Tyson Chandler as saying Dallas' defense got soft during the team's own recent streak, but that it came hard against the Heat. Peninsula Is Mightier considers upcoming games against Phoenix and the Lakers to be great tests.

The three new members of the Orlando Magic who will actually play regularly combined to shoot 6-23. That helped fell the Magic in Atlanta despite Dwight Howard's 19-point, 20-rebound night. Truth be told, Dwight's six turnovers didn't help, and Brandon Bass deserves some blame considering he watched Al Horford go 10-15 for 25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers.

One other key note -- and it may be related to Horford's big game -- is that Hawks coach Larry Drew pushed journeyman twinsie Jason Collins into the starting line-up (where he'd been during Joe Johnson's absence) in place of Marvin Williams. Obviously, Collins didn't provide a whole lot of resistance for Howard. But the lack Dwight duty could very well have boosted Horford's energy and confidence. The Hawks were thoroughly embarrassed by the Magic in last year's playoffs. Perhaps this new strategy can change the course should the teams meet again.

As for the Magic's strategy? The current incarnation -- Gilbert Arenas off the bench, Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson starting -- is the most sensible. Let's just hope the newcomers figure things out before the big Christmas Day match-up against the Celtics.

• Orlando Pinstriped Post breaks down the performances by all the Magic newcomers. Peachtree Hoops isn't convinced the Magic will continue to have trouble.

Mike Dunleavy at the buzzer, ladies and gentlemen:

For those who can't watch the video or are too blinded in Mike Dunleavy ecstasy: Funleavy checks the ball into Danny Granger with under four seconds to go. Granger's three rims out, but Funleavy has streaked to the rim. Chris Paul was guarding Lil' Fun on the inbounds pass, and holds up at the arc just enough to allow the Pacer to get easy inside position. David West, "trying to block out Jeff Foster," makes no real attempt to box out Dunleavy. (And frankly, if Dun didn't get the tip, Foster might have.) West spends more energy arguing that the tip came after the buzzer (obviously not the case) than he did trying to secure the rebound and thus, the win. (In fairness, West did have five points and a key offensive rebounds in the last 30 seconds or so.)

Jazz 101, Cavaliers 90: There's nothing noteworthy about the Jazz beating the Cavs. The Jazz are good. The Cavs are bad. Splish splash, and there you have it.

Wizards 108, Bobcats 75: Charlotte is in a devastating rut. I mean, no one should get crushed by the Wizards. No one. The Wizards didn't even have Rashard Lewis available, and while I understand Gerald Wallace is Charlotte's motor, this is just awful. Michael Jordan is furiously searching his purchase agreement for the return policy.

Spurs 118, Suns 110: Gary Neal had 22 off the bench, and chances are you have no idea what I just said. The Spurs have won nine straight games, and have the best record in basketball at 24-3. Gregg Popovich might very well have made it his personal mission to give a hearty middle finger to all the folks who called the Spurs boring over the years by making this version of S.A. one of the most fun to watch teams in the league.

Blazers 106, Bucks 80: Upon news of Brandon Jennings' broken foot, I asked whether Milwaukee could survive the next 4-6 weeks without a point guard. Early results: not good! This 26-point loss was as bad as it sounds. Jennings' replacements (shooting guard Keyon Dooling and 5-foot-5 Earl Boykins) combined to shoot 6-23.

Rockets 121, Warriors 112: David Lee was supposed to be a huge boon to Golden State's rebounding, right? Because I just saw the Houston Rockets pull down 17 offensive rebounds in just 39 opportunities. That's right: Houston rebounded nearly half of its own misses. For the season, the Rockets are around 26 percent, about league average.

Clippers 113, Wolves 90: I'm beginning to think Blake Griffin was sent to our planet solely to make Baron Davis relevant again.