USA - Nuggets stun Mavericks

DENVER (NBA) - Germany superstar Dirk Nowitzki's 22 points and 11 rebounds were not enough as his Dallas Mavericks side were shocked by a Carmelo Anthony-inspired Denver Nuggets 75-71.

The Mavericks failed to score at least 90 points for the first time in 22 games and missed out on matching the Chicago Bulls' 1995/96 record of 70 wins for the season.

Anthony scored 23 points and Allen Iverson had 22 points for Denver (39-36), who remain just one-half game behind the Los Angeles Lakers (40-36) for sixth place in the Western Conference play-off race.

To compound their disappointing night, the Mavericks (62-13) saw All-Star forward Josh Howard leave in the first quarter with an ankle sprain.

Brazil's Leandro Barbosa scored 26 points off the bench and Shawn Marion added 20 and 11 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns took advantage of a depleted New Orleans Hornets in a 103-95 victory.

The Hornets (35-41) are three games behind the Los Angeles Clippers (37-37) for the final play-off spot in the Western Conference with six contests left.

Steve Nash had 15 points and 12 assists for Phoenix (57-19), who are two and a half games ahead of San Antonio (54-21) for the second seed in the West.

Phoenix shot 51% (43-of-85) and handed out 27 assists - Barbosa was nine-of-18 from the floor, including six-of-nine on three-pointers, and Marion shot nine-of-12.

All-Star Chris Bosh helped the Toronto Raptors win their first division title. with his seventh straight double-double.

Bosh scored 23 points and hauled in 13 rebounds as the Raptors posted a 94-85 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Anthony Parker had 12 points, including three of four from three-point range, and reserve Juan Dixon also added 12 for Toronto (43-33), who clinched their first division title in franchise history.

Bosh said: "It's a great thing. This team has overcome a lot of adversity with having to gel and putting pressure on ourselves to win."

Bosh shot eight-of-17 from the field and scored six of his points in the third quarter when Toronto ended the period on a 15-0 run to grab a 73-61 lead.

Ben Gordon and Britain's Luol Deng combined for the Chicago Bulls to rout the New Jersey Nets 105-74.

Gordon scored 27 points and Deng added 24 and 12 rebounds as the Bulls (46-31) maintained their tie with Cleveland (46-31) for second place in the Eastern Conference. 

Shaquille O'Neal scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help the Miami Heat edge the Boston Celtics 88-85.

Udonis Haslem had 17 points and nine rebounds and James Posey added 13 and seven, including the key basket to spark Miami to victory.

Heat coach Pat Riley said: "I showed a lot of patience with the team tonight. The important thing is we end up winning on the road and now we go home and play Charlotte Sunday."

The Heat trailed, 83-80, with 1:27 remaining when Eddie Jones nailed a three-pointer to knot to the score.

Gerald Green and Sebastian Telfair missed three-pointers for Boston in the last five seconds to secure the win for Miami (42-34), which increased its Southeast Division lead to two-and-a-half games over the Washington Wizards.

As for a Washington team missing Gilbert Arenas, they slipped to a 99-94 defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers thanks to LeBron James' 25 points.

That was added to by Lithuanian Zydrunas Ilgauskas' 18 points and Larry Hughes added 15 and Cleveland (46-31) remained in contention for the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Houston Rockets missed China star Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady as Brandon Roy and Jarrett Jack combined for 47 points for the Portland Trail Blazers in their 85-78 victory.

Jamaal Magloire added 12 points and 11 rebounds for Portland, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

The Sacramento Kings ended their struggles with a 107-103 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Elsewhere, the Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies 116-104, the Atlanta Hawks fended off the Milwaukee Bucks 115-102 and the Indiana Pacers defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 112-102.

The Minnesota Timberwolves triumphed over the New York Knicks 99-94, while the Los Angelese Lakers edged the Seattle Supersonics 112-109.

FIBA