NBA roundup: Sunday's action on the courts

The Magic's J.J. Redick(notes) lived up to his college coach's prediction and delivered a career performance Sunday.

Jameer Nelson(notes) scored 30 points, Redick had a career-high 27 as Orlando used a season-high 17 three-pointers to beat the Toronto Raptors 125-116. A four-year starter at Duke, Redick received an encouraging telephone call from former coach Mike Krzyzewski after Orlando's win at New Jersey last Friday.

"Coach K called me right after the game," Redick said. "He said, 'It's right there, you're going to have one of your games where you knock down five or six threes.' I didn't know it would be this soon."

Redick, Nelson and Ryan Anderson(notes) each made five three-pointers. Anderson had 20 points, Dwight Howard(notes) had 24 points and 11 rebounds and the Magic (3-0) remained unbeaten after going 8-0 in the pre-season.

Like Krzyzewski, Howard knew Redick was due for a solid showing.

"A couple of games in pre-season he wasn't shooting the ball well," Howard said. "He didn't get down on himself but he got a little frustrated. We both got in the gym and we just kept working on whatever. He was working on his jump shot and I was working on my free throws."

The extra work paid off for both of them: Howard went 14-of-16 from the line Sunday.

Redick and Matt Barnes(notes) started in place of Vince Carter(notes)( who left Friday's game with a sprained left ankle) and Mickael Pietrus(notes), who was sent home to Florida earlier Sunday with flulike symptoms. The Magic were also without the suspended Rashard Lewis(notes).

In his pre-game address, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told his team he didn't expect anyone to replace the high-flying style of the three missing wings.

"We said, 'You've got to play your own game, you can't play Vince's game or anything else, but you've got to play your game at a very high level,"' Van Gundy said. "Those guys did. Jameer, J.J., Dwight, Ryan and Matt were all outstanding."

Elsewhere in the NBA it was: Boston 97 New Orleans 87; Miami 95 Chicago 87; Portland 83 Oklahoma 74; Denver 133 Memphis 123; Phoenix 120 Minnesota 112; and L.A. Lakers 118 Atlanta 110.

At Toronto, Carter scored 16 points in 15 minutes before leaving in the second quarter Friday. He did some straight-line running before the game and could return Tuesday at Detroit.

"He's still struggling to move laterally," Van Gundy said before the game. "It's a tough loss for us but it's a good sign that he could go out and do the other stuff. It's not anything real long term or serious, so that's positive."

Pietrus will rejoin the team when his symptoms improve.

Chris Bosh(notes) led Toronto with 35 points and 16 rebounds while Andrea Bargnani(notes) had 26, including 22 in the second half. Former Magic swingman Hedo Turkoglu(notes) had 19 points for Toronto, which has lost two straight following a season-opening victory over Cleveland.

Redick said it was "weird" to see Turkoglu in a Raptors jersey.

"It was a little bit different to see him on the other side," Redick said. "He was doing the same things that he did for us for so long."

Trailing by 10 points on Barnes' three-pointer with 7:30 left, Toronto cut it to four on a running dunk by Bosh, a layup from Turkoglu and a jumper by Bosh over Howard, making it 111-107 with 5:27 to go.

At the other end, Howard took exception to a foul from Bosh, who put both arms around Howard's upper body under the basket, then jawed with the Magic star, but the referees stepped in before the situation escalated. Howard made both free throws, pushing the lead back to six.

Bargnani made two more layups but the Magic answered each time, with Anderson and Howard each scoring off Nelson's misses keep the Raptors at bay.

"We were sucking wind a little bit there but we hung on and got the job done," Van Gundy said. "When they got the lead cut down, we made some big plays."

Anderson had three three-pointers in the first quarter as the Magic went 7-for-11 from beyond the arc and built a 36-28 lead.

"Those (three-pointers) put us behind early and it was tough to fight back," Toronto coach Jay Triano said.

Orlando opened the second quarter on an 18-4 run, taking a 54-32 lead with 7:03 left, before Toronto answered with a 14-3 spurt over the next five minutes, cutting the deficit to 57-46. Howard was forced to the locker-room with a right shoulder injury with 2:21 left in the half and did not return before the break, but Orlando held firm without its star centre and led 64-53 at halftime.

"He's such a tough guy to play against so, to keep him off the boards, every time he was going up he was getting his arm grabbed," Van Gundy said. "I saw it on the one play, they just pull his arm back. That's a tough injury on his shoulder."

Still in pain, Howard returned to start the second half and scored nine points in the third quarter, while Nelson made three three-pointers and scored 14 points as Orlando took a 99-89 lead into the fourth.

Toronto guard Jose Calderon(notes) went four for six from the free throw line and has already missed more free throws this season (four) than he did all of last season, when he set an NBA record by shooting 98.1 per cent (151-for-154).

Celtics 97 Hornets 87

At Boston, Paul Pierce(notes) scored 27 points as the Celtics improved to 4-0.

Chris Paul(notes) had 22 points and eight assists for New Orleans.

Ray Allen(notes) scored 17, Kevin Garnett(notes) had 14 and Rondo had 10 assists for Boston, which pulled away with an 11-3 run in the last four minutes.

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Heat 95 Bulls 87

At Miami, Dwyane Wade(notes) scored 25 points to push his career total to 10,005, Udonis Haslem(notes) had 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and Miami improved to 3-0.

Carlos Arroyo(notes) scored 12 points, Mario Chalmers(notes) added 11 and Michael Beasley(notes) overcame a 3-of-12 shooting night to finish with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who took the lead for good on a jumper by Wade with 3:01 remaining.

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Nuggets 133 Grizzlies 123

At Denver, Carmelo Anthony(notes) extended his torrid start with 42 points in the Nuggets' shootout win over the Grizzlies.

O.J. Mayo(notes) scored a career-high 40 points for Memphis.

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Suns 120 Timberwolves 112

At Phoenix, Channing Frye(notes) hit six three-pointers and scored 25 points, and Jason Richardson(notes) had 23 points in his first game following a two-game suspension for the undefeated Suns.

Grant Hill(notes) had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix. Amare Stoudemire added 19 points and eight rebounds, and Steve Nash(notes) had 14 points and 14 assists.

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Lakers 118 Hawks 110

At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant(notes) had 41 points and eight rebounds, Andrew Bynum(notes) added 21 points as the Lakers pulled away with 18 consecutive points in the third quarter for a victory over Atlanta.

Lamar Odom(notes) had 11 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists for the defending NBA champions, who bounced back from a loss to Dallas with an overwhelming second half in Atlanta's first defeat.

Joe Johnson(notes) scored 18 of his 27 points in the first quarter for the Hawks, who opened a four-game road trip with an embarrassing third quarter before a late run made the score respectable.