Best of NBA: Dion Waiters leads Heat's rally over Hornets

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MIAMI -- Dion Waiters scored 24 points, Goran Dragic added 22 points and 10 assists, and the Miami Heat moved within a half-game of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by beating the Charlotte Hornets 108-101 on Wednesday night.

Luke Babbitt scored 12 points, Hassan Whiteside had 10 points and 15 rebounds, and James Johnson added 10 points for Miami, which is 20-4 in its last 24 games -- the NBA's best record in that span.

Miami outscored Charlotte 27-15 in the final quarter.

Kemba Walker scored 33 points for Charlotte, which got 16 from Nicolas Batum, 14 from Marvin Williams and 12 from Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

The Heat made 17 3-pointers, outscoring Charlotte 51-21 from beyond the arc (see full recap).

Antetokounmpo leads Bucks to win over Knicks
MILWAUKEE -- Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 22 of his 32 points in the second half to help the Milwaukee Bucks overcome a third-quarter deficit and beat the New York Knicks 104-93 on Wednesday night.

The Bucks extended their winning streak to four games with the win, moving to within a half-game of Chicago for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Antetokounmpo also added 13 rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Khris Middleton finished with 18 points and Greg Monroe had 17.

Derrick Rose led the Knicks with 26 points, scoring 20 of them in the second half. He was 13 of 16 from the field. Carmelo Anthony scored 16 points in his return after a one-game absence.

The Bucks began the third quarter missing 13 of their first 14 shots and the Knicks built a 69-57 lead on a pair of free throws (see full recap).

Schroder, Millsap pace Hawks past Nets
ATLANTA -- Dennis Schroder scored 31 points, Paul Millsap added 24 and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak with a 110-105 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.

Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 16 points for Atlanta, which had lost six of eight to fall three games behind fourth-place Toronto in the Eastern Conference.

Sean Kilpatrick scored 27 points, Brook Lopez had 18 and Jeremy Lin 16 for Brooklyn, the NBA's worst team. The Nets were trying to win consecutive games for the first time since last March 24-26.

Lin's corner 3 trimmed the lead to 106-105 with 13 seconds remaining, but Hardaway and Schroder each hit a pair of free throws to end it (see full recap).

Payton's 2nd straight triple-double leads Magic over Bulls
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Elfrid Payton had 22 points, 14 assists and 14 rebounds for his second straight triple-double, and the Orlando Magic rallied for a 98-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.

Evan Fournier added 20 points to help Orlando erase a 13-point, second-half deficit and snap a two-game losing streak. The fading Bulls have lost three straight and four of their last five games. They entered the night tied with Detroit for seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Jimmy Butler scored 21 points for Chicago but missed some big shots down the stretch (see full recap).

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