The Los Angeles Lakers were thrilled to have Shaquille O'Neal back. The Toronto Raptors don't seem to miss Vince Carter very much at all.

Showing no signs of the wrist injury that sidelined him for two games, O'Neal scored 40 points Sunday to lead the Lakers to a 96-88 victory over the fading Miami Heat.

The Lakers lost both games while O'Neal was out, scoring 81 points and shooting 34 percent Friday against Boston, both season lows.

"You don't want to say that we're a mediocre team without him," Lakers forward Rick Fox said. "But that's really what we are."

The Raptors, on a remarkable roll since losing Carter to a season-ending knee injury, got 26 points from Alvin Williams and 21 from Antonio Davis to move into playoff position with a 94-84 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Toronto set a franchise record with its eighth straight win after losing 17 of 18, pulling a game ahead of Indiana in the race for the final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference.

"This is amazing," said Davis, who also grabbed 10 rebounds. "We've come such a long way in such a short period of time. This is such a great feeling because it would have been easy to give up."

Keon Clark had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who have beaten Indiana seven times in a row dating to last season.

Toronto clinched the season series with the Pacers, so if the teams are tied at the end of the regular season, the Raptors win the tiebreaker.

Toronto is yet to lose since Carter's season ended with arthroscopic knee surgery March 26.

"These guys are believing in each other, and that makes the biggest difference in the world," Davis said. "It's not just one guy, everybody is doing it."

O'Neal made 14 of 22 shots, grabbed 11 rebounds in 41 minutes and reached 40 points for the sixth time this season.

"It seems like whenever he misses a game, he comes back with a vengeance," teammate Kobe Bryant said.

Miami lost for the eighth time in 10 games and moved closer to elimination from the playoff race. The Heat are 11th in the Eastern Conference, five games out of a postseason spot with six left.

The only good news for Miami was that Pat Riley said he'll return as coach and president next season, despite the first losing season of his 20-year career.

"I don't have any plans other than to coach and manage the team," Riley said. "I like this job."

76ERS 89, BUCKS 87: Aaron McKie and Derrick McKey made big shots down the stretch as Philadelphia sent Milwaukee to its ninth consecutive road loss.

Eric Snow had 15 points and a season-high 14 assists for the 76ers, who moved out of a tie with the Bucks for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The teams play again Tuesday at Milwaukee.

In their eighth game since Allen Iverson broke his left hand, the 76ers handed the Bucks their fifth loss in six games.

CELTICS 102, NETS 90: Paul Pierce scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and Boston put New Jersey's bid for its first NBA division title on hold for a couple of days.

The Celtics snapped New Jersey's 13-game home winning streak, a franchise record, and prevented the Eastern Conference-leading Nets from clinching the Atlantic Division.

New Jersey's magic number for locking up the division is two.

Boston won its fourth straight and beat the Nets for the third consecutive time this season.

KINGS 116, KNICKS 82: Chris Webber led eight Kings players in double figures with 16 points and 14 rebounds as Sacramento won its eighth straight.

The NBA-leading Kings (57-19) returned from a perfect six-game road trip to humiliate the last-place Knicks with another dazzling display of ball movement and shooting.

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Sacramento stretched the lead to 43 points in the third quarter and set a franchise record with its 34th home win.

CLIPPERS 97, NUGGETS 75: Michael Olowokandi scored 23 points, and Elton Brand had 18 points and 10 rebounds at Staples Center as Los Angeles snapped a three-game losing streak.

Brand had four offensive rebounds to break the single-season franchise record of 371 set by Michael Cage in 1987-88. Brand's 54th double-double tied Sven Nater's club record set in 1980-81.

The Clippers trail eighth-place Utah by 4 1/2 games with five to play.

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