Shaquille O'Neal's birthday party started a little early.
O'Neal and many Heat teammates were headed to South Beach for a bash Friday night in Miami, after getting double-digit scoring from all five starters and beating the slumping Sacramento Kings 104-83.
Dwyane Wade had 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. O'Neal scored 18 points, giving him 23,177 for his career and tying him with Adrian Dantley for 17th in NBA history. And Eddie Jones had 17 — including a 5-for-5 night from 3-point range — for Miami, which won its fourth straight overall and ninth in a row at home.
"I think we played pretty good defense overall," said O'Neal, who actually turns 33 on Sunday. "We took care of the ball. We got a lot of guys involved ... If we play like that, we should be on our way. We just need to do what we're supposed to do and maintain that toughness at home."
Mike Bibby had 22 points and seven assists for Sacramento, which capped a six-game road trip by losing for the 10th time in its last 14 games. Cuttino Mobley had 17 points and Peja Stojakovic added 15 for the Kings.
Damon Jones had 14 points, and Udonis Haslem had an 11-point, 13-rebound night for the Eastern Conference-leading Heat.
Another big second-half effort keyed the win. Miami, which outscored New Jersey 62-42 in a 16-point win Thursday night, shot 56.4 percent in the second half and outscored the Kings 56-42 after halftime.
"We didn't get any stops," Bibby said. "They were scoring. We weren't."
With starting center Brad Miller sidelined for the third straight game because of a sore calf, the Kings relied heavily on jump shots — 10 of Sacramento's first 11 field goals came from the perimeter.
"That's who we are. We're a jump-shooting team," said Kings coach Rick Adelman. "We don't have a low-post game. I don't think we have anybody like Shaq I can think of, right offhand."
But the Kings only connected on 40.5 percent of their first-half shots, and that, combined with Miami's 24-8 inside-scoring edge in the opening two quarters, led to a 48-41 Heat lead at intermission.
"They looked like a team that was at the end of a long, long road trip," said Heat coach Stan Van Gundy.
And down the stretch, Miami happily took advantage of the leg-weary Kings.
Sacramento hit its first three shots of the third quarter and closed with 48-47, but never regained the lead. Miami connected on 63.2 percent of its shots in the period, built a 78-66 lead entering the fourth and pulled away — improving to 36-2 when leading after three quarters.
The Kings, who were away from home for the ninth time in 10 games, never got closer than 12 in the final quarter.
"We've got to get home and regroup," said Adelman, whose team will face Detroit at home Sunday. "We've got the world champs in 36 hours. We appreciate the league doing that for us."
The Heat got a brief scare with 54.4 seconds left in the first half, when Kings center Brian Skinner pulled O'Neal down under the basket. O'Neal — who sprained his left knee 10 days earlier after another awkward tumble — fell over cameramen and fans, but was uninjured and made one of the two resulting free throws.
SIXERS 98, CAVALIERS 89: At Philadelphia, Chris Webber had his best performance in four games with Philadelphia, scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Allen Iverson led Philadelphia with 31 points, and Samuel Dalembert added 15. The 76ers are 2-2 in four games with Webber in the lineup following the trade that sent him from Sacramento to Philadelphia.
CELTICS 104, BOBCATS 84: At Boston, Antoine Walker and Ricky Davis each scored 18 points, and Gary Payton added 10 in his return to Boston's lineup. Boston is 4-0 since Walker returned to the team last week in a trade with Atlanta.
MAGIC 111, KNICKS 89: At Orlando, Cla., Grant Hill scored 29 points and rookie Dwight Howard added 20 points and 15 rebounds to help Orlando snap New York's three-game winning streak. Kelvin Cato added 14 points, Steve Francis had 13 points and nine assists, and rookie Jameer Nelson had 11 points and seven assists for the Magic.
WARRIORS 103, WIZARDS 90: At Washington, Jason Richardson scored 16 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, and also had eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks for Golden State. Troy Murphy added 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Warriors. Larry Hughes scored 27 points for the Wizards.
GRIZZLIES 86, RAPTORS 75: At Memphis, Tenn., Shane Battier scored 12 of his career-high 33 points in the fourth quarter to help Memphis rally for coach Mike Fratello's 600th career victory. Lorenzen Wright added 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Brian Cardinal had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Grizzlies. Jalen Rose led the Raptors with 19 points.
TIMBERWOLVES 103, BUCKS 97: At Minneapolis, Wally Szczerbiak scored 28 points, Kevin Garnett added 25, and Anthony Carter had a season-high 13 assists for Minnesota. Michael Redd had 24 points and seven rebounds for Milwaukee.
SPURS 102, BULLS 99: At San Antonio, Tim Duncan made an 18-foot jumper with 38 seconds left to break a tie, and Manu Ginobili added four late free throws for San Antonio. Duncan finished with 31 points and 13 rebounds, Tony Parker had 25 points and eight assists, and Ginobili added 19 points — 13 in the second half.