The game was preceded by Magic coach Stan Van Gundy revealing publicly he had been told by team officials that star player Dwight Howard had asked for Van Gundy to be fired.

Against that backdrop, Howard was held to eight points and eight rebounds while New York kept up a barrage of three-pointers to sink the reeling Magic, who have now lost five straight.

Carmelo Anthony scored 19 points while Tyson Chandler added 12 points and 12 boards.

Greg Monroe had 18 points and seven rebounds as the Detroit Pistons held off the Washington Wizards late on to claim a 99-94 win.

Ageing defensive specialist Ben Wallace sank key free throws late on for Detroit, having been sent in to stop Washington erasing any more of a 20-point deficit they almost wiped out.

Luol Deng scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half and Joakim Noah added 17 points as the Chicago Bulls topped the Boston Celtics 93-86.

Blake Griffin scored six of his 14 points on consecutive jump shots down the stretch as the Los Angeles Clippers held off the Sacramento Kings 93-85.