DALLAS — Andre Miller missed badly on his first shot of the game. That was about the only thing that went wrong for Portland's point guard.

Miller scored a career-high 52 points, including 25 in the fourth quarter and overtime, and Juwan Howard hit a jumper with 44.8 seconds left to lift the Trail Blazers past the Dallas Mavericks, 114-112, last night.

On Portland's second possession of the game, Miller's 15-foot jumper missed the rim completely and hit the backboard. That was one of his few misfires as Miller finished 22 of 31 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the foul line.

"I just wanted to stay aggressive," Miller said. "I didn't look at it as scoring the ball, but just going out and making plays and being the point guard. The shots came and since they were going in, I kept shooting."

Miller fell two points shy of the Portland team record set by Damon Stoudamire. Milwaukee rookie Brandon Jennings has the most points in an NBA game this season with 55 on Nov. 14.

Denver's Carmelo Anthony had the previous 50-point game in the NBA, scoring 50 against the New York Knicks on Nov. 27.

Miller came in averaging 12.6 points per game and his season high had been 28.

"We put him down in the post," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "Right off the bat, he established himself as a go-to guy."

Portland scored the final six points, including Miller's layup that tied the game at 112. On the Blazers' next possession, Howard connected on a 15-foot jumper that gave Portland a 114-112 lead. That was Howard's only basket of the game.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points, but he missed two shots in the final minute and one just before the buzzer that could have sent the game into a second overtime.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was critical of this team's defensive effort. Dallas' past three opponents have all shot more than 50 percent from the floor.

"We got very soft defensively as a team," Carlisle said. "We were a tough-minded team the first quarter of the year and it's gone by the wayside."

Jason Terry had 18 points and Josh Howard added 17 points as a reserve for the Mavericks.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 points and Jerryd Bayless added 17 for Portland, which was playing without All-Star guard Brandon Roy for a sixth straight game because of a right hamstring injury.

But Miller more than made up for Roy's absence by hitting 14 of 16 shots after halftime.

MAGIC 104, HAWKS 86

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dwight Howard had 31 points and 19 rebounds, leading Orlando past Atlanta and into first place in the Southeast Division, a half game ahead of the Hawks.

Rashard Lewis added 17 points, Ryan Anderson had 16 and J.J. Redick had eight points and a career-high seven assists as the Magic beat the Hawks for the third straight time this season.

WIZARDS 106, KNICKS 96

WASHINGTON — Mike Miller scored a season-high 25 points — including seven 3-pointers — and Antawn Jamison had 21 points and a career-high 23 rebounds to lead Washington over New York.

Miller, who missed 26 games due to injuries this season, had four 3-pointers late in the third quarter and early in the fourth as the Wizards took an 85-73 lead with 10:45 to play in the fourth quarter.

HORNETS 109, GRIZZLIES 102

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Emeka Okafor had 21 points, and Darren Collison added 17 points and a career-high 18 assists as New Orleans defeated Memphis in overtime to snap the Grizzlies' 11-game home winning streak.

New Orleans overcame a 21-point deficit in the third quarter to win its third game out of the past four. Four of the Hornets past 10 games have gone to overtime, and New Orleans had lost the previous three before yesterday's victory.

BUCKS 95, HEAT 84

MILWAUKEE — Hakim Warrick scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, and Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings each finished with 17 points as Milwaukee held off Miami.

Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 21 points, but was in foul trouble most of the game. Milwaukee took a 56-38 lead at halftime and Miami got no closer than eight thereafter.

BOBCATS 103, KINGS 96

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gerald Wallace scored a season-high 38 points and had 11 rebounds, and Nazr Mohammed contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Charlotte past Sacramento.

Wallace keyed the decisive third quarter when the Bobcats pulled away by outscoring Sacramento 34-13. Scoring on several uncontested baskets inside against the Kings' uninspired defense, Wallace had 19 points to help Charlotte take a 90-67 lead into the fourth.

OVER AND BACK

Heat: Miami forward Michael Beasley missed his second consecutive game with a hyperextended right knee and guard Mario Chalmers was out with a sprained left thumb.

Both took part in the pregame shootaround before last night's game against the Milwaukee Bucks, but the team decided to play it safe and made them inactive.

Hornets: Point guard Chris Paul, New Orleans' leading scorer, missed last night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies because of a bruised left knee. Paul averages 20.4 points and leads the NBA with 11.2 assists.

Paul hurt the knee at Golden State on Wednesday. Then, on the last play of regulation Friday night against the Chicago Bulls, Paul chased an errant pass when he went out of bounds striking a camera on the same spot he got injured two nights earlier.

Rockets: Houston point guard Kyle Lowry will be out at least a week with a sprained left knee. The Rockets said Lowry had an MRI exam yesterday that confirmed the injury he sustained in Friday's win over Portland.

The 6-foot Lowry came up limping after colliding with LaMarcus Aldridge on a drive in the second quarter. Lowry is the Rockets' fifth-leading scorer (8.7 points per game) and ranks second in assists (4.7 per game) behind starting point guard Aaron Brooks.