Carmelo Anthony takes Knicks past reeling Magic 96-80

Carmelo Anthony scored 19 points, Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 12 rebounds and New York defeated Orlando 96-80 on Thursday night.

J.R. Smith and Toney Douglas each added 15 points for the Knicks, who won for just the third time in their last 13 visits to Orlando. New York also hit 13 3-pointers.

Jason Richardson scored 16 points and Glen Davis 15 to lead Orlando.

The Magic's loss came on the heels of coach Stan Van Gundy's comments Thursday morning that he'd heard from top team officials that Dwight Howard has asked that he be fired.

Howard was held to just eight points and eight rebounds.

Orlando has now lost five straight games for the first time since 2007.

Pistons 99, Wizards 94

At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Greg Monroe had 18 points and seven rebounds, Rodney Stuckey scored 15 points in his return from injury, and Ben Wallace made five key free throws as Detroit beat Washington.

Even with Monroe playing well, Pistons coach Lawrence Frank went with the 37-year-old Wallace down the stretch to help stop John Wall's penetration.

The Wizards were missing Nene and Trevor Booker with foot injuries, but rallied from a 20-point deficit to pull within five late in the game. Wall finished with 28 points and 10 assists, while Kevin Seraphin had 15 points before fouling out.