In other NBA news:

---Philadelphia coach Doug Collins minced no words when it came to describing the effort of the 76ers after a loss to Orlando. The 76ers have lost six straight games and all four games since the NBA All-Star break, prompting Collins to question the players' mind-set and saying he was baffled as to why the team is struggling.

"I gave my body to this franchise (as a player for the 76ers)," Collins said. "I was never booed as a player, never. I ran through my sneakers. There cannot be a game where you just go out and don't put your heart and soul into the game. We had an off-day, we've been on the All-Star break -- there's no reason for that, none."

After the 98-84 loss to Orlando, the Sixers (22-33) fell 11 games below .500 with a team expected to contend this season in the Atlantic Division.

---The decision to fire Mike Brown early this season as Los Angeles Lakers coach and the offseason acquisitions of center Dwight Howard and guard Steve Nash were prompted by the urgency of trying to win a championship for owner Jerry Buss.

With Buss' health deteriorating, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said there was a feeling that the moves were necessary to help bring Buss an 11th NBA title. The Lakers were 1-4 when Brown was fired and later replaced by Mike D'Antoni.

"If we would've waited another month, we could've turned it around, or we could've been 2-12," Kupchak said. "We just didn't want to wait. And that's because we feel our best chance to win is this year and next year."

Buss died earlier this month after a long battle with cancer.