ORLANDO, Fla. -- Marreese Speights scored 18 points, Alonzo Gee added 17 and the Cleveland Cavaliers used a big fourth quarter to run past the Orlando Magic 118-94 on Saturday night.
Kyrie Irving chipped in with 12 points and nine assists for the Cavaliers, who have won two straight overall and snapped a six-game losing streak in Orlando. Cleveland continues its three-game trip Sunday in Miami.
Arron Afflalo scored 16 points for the Magic in their first home game since a trade deadline deal last week that saw the departure of four players, including sixth man J.J. Redick. Two of their three new additions, Tobias Harris and Beno Udrih, finished in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Orlando has lost five consecutive games and 28 of its last 31.
The Cavaliers scored the first eight points of the final period to push their lead to 15. The Magic got it down to 11 before another 8-0 spurt made it 95-76 with less than 8 minutes to play.
Cleveland maintained its cushion down the stretch, allowing Irving to sit out the entire fourth quarter. Coach Byron Scott said afterward that Irving experienced a little soreness in his knee but was fine.
The Magic played without point guard Jameer Nelson, who missed his second straight game with a left patella contusion.
Without trade acquisitions Harris, Udrih and Doron Lamb, the Magic hung tough in a close loss to Memphis on Friday, but struggled at times against Cleveland without a true point guard opposite Irving.
Even with all three playing Saturday, the Cavaliers were clearly the more comfortable team in the early going and took advantage of it as they built a 10-point lead.
Irving was especially active, both scoring and distributing. At one point early in the first quarter he received an outlet pass on a fast break and delivered a pass off the backboard to Gee, who dunked it easily.
When they did get into the game, the Magic's new arrivals brought in instant energy, though, helping to stunt Cleveland's early momentum.
It was tied at the half, thanks to balanced scoring on both sides. Orlando had eight players with at least six points in the opening 24 minutes, while Gee was the only player on either team to reach double figures in the half, scoring 10 points.
• Hockey
Blues edge Jackets: David Perron scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and the St. Louis Blues ended a five-game home losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Chris Stewart had a first-period goal for the Blues, outscored 23-9 during an 0-4-1 slump. Perron beat Sergei Bobrovsky from the slot for his sixth goal at 9:51, also the Blues' first shot of the period.
Jaroslav Halak made 18 saves, giving up his first goal at home in 168 minutes, 32 seconds on Matt Calvert's short-handed tally late in the second, a streak that dated to March 31, 2012.
Red Wings snap losing streak: Jimmy Howard made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season, and Drew Miller scored an early goal as the Detroit Red Wings snapped a season-high, five-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
Three of the losses in the Red Wings' skid came after they led 2-0. Tomas Tatar gave Detroit a two-goal lead early in the second and Niklas Kronwall made it a three-goal cushion late in the period.
• Elsewhere
Pistons fall to Pacers: David West scored 16 points and Paul George added a double-double to help the Indiana Pacers easily beat the Detroit Pistons for the second time in as many nights with a 90-72 victory Saturday.
The Pacers won 114-82 Friday night in Indianapolis, and led by as many as 21 in the return leg. George finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for Indiana, which had five players in double figures and got Danny Granger on the floor for the first time this season.
Action being taken: North Dakota high school principal says appropriate action is being taken after three students briefly donned Ku Klux Klan-style white robes and hoods Friday night during a state hockey semifinal game.
The photo caused an uproar on Twitter when it was posted by 19-year-old Shane Schuster, who was seated with some friends at Ralph Engelstad Arena when something in the student section across the rink caught his eye.
Emmert still supported: NCAA President Mark Emmert still has the confidence of the association's executive committee, despite several indicators in recent days that some schools are questioning his effectiveness.
The NCAA released a statement Saturday, revealing that the executive committee has "unanimously affirmed" its ongoing support of Emmert. Both the decision to make such a statement -- and to do so, without warning, over a weekend -- are highly unusual for the NCAA, which has been under fire for some time over the way many high-profile cases have been handled, most recently the long investigation of Miami.
Pistorius' father speaks: The father of Oscar Pistorius' slain girlfriend has told a South African newspaper that the athlete will have to "live with his conscience" if he is lying about how he killed her.
In its Saturday edition, the Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper quotes Barry Steenkamp as saying Pistorius will "suffer" alone if his assertion that he accidentally shot 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp is false.
Barry Steenkamp says he might be able to forgive Pistorius one day if the double-amputee Olympian is telling the truth.
Bloody sock to be sold: The bloody sock worn by Curt Schilling during the 2004 World Series is set to be sold off -- a casualty of sorts of the high-profile collapse of the former Boston Red Sox pitcher's video game company. Online bidding opened several weeks ago at $25,000 and by Friday had reached $60,000. Chris Ivy, director of sports for Texas-based Heritage Auctions, says he expects the sock will fetch at least $100,000 -- though probably a lot more.
Kvitova earns title: Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova won her first title in six months when she beat Sara Errani 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 in the Dubai Championships final on Saturday.
Kvitova also beat the Italian en route to her previous title -- her ninth -- in New Haven on the eve of the U.S. Open.


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