LeBron James did the No. 23 proud in his idol's house.
With Michael Jordan watching from a skybox, James scored a game-high 32 points and had a career-high 10 assists Saturday night to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to their second straight road win, a 95-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
"What can you say? He's big-time now," Cleveland coach Paul Silas said. "He hit some big shots, got big rebounds and played defense. We need it, and he provides it for us."
PHOTO: REUTERS
It was James' third double-double of the season, his first since Nov. 29. He was 11-of-22 from the floor, and was 10-of-12 from the line. He also had six rebounds, two steals and two blocks while turning the ball over four times.
"If you knock it all back to the basics of the game, I think you would be hard-pressed to find too many guys in the league that can do those things as well as he can," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said.
The loss spoiled the Bulls' homecoming party. Jordan attended his second game of the year, watching in a suite with former teammates Charles Oakley and Will Perdue. Jay Williams also was at the game, his first since the devastating June motorcycle accident that's threatened his career. Williams, who is still on crutches and is undergoing rehabilitation at Duke, sat behind his old teammates on the floor.
Jamal Crawford finished with 16 points, he was just 7-for-27.
Knicks 103, Hawks 92
In New York, Don Chaney yanked Howard Eisley and inserted Frank Williams early in the third quarter, a snap coaching decision that may have saved Chaney's job.
Williams had four assists in a 15-0 third-quarter run that gave New York the lead for good in a 103-92 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
The victory was just the third in 11 games for the Knicks (10-18), whose coach is reportedly in danger of being fired if the team continues to languish amid the lower half of the woeful Atlantic Division.
Keith Van Horn scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and Allan Houston also had 20 for New York. Williams contributed nine assists, all but two coming in the second half when he played the majority of the minutes at point guard.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 20 points to lead the Hawks, who lost their seventh straight overall and their eighth consecutive road game.
Hornets 94, Grizzlies 89
In New Orleans, Baron Davis had 25 points and 12 assists, and New Orleans broke out of a shooting slump to snap a three-game losing streak.
Jamaal Magloire added 18 points and 13 rebounds, and P.J. Brown finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, whose skid was its longest this season.
David Wesley, coming off his worst game of the season in New Orleans' loss Thursday night to Sacramento, started strong as the Hornets built an early lead. He finished with 16 points.
Bonzi Wells came off the bench to lead Memphis with 18 points, including a 3-pointer and a finger roll that helped Memphis get as close as 76-72 early in the final period. But New Orleans responded with a 14-4 run.
Bucks 92, Nets 87
In Milwaukee, Tim Thomas scored 16 of his 21 points in the first quarter and Milwaukee scored eight of the final 11 points in a victory over New Jersey.
Michael Redd added 17 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and nine rebounds for Milwaukee.
Kerry Kittles had 20 points for New Jersey, which had won six of its last seven. Jason Kidd added 18 points and 10 assists, but missed 13 of his first 15 shots.
Milwaukee trailed 84-83 with 2:55 left, but the Bucks used a 7-0 run to put away New Jersey.
Clippers 115, Mavericks 105
In Dallas, Corey Maggette scored 26 points and Quentin Richardson had 25 points and 13 rebounds as Los Angeles handed Dallas its second home loss.
Elton Brand had 22 points and 20 rebounds for the Clippers, who had won only four of their previous 22 meetings with the Mavericks. Los Angeles is 2-0 against Dallas this season.
Antawn Jamison had 26 points, Dirk Nowitzki 23 and Steve Nash 20 for the Mavericks, who dropped to 12-2 at home. They lost their third straight game -- their longest skid this season.
Timberwolves 102, Pacers 80
In Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett had 28 points to lead Minnesota past Indian for its fifth straight victory.
Backup Fred Hoiberg had 21 points, and Sam Cassell added 18 points and 10 assists for the Timberwolves.
Jermaine O'Neal led Indiana with 16 points but hit just 6-of-18 from the field for the Pacers, who continued their inconsistent shooting by hitting on just 35 percent of their field goals.
SuperSonics 115, Nuggets 106
In Denver, Richie Frahm hit six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points, and Ronald Murray added 24 points and 10 assists to lead Seattle over Denver.
The Sonics were coming off a lopsided loss to San Antonio on Friday and played without guards Antonio Daniels and Brent Barry. It didn't seem to slow them.
Voshon Lenard hit seven 3-pointers to finish with 31 points, and Andre Miller added 21 points for Denver.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB