LeBron James scored 37 points to lead Cleveland to a 108-102 victory on Saturday, ending New Jersey's 14-game NBA winning streak and leaving the Nets one win shy of a franchise record.
Vince Carter scored 33 points for New Jersey (46-29) but missed three jumpers and a foul shot in the final minute. New Jersey was trying to become the first team to win at least 15 games in a row since the Los Angeles Lakers won 19 in February-March 2000.
One game after scoring 21 fourth-quarter points in a loss to New York on Wednesday, James took over again in the final period with 18.
Heat 99, Wizards 86
At Washington, Shaquille O'Neal had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Derek Anderson compensated for Dwyane Wade's foul trouble with five 3-pointers, and Miami beat its Southeast Division rival for the 16th consecutive time.
O'Neal went 13-for-16 from the field, and Anderson had 20 points, four assists and two steals in his best game since he was acquired in a trade with Houston in February. The Heat's domination of the Wizards includes 12 straight regular-season games and a four-game sweep in the second round of last year's playoffs.
Wade scored 11 points in only 21 foul-plagued minutes, but he did enough to set a Miami franchise record with 76 consecutive games scoring in double digits.
Two players battling injuries -- Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels -- were the only Wizards in double figures. Arenas scored 30 points, and Daniels had a season-high 25.
76ers 89, Bulls 75
At Chicago, Allen Iverson scored 39 points and Philadelphia beat Chicago to move into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
That snapped the Sixers' three-game losing streak. It also gave them a four-game split with the Bulls and the tiebreaker because Philadelphia has a better division record.
A Sixers team that was in a 4-13 nosedive perhaps saved its season just a few days after losing a home game to the Bulls. And it did so without Chris Webber, a late scratch with a lower back strain.
But the Sixers still had Iverson. And a Bulls team that had won four straight and six of seven really didn't have an answer.
Andres Nocioni delivered his sixth straight double-double, with 19 points and 10 rebounds, for Chicago. But he had little help as the Bulls shot a season-low 32.6 percent (28-for-86) from the field.
Nuggets 95, Warriors 92
At Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points and Denver clinched at least a tie for their first division title in 18 years, holding off Golden State after learning teammate Julius Hodge had been shot the night before.
Marcus Camby grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked eight shots for Denver, which can clinch the Northwest Division title with one more win or a loss by Utah.
Denver Nuggets guard Julius Hodge was shot and wounded while driving on a highway on Saturday.
The team said he was in fair condition and was expected to make a full recovery. Sheriff's deputies said the 22-year-old player was struck in his lower body.
"The preliminary reports are that he's going to be fine. He should be able to play again in two to three weeks," Nuggets coach George Karl said.
Hodge was on Interstate 76 in north Denver at about 2am when another vehicle pulled alongside and someone inside fired several shots, some of which hit Hodge.
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