Print

Mail

wiki links

LeBron's 26 helps Cavs top Pacers

Construction continues at LeBron James' 3,300 square meter home near Akron, Ohio, on Friday. Blueprints show the house will have a recording studio, a two-lane bowling alley, a casino, a small theater, a sports bar, an aquarium and a barbershop. PHOTO: AP

LeBron James had 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers 105-94 to clinch a NBA playoff berth on Tuesday.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 23 points for the Cavaliers, who shot 52 percent from the field and pulled within 2.5 games of Detroit in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Jermaine O'Neal led Indiana with 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting.

Danny Granger scored 22 points and Jamaal Tinsley had 15 points and 12 assists for the Pacers, who have lost two straight home games and 15 of 17 overall.

Mavericks 105, Hornets 89

At Oklahoma City, Josh Howard had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Dallas beat New Orleans for the 21st straight time.

The Hornets haven't beaten Dallas since the turn of the century, the longest losing streak for one team against an opponent in the NBA, NFL, NHL or Major League Baseball. The Mavericks' last loss in the series came on Nov. 17, 1999, in Charlotte.

Devin Harris added 14 points for Dallas, which completed a perfect six-game road trip and won its seventh straight overall.

The Mavericks already became the first NBA team ever to notch three winning streaks of 12 games or more in a season, and they're past halfway on their way to another one.

Sonics 114, Timberwolves 106

At Minneapolis, Rashard Lewis scored 21 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, Earl Watson set a career high with 24 points, and Seattle overcame a 25-point second-half deficit to beat Minnesota.

Two days after its worst defeat of the season -- a 41-point loss to San Antonio -- Seattle refused to be embarrassed again and finished the game on a 25-2 run.

Minnesota, which entered the game 3.5 games back of the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference, nearly got a triple-double from Kevin Garnett, but it wasn't enough to keep the Wolves from the largest blown lead in team history.

Garnett finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Ricky Davis led the Wolves with 21 points.

Grizzlies 88, Lakers 86

At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant's string of outstanding games came to an ugly end, and Los Angeles suffered an embarrassing loss to the NBA's worst team.

Bryant, who had scored at least 40 points in five straight games, including 50 in the first four, shot 7-of-26 and scored only 23.

Rookie Tarence Kinsey scored five of his career-high 24 points in the last minute, and fellow rookie Rudy Gay had 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in leading Memphis to victory.

Junior Harrington had 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Pau Gasol added 10 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists for the Grizzlies, whose 18-54 record is the NBA's worst, as is their 6-30 road record.

Luke Walton scored 15 points, Smush Parker added 14 and Sasha Vujacic 11 for the Lakers, whose season-high five-game winning streak ended. Lamar Odom had 16 rebounds and 11 assists to go with three points.
This story has been viewed 1375 times.