LeBron James hit two free throws for the winning points after a scary tumble with 4.1 seconds left as the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat 92-91 on Monday.
Dwyane Wade, who missed a jump shot at the buzzer, finished with 32 points for Miami, all but two of them in what was an epic first half shootout between superstars. But he missed two big free throws with 41.2 seconds left, part of a 1 of 6 showing from the line by the Heat in the fourth quarter — and it cost Miami dearly.
Shaquille O’Neal scored 19, Daniel Gibson had 15 and Brazilian Anderson Varejao finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland.
Wade had 10 rebounds and five assists for Miami. Jermaine O’Neal finished with 18 points, Michael Beasley had 16 and Rafer Alston and Udonis Haslem each scored 10 for the Heat.
CELTICS 95, CLIPPERS 89
At Boston, Paul Pierce scored 22 points and Rajon Rondo had 16 points and 12 assists to lead Boston to a win on a TD Garden floor that had to be continually wiped because of condensation.
Boston forward Kevin Garnett played his second straight after missing 10 consecutive games with a hyperextended right knee. He finished with 17 points in 30 minutes.
Rasual Butler led the Clippers with 17 points.
The slippery floor forced ball boys to mop one end while play was going on at the other for most of the game. Early in the game, it appeared a few players slipped.
PACERS 109, 76ERS 98
At Philadelphia, Danny Granger scored 26 points and Dahntay Jones had 18 points as Indiana earned a split of the home-and-away series with Philadelphia.
Jones scored seven straight points late in the fourth quarter that helped the Pacers put this one away.
Brandon Rush scored 16 points, and Troy Murphy had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Pacers.
Andre Iguodala scored 22 points and Allen Iverson 20 for the Sixers.
In other NBA games it was:
• Grizzlies 99, Magic 94
• Hawks 102, Rockets 95
• Bulls 98, Spurs 93
• Jazz 124, Suns 115
• Nuggets 104, Bobcats 93
• Hornets 98, Trail Blazers 97
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
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