Chris Bosh scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and LeBron James finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds as the Miami Heat held off a huge Philadelphia rally to beat the 76ers 97-89 on Saturday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final series.
Dwyane Wade scored 17 for Miami, with five of those points coming in the final 1:34.
Philadelphia held the Heat scoreless for 4:37 of the fourth quarter and scored 12 straight points to close to 88-87, but never got the lead in the final minutes. Thaddeus Young had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers, while Jrue Holiday added 19 and Elton Brand finished with 17.
Photo: Reuters
Game 2 is today in Miami.
BULLS 104, PACERS 99
In Chicago, Derrick Rose scored 39 points and Kyle Korver nailed the go-ahead three-pointer as top-seeded Chicago rallied from a late 10-point deficit to beat Indiana in their playoff opener.
Photo: Reuters
Trailing 98-88 late in the game, the Bulls showed the resolved that carried them to a league-best 62-20 record, outscoring Indiana 16-1 during the final 3:38.
Rose scored seven during that run, including a three-point play and a floater that tied it at 99 with 1:27 left.
He then hit Korver with a cross-court pass for a three that gave the Bulls their first lead at 102-99 with 48 seconds remaining.
Danny Granger missed a tying three-point shot. Joakim Noah got the rebound and Rose eventually hit two free throws with 14.8 seconds remaining.
Rose was 19 of 21 from the line and had six assists and six rebounds in another strong performance.
Luol Deng added 18 points and Korver finished with 13.
HAWKS 103, MAGIC 93
In Orlando, Florida, Joe Johnson scored 25 points and Jamal Crawford finished with 23 as Atlanta beat Orlando in Game 1 of their playoff series, overcoming a big night by Magic star Dwight Howard.
Atlanta was eliminated by Orlando in last year’s playoffs in the most lopsided four-game sweep in NBA history, but this one was much different.
The Hawks led by as many as 18 points while running multiple bodies at Howard all night and the rest of the Magic failed to step up.
Howard tied a career-high with 46 points, to go along with 19 rebounds. Jameer Nelson had 27, but no other Orlando player reached double figures.
Game 2 is tomorrow night in Orlando.
MAVERICKS 89, TRAIL BLAZERS 81
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter as Dallas defeated Portland in Game 1 of their Western Conference first round series.
Even though Nowitzki struggled from the field most of the night, he came through when the Mavericks needed him most.
Nowitzki scored 12 consecutive points in the game-turning spurt in the closing minutes when Dallas tied the game and eventually went ahead to stay. Jason Kidd added 24 points, including a playoff career-best six three-pointers.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points for Portland.
Soon after Portland had its largest lead (six points), the Mavericks got back within 72-70 when Nowitzki made two free throws with 4:49 left. His three-pointer from the right side with 3:40 left put the Mavs ahead to keep the lead.
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