LeBron James scored 24 points and Dwyane Wade added 22 as the Miami Heat set a club record for home wins in a season, beating the Chicago Bulls 105-93 on Sunday.
Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen each scored 15 for Miami, who improved to a 36-4 mark at home — topping the 35-6 record set by the 2004-2005 Heat.
Miami held Chicago without a two-point basket for the first 16 minutes of the second half, with the Bulls relying almost exclusively on three-pointers.
Photo: AFP
Carlos Boozer had 16 points and 20 rebounds for the Bulls, who snapped Miami’s 27-game winning streak last month.
Chicago finished with 29 field goals and 30 fouls, allowing the Heat to shoot a season-high 41 free throws.
The loss keeps Chicago in the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference. Miami have wrapped up home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
ROCKETS 121, KINGS 100
In Houston, Texas, James Harden had 29 points and nine assists, while Omer Asik had 10 points and 12 rebounds as Houston cruised to a win over Sacramento in their regular-season home finale.
Jeremy Lin added 15 points for the Rockets, who have won nine of their past 12 home games heading into the playoffs.
The Rockets climbed to sixth place in the Western Conference. They have the same record as Golden State (45-35), but own the tiebreaker after winning the season series with the Warriors 3-1.
Houston were facing Phoenix yesterday and they finish the regular season against the Los Angeles Lakers tomorrow.
John Salmons scored 14 points, while Isaiah Thomas had 10 points and 10 assists for the Kings.
LAKERS 91, SPURS 86
In Los Angeles, Dwight Howard had 26 points and 17 rebounds, helping Los Angeles rally in the fourth quarter to beat San Antonio in their first game since losing Kobe Bryant for the season.
Steve Blake scored 23 points for the Lakers (44-37), who lead Utah (42-38) by 1.5 games for the eighth post-season spot in the West after their seventh win in eight games.
Bryant limped off the Staples Center floor with a torn Achilles tendon on Friday night.
Tim Duncan had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who have lost six straight road games.
San Antonio (58-22) are likely to finish second in the West behind Oklahoma City (59-21), who hold the tiebreaker.
NUGGETS 118, TRAIL BLAZERS 109
In Denver, Colorado, Andre Iguodala scored 28 points as Denver beat short-handed Portland to set an NBA franchise record with their 55th win.
Rookie Evan Fournier added 24 points for the Nuggets, who also extended their franchise-best winning streak at home to 22 straight to move a game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis for the third seed in the West.
The Nuggets went 54-28 in both 1987-1988 and 2008-2009, when they reached the conference finals. They are 37-3 at home — also a team best since joining the NBA 37 years ago.
Rookie Damian Lillard led Portland with 30 points.
KNICKS 90, PACERS 80
In New York, Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points as New York clinched the No. 2 seed in the East for the playoffs with a victory over Indiana — the Knicks’ 15th win in the past 16 games.
Chris Copeland added 20 points and J.R. Smith had 15 for the Knicks, who host seventh-seeded Boston next weekend.
New York are guaranteed the home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs after finishing a distant second to Miami in the conference.
Lance Stephenson scored 22 points, while David West had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who came into the game with a chance to catch the Knicks for second, but settled for the No. 3 seed after fourth-placed Brooklyn lost in Toronto.
RAPTORS 93, NETS 87
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 36 points, while Rudy Gay had 26 points and 10 rebounds as Toronto never trailed in beating Brooklyn for their third straight victory.
Amir Johnson had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who had not won three straight since a five-game winning streak from Feb. 8 to Feb. 19.
DeRozan scored 14 in the fourth quarter and finished nine-for-nine at the free-throw line, converting a vital pair in the final 15 seconds.
Deron Williams scored 30 points, Brook Lopez had 16 and Andray Blatche 15 for the Nets, who will be the No. 4 seed in the East.
MAVERICKS 107, HORNETS 89
In New Orleans, Shawn Marion had 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 to become the 17th NBA player to surpass 25,000 career points, leading Dallas past New Orleans.
Brandan Wright and Vince Carter added 16 points for Mavs (40-40), who reached the .500 mark for the first time since they were 11-11 in December last year. They had lost by double digits in their three previous chances to even their record.
Ryan Anderson led the cold-shooting New Orleans Hornets with 20 points, but he was only eight-of-20 from the floor.
Eric Gordon added 15 points, while Robin Lopez had 10 points and 13 rebounds. New Orleans shot 39.7 percent in their final home game and trailed by as many as 27.
76ERS 91, CAVALIERS 77
In Philadelphia, Dorell Wright scored 15 points, while Thaddeus Young had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead Philadelphia over Cleveland.
Spencer Hawes and Jrue Holiday each added 14 points for the 76ers, who raced to a 19-point lead in the first half and sent the Cavaliers to their fourth straight loss.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set