Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 43 points as the Miami Heat beat the Phoenix Suns 107-92 on Friday night in the first match-up between the teams since the Shaquille O’Neal for Shawn Marion trade last February.
Neither O’Neal nor Marion was much of a factor in the game dominated by the unstoppable Wade. O’Neal scored 12 points in 28 minutes for the Suns and Marion had 10 for Miami.
Leandro Barbosa, playing on his 26th birthday, led the Suns with 20 points. Raja Bell had 16 and Amare Stoudemire 14 for Phoenix, who were without Steve Nash.
CAVALIERS 112, WARRIORS 97
In Cleveland, Ohio, LeBron James scored 23 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added a season-high 21 as Cleveland matched the best home start in franchise history by beating Golden State.
Cleveland (13-3) have won 12 of 13 and are a league-best 9-0 at home, equaling their top home start, first set in 1976-1977 and repeated in 1991-1992.
The Warriors (5-11) have lost five straight, including the first four on their current road trip. Golden State are 2-7 away from home.
SPURS 109, GRIZZLIES 98
In San Antonio, Texas, Tony Parker had 15 points and seven assists in his first game in three weeks, leading San Antonio over Memphis.
Manu Ginobili scored 14 points and Tim Duncan added 11. Ginobili was in his third game back for the Spurs, who have won four straight and have their three All-Stars healthy for the first time this season.
PISTONS 107, BUCKS 97
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Allen Iverson scored 17 points in his first game as a reserve this season, leading Detroit over Milwaukee.
Iverson was benched by Pistons coach Michael Curry, a punishment for missing a mandatory team practice on Thanksgiving. He apologized on Friday morning, then sat on the bench for almost 10 minutes as Rodney Stuckey started instead.
Richard Jefferson and Ramon Sessions each scored 21 points for the Bucks, who lost their third consecutive game and trailed by as many as 15 points. Milwaukee center Dan Gadzuric, starting in place of the injured Andrew Bogut, had 12 rebounds.
LAKERS 114, MAVERICKS 107
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 35 points as the Lakers used a 17-0 run in the second half to beat Dallas and improve the NBA’s best record to 13-1.
Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Lakers’ sixth straight victory. Bryant was 14-for-26 from the field after going five-for-17 with 12 points in Wednesday’s 120-93 win over New Jersey.
Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki had 19 points and 12 rebounds in a match-up of the leagues’ last two MVPs.
TRAIL BLAZERS 101, HORNETS 86
In Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy had 25 points and 10 assists as Portland used a 17-point, second-half run to beat New Orleans.
The Blazers improved to 7-0 this season at the Rose Garden, their best start at home since they went 9-0 in the 1998-1999 season.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Blazers (11-6), who are off to their best overall start since they opened the 2000-2001 season 12-6.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Hornets (9-6), who were led by Peja Stojakovic with 21 points.
Friday’s other NBA results:
• Jazz 120, Kings 94
• Bobcats 115, Pacers 108, OT
• Raptors 93, Hawks 88
• Celtics 102, 76ers 78
• Timberwolves 105, Thunder 103
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
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