LeBron James put his fourth--quarter uncertainties behind him with critical late plays that helped the Miami Heat survive a late scare from Toronto in a nervous 95-89 home win over the Raptors on Sunday.
James, who has endured struggles in the deciding moments of games dating back to last season’s NBA Finals, scored a game-high 30 points, including four straight in the final two minutes when his team needed him most.
Toronto launched a 12-0 run in the fourth to trim a 15-point deficit to just 85-82 with three-and-a-half minutes remaining, but James responded with two free throws and a dunk to put the Heat in a comfortable position.
Dwyane Wade added 25 points in the win, Miami’s seventh in eight games.
“We came into this game knowing we wouldn’t be able to take any shortcuts and it would be a work game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters.
“We would have to work the game for 48 minutes. We knew we would face a lot of zone [defence],” Spoelstra said.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 25 points, while Jerryd Bayless and Linas Kleiza each added 17 for the visitors.
Toronto appeared buried for good when they fell behind by 16 in the third, but they made it interesting before slipping to their third loss in four games.
Bayless and Kleiza each hit three-pointers during the team’s fourth-quarter run and the Raptors tried to stymie the Heat with a zone defense.
Chris Bosh, who spent his first seven NBA seasons with the Raptors, had a quiet night with 12 points on three-of-13 shooting.
CELTICS 98, GRIZZLIES 80
In Boston, Kevin Garnett matched his season-high with 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics over the Memphis Grizzlies for to their fourth straight win.
Paul Pierce scored 21 points, moving nine behind Hall of Famer Larry Bird for second place on the club’s all-time list, and Ray Allen added 12. Rajon Rondo had 14 assists and reserve Chris Wilcox chipped in with 12 points.
Rudy Gay paced the Grizzlies with 21 points and seven rebounds and O.J. Mayo scored 15 points for Memphis, who have lost six of eight.
Boston took charge with a 21-7 run early in the fourth quarter that turned a six-point lead to 90-70 on Garnett’s jumper.
Relying on a combination of reserves and two of their usual stars — Garnett and Pierce — the Celtics controlled the glass and outran the Grizzlies for transition baskets.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
Australia yesterday won two of four races on the first day of the SailGP Sydney event on Sydney Harbour to finish the day atop the points table ahead of Britain and a French team who made an outstanding return after missing the first two events of the season. Australia also had a third and a second placing, finishing the day with 37 points, ahead of Britain with 32 points and France with 27. Britain won the second race of the day and Switzerland, who won the first race, were in fourth place overall. Australia’s prowess in the start box was again the