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Yao Ming shows up at Rockets-Celtics game


Yao Ming of Houston Rockets appears to cheer for Rockets during their NBA game against Boston Celtics in Houston, south United States of America, March 19, 2010. (Xinhua Photo)

James posts triple-double

Lebron James was shaky early and spectacular late.
James had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 113-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
\”Every point, rebound and assist was needed,\” Cavs coach Mike Brown said.
The final score was relatively lopsided, but the game wasn\’t. There were 10 lead changes and 21 ties, the last one with 4:44 left.
\”The guy\’s not human,\” said Detroit\’s Will Bynum. \”When he gets rolling, you just want to try to stop his teammates and hope that\’s enough.\”
James said triple-doubles are \”absolutely\” his favorite accomplishment other than winning.
\”That means you\’re doing everything your team needs to win basketball games,\” James said. \”That is one of the best things you can have as an individual.\”
In other games, it was: Spurs 88, Heat 76; Pacers 99, Bobcats 94; Hawks 108, Nets 84; Grizzlies 104, Bulls 97; Nuggets 97, Wizards 87; Lakers 106, Kings 99; and Suns 152, Timberwolves 114.
In Miami, Manu Ginobili scored 22 points, George Hill had 16 and surging San Antonio wasted most of a 25-point, third-quarter lead before beating Miami.
Richard Jefferson added 15 points and Tim Duncan had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who\’ve won eight of their last nine.
In Sacramento, Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and Pau Gasol added 28 points and 11 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers completed a sweep of their Northern California swing with a 106-99 victory over the Kings.
In Phoenix, Jason Richardson scored 27 points and Amare Stoudemire scored 25, then sat with the rest of the Phoenix starters while the Suns\’ reserves finished off a 152-114 rout of Minnesota in the highest-scoring game by an NBA team this season.
Lou Amundson matched his career high with 20 points as Phoenix sent the Timberwolves to their 10th straight loss and 16th in the last 17 games.
The Suns, with eight players in double figures, shot 56 percent and won their ninth in 12 games.
In Denver, J.R. Smith scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, helping Denver pull away as the Nuggets beat Washington.
Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 29 points and 12 rebounds. Nene added 16 points for Denver, which sent Washington to its ninth consecutive loss.
The game marked the return of Nuggets coach George Karl, who was back on the bench after missing four games over the past week for cancer treatments.

Cavs clinch division outright

Lebron James had 32 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched consecutive outright Central Division championships and the third in team history, beating Indiana 99-94 last night.
Cleveland (54-15) is the first team this season to clinch its division.
After Cleveland\’s 18-point lead was cut to one, James had six points, two blocks, two steals and an assist in the final 4 minutes, including a dunk behind his head after catching an alley-oop pass from Anderson Varejao. Troy Murphy had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and Roy Hibbert had 20 points for Indiana.
Bobcats 100, Thunder 92
At Charlotte, Stephen Jackson scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half as the Bobcats rallied to beat Oklahoma City to give Michael Jordan a victory in his first game as Bobcats majority owner.
Hours after the NBA\’s Board of Governors approved Jordan\’s $275 million purchase, he watched his team stage a dramatic recovery from a horrible start.
Stephen Graham matched a career high with 19 points filling in for the injured Gerald Wallace, and the Bobcats won for the seventh time in eight games.
Kevin Durant had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder.
Magic 110, Spurs 84
At Orlando, Vince Carter had 24 points and eight assists as the Orlando Magic smothered San Antonio star Tim Duncan.
Duncan had two points and was 1 for 10 from the field in the worst shooting percentage game of his career.
Rashard Lewis finished with 20 points to help the Magic win for the ninth time in 10 games. Richard Jefferson had 20 points for San Antonio.
Celtics 109, Knicks 97
At Boston, Paul Pierce scored 29 points, Kevin Garnett had 22 and Boston cruised to its third straight lopsided victory at home.
The Celtics led 32-19 after the first quarter, 68-49 at halftime and 92-69 after the third. Pierce\’s basket midway through the third quarter gave Boston its biggest lead, 81-54. David Lee led New York with 29 points.
Raptors 106, Hawks 105
At Toronto, Chris Bosh scored with 2.1 seconds left as Toronto beat Atlanta to end a five-game losing streak.
Bosh was 6 of 19 from the field and finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He made a second-quarter layup to become the first player in franchise history to reach the 10,000-point plateau. Andrea Bargnani had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, 2-10 in their last 12 games. Jamal Crawford had a season-high 33 points for the Hawks, who had won four straight and 10 of their last 13.
76ers 108, Nets 97
At Philadelphia, Andre Iguodala scored 20 points, Jrue Holiday added 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to help Philadelphia snap a five-game losing streak.
Chris Douglas-Roberts led New Jersey with 23 points. At 7-61, the Nets are in danger of breaking the 1972-73 76ers\’ record for fewest victories (9-73).

Houston Rockets vs Memphis Grizzlies


Trevor Ariza(front) of Houston Rockets breaks through during a NBA game against Memphis Grizzlies in Houston, south United States of America, March 17, 2010. (Xinhua Photo)

Jordan approved as owner of Charlotte Bobcats

Michael Jordan was unanimously approved as controlling owner of the Charlotte Bobcats team by the NBA Board of Governors on Wednesday.
\”We are pleased that Michael Jordan\’s purchase of majority ownership of the Bobcats was approved by the NBA\’s Board of Governors and closed in such a smooth and expeditious fashion,\” NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement.
\”We look forward to the continued growth of the Bobcats, on and off the court, under his leadership.\”
Hall of Famer Jordan was already an investor and head of basketball operations for the team, which was previously owned by Bob Johnson, who became the first African-American to own an NBA club when he bought the team in 2003.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rockets rally to stay in playoff hunt

Don\’t tell the Houston Rockets they are out of the playoff picture just yet.
Aaron Brooks hit a jumper with 2.9 seconds left and scored 31 points to help the Rockets rally for a 125-123 victory over Denver on Monday night in Houston, snapping the Nuggets\’ six-game winning streak.
Carmelo Anthony scored 45 points for the Nuggets, but missed a 3-point try at the buzzer. Luis Scola grabbed the final rebound and finished with 23 points and 11 boards.
Houston, now five games behind Portland in the race for the last Western Conference playoff spot, has won three in a row for the first time since mid-December.
\”We don\’t have much room for error,\” said Scola, who was coming off a career-high, 44-point game. \”It\’s only like a month away, the end of the season, so we need to win games.\”
Scola converted a key three-point play with 41 seconds remaining to put Houston ahead 122-121.
Brooks split two free throws before Anthony drove past Shane Battier for a layup to tie it at 123. Brooks then dribbled around Anthony Carterand hit the go-ahead shot from the right of the free throw line.
\”I wanted to get some space first,\” Brooks said. \”I knew it wasn\’t going to be all the way to the rim. I thought it would probably be a floater before I got to the rim. I tried to get open and get a shot off.\”
Kevin Martin scored 29 points for Houston. Chauncey Billups added 17 points for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets led 104-93 with 10 minutes left in the game after trailing by as much as 16 in the first half. Battier\’s corner 3 with 8:05 left capped a 7-0 spurt to draw the Rockets within four.
Anthony was concerned with how the Nuggets played down the stretch.
\”I don\’t think we\’ll be able to get away with that, come playoff time,\” he said. \”That\’s something that\’s fixable and we need to do it quick.\”
In other games, it was: Celtics 119, Pistons 93; Knicks 94, 76ers 84; Jazz 112, Wizards 89; Lakers 124, Warriors 121; and Hornets 108, Clippers 100.
In Boston, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Michael Finley scored 15 points apiece, and Kevin Garnett had 14 points and eight rebounds to help the Boston Celtics coast to a 119-93 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Boston rested its starters in the fourth quarter while beating a non-contender for the second straight home game.
In Oakland, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points and Pau Gasol added 26 as the Los Angeles Lakers won.

Bogut, Roy named NBA Players of the Week

The Milwaukee Bucks\’ Andrew Bogut and the Portland Trail Blazers\’ Brandon Roy were named on Monday the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played March 8-14.
Bogut led Milwaukee to a 3-0 week, which included wins over the Celtics and Jazz. Bogut led the league in blocks of 3.67 and was second in rebounding of 13.7, while scoring 19.3 points per game.
With a point-rebound double-double in each game, Bogut now has 32 double-doubles on the season, placing him eighth in the NBA.
The Trail Blazers posted a 4-0 week behind Roy, who scored 27.0 points on 56.7 percentage of shooting. Roy\’s 41-point effort on March 11, in a win at Golden State marked his third 40-plus point effort of the season.
With his two three-point makes against the Kings on March 12, Roy moved into ninth place on the Trail Blazers\’ all-time three- point field goals list.

Healthy James leads Cavs in charge past Celtics

LeBron James scored 24 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to propel the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 104-93 victory over their Eastern Conference rival Boston Celtics on Sunday.

Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James (23) reaches out to put a shot up past Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter of their NBA basketball game in Cleveland, March 14, 2010. [Agencies] 

In his second game back from an ankle injury, James shook off a scoreless second quarter and also added eight rebounds and seven assists.
The Cavaliers pulled away from the Celtics in the third quarter with the score tied at 68-68, Cleveland ended the period with a 12-4 run and led by as many as 17 in the fourth.
Ray Allen scored 20 points while Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett both added 18 points for the Celtics (41-24).

Knicks deny Mavericks 14th straight win

The struggling New York Knicks denied Dallas a season\’s best 14th consecutive victory with a lopsided 128-94 win over the Mavs yesterday.
The victory was the Knicks first over the Mavericks in nine tries dating back to Jan. 11, 2006. It was their first win in Dallas in more than 10 years.
\”I thought we competed, that\’s what we talked about today. And it\’s a lot more fun to play this way,\” Knicks coach Mike D\’Antoni told reporters.
\”You can just go down the whole list, they all brought something and turned it into a great outing.\”
The Knicks (23-43) also gained a measure of revenge after suffering their worst defeat on record, 128-78, against the Mavs on Jan. 24 at Madison Square Garden.
\”It feels good. Revenge is sweet sometimes,\” Knicks forward Al Harrington told reporters. \”That\’s a really good team over there but we just caught them at the right time.\”
New York\’s Bill Walker scored a season-high 23 points off the bench, including 16 in the fourth quarter, while Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 20 points.
Mavericks (45-22) forward Shawn Marion said it was just one of those games for Dallas.
\”It seemed like everything we did out there wouldn\’t go right tonight,\” added Marion.
\”They hit everything, they had everything going, and they were attacking the basket earlier and once we cut them off from that they started hitting shots from outside.
\”We\’ve got to just chunk this one up and throw it out the window.\”
New York built a 10-point lead in the first half before streaking ahead with a 21-6 run in the third quarter. They led 91-66 heading into the fourth.
\”It was a poor performance all around. We really didn\’t come close to winning a quarter,\” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. \”When you get thoroughly thrashed like that, it\’s something that\’s difficult. We\’ve got work to do.\”

Bayi edges off Dongguan to advance into CBA playoffs

Bayi Fubang took the full advantage of the loss of the Shandong Gold, advancing into the playoffs after beating the Dongguan Marco Polo 110-102 on Sunday in the final round of the regular season of the 2009-2010 Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA).

Wang Zhizhi (R) of Bayi Fubang drives to the basket during the game on March 14, 2010. [Photo/Souhu.com] 

Shandong lost to the Fujian SBS 118-110, their six losses in the last seven matches, and finished ninth by 14-18, one game behind the eighth Bayi (15-17).

Bayi, which needed a win and a loss from Shandong, avoided to be excluded from the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
They will face the defending champions Guangdong Hongyuan (30-2), which beat the Shanghai Sharks 114-104.
Wang Zhizhi had 31 points and 14 rebounds, Xu Zhonghao added 31 points and six rebounds while Delehei chipping in 26 points for Bayi.
The military team kept on attacking throughout the game as they shot 40-out-of-68 in the field, compared to Dongguan\’s 29-out-of-48.
They led in most of the game and put the game beyond doubt when they led 15 points in the fourth quarter when Dongguan finally had two overseas players on the court.
Meanwhile, Shandong\’s last-quarter surge-up was not good enough to make up a 17-point deficit of the third quarter though Andre Emmett and Stromile Swift were combined of 60 points.
A 8-0 run down the stretch closed it on 103-100 in the final minute, but Fujian scored the next five points to call the game.
Top teams cruised in the final round as the second-placed Xinjiang Guanghui crushed Tianjin Ronggang 121-99, while the Zhejiang Guangsha defeated the Jiangsu Dragons 115-95.
Xinjiang will face Fujian, Guangsha will take on Jiangsu, while the Sharks will meet the Liaoning Panpan, which beat the Beijing Ducks 103-87, in the first round of the playoffs on March 24.
The first-round and semi-final matches will be best-of-five series, while the final will be decided in seven games.
The league will take a ten-day break, during which the All-Star weekend will be held at the Wukesong Arena in Beijing on March 20-21.
In Sunday\’s other matches, Qingdao Double Stars beat Shanxi Zhongyu 120-110 while Zhejiang Chouzhou beat Jilin Northeast Tigers 115-110.