NBA roundup
Kobe scores 36 for Lakers, but LeBron’s Cavs win CLEVELAND (AP) – Sasha Pavlovic scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, picking up the slack for LeBron James, and the Cleveland Cavaliers shut down Kobe Bryant in the final minutes for a 99-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
Pavlovic, suddenly a major cog in Cleveland’s offense, finished with 21 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas 17 and Anderson Varejao 12 – 11 in the fourth – as the Cavaliers improved to 20-7 at home with their second straight solid effort.
James had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, but he deferred to Pavlovic and others down the stretch, and Cleveland’s supporting cast came through. James was outscored 25-7 by Bryant in the second half, but the All-Star forward got to crown the Cavs’ win with a soaring dunk in the final seconds.
Bryant scored 36 points to lead the Lakers, who went 3-5 on an eight-game swing through the bitterly cold East. Bryant scored Los Angeles’ first 14 points in the final period, but with Larry Hughes guarding him, he didn’t score again in the final 3:39 after making two free throws to tie it 81-all.
T’wolves 109, Celtics 107
MINNEAPOLIS – Ricky Davis’ jumper from the corner with 0.2 seconds remaining dealt the Celtics’ their franchise-record 18th straight loss.
Davis finished with 28 points, Kevin Garnett had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and another former Celtic, Mark Blount, added 20 points for the Timberwolves.
Paul Pierce scored 29 points for the Celtics, but even his steadying presence wasn’t enough to lift Boston out of one of the lowpoints in the tradition-rich franchise’s proud history.
Heat 100, Spurs 85
MIAMI – Dwyane Wade scored 18 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and the Miami Heat held San Antonio without a field goal for more than seven minutes down the stretch on the way to beating the Spurs.
Wade hit seven of 10 shots in the final period.
Pacers 94, Clippers 80
INDIANAPOLIS – Jermaine O’Neal scored 21 points and set an Indiana franchise record for career blocked shots in the Pacers’ victory over the Clippers.
Blazers 94, Wizards 73
WASHINGTON – Jarrett Jack and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points apiece and the Trail Blazers held Gilbert Arenas to nine points during a victory over the Wizards.
Arenas, who vowed to score 50 points in retaliation for Portland coach Nate McMillan’s involvement with Arenas being left off the U.S. national team last summer, shot 3-for-15 from the field, including 0-for-8 on 3-pointers. The Trail Blazers are the only team that Arenas has not scored 30 points against during his six-year NBA career.
Reserve guard Juan Dixon had 14 points on 7-for-11 shooting with four steals and three assists in 27 minutes for Portland, which has won two straight.
Mavericks 106, 76ers 89
PHILADELPHIA – Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and the Mavericks built on their NBA-best road record with a win over the 76ers.
The Mavs appeared on their way to an easy win until the Sixers bench made it interesting.
Jason Terry hit consecutive jumpers in the fourth quarter to help the Mavs stave off a surprising Sixers rally that saw them slice a 30-point deficit down to only eight. Nowitzki also added back-to-back baskets that pushed the lead back to 14 and helped Dallas to its 18th road win of the season.
Terry scored 16 points and had 11 assists, and Devean George and Josh Howard each had 15 points.