LeBron's buzzer-beater lifts Cavaliers to win over Bulls

Forward LeBron James made a baseline jump shot as time expired to lift the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 86-84 win against the Chicago Bulls in Game Four of their Eastern Conference semi-final playoff series on Sunday.

James finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists as the Cavaliers evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece ahead of Game Five in Cleveland on Tuesday.

Teammates mobbed James after he drilled the shot from 21 feet along the left baseline.

It was the second consecutive buzzer-beater in the series. In Game Three, Rose banked in a three-pointer as time expired to win the game.

Cleveland trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half before embarking on a 23-5 run that made it 80-73 with 4:03 remaining. Guard J.R. Smith sparked the turnaround with a trio of three-pointers early in the fourth quarter.

Center Timofey Mozgov contributed 15 points and nine rebounds for Cleveland.

Guard Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 31 points and four assists. Guard Jimmy Butler scored 19 points, and center Joakim Noah provided eight points with 15 rebounds.

Already beset by injuries, Cleveland sustained another scare when James rolled his left ankle with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter. He stayed down on the court for a couple of minutes but returned after a Cavaliers timeout.

Bulls forward Pau Gasol missed the game because of a strained left hamstring.

(Editing by Andrew Both)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Bucks fend off Bulls, Nets claw back in East

MILWAUKEE -- Jerryd Bayless made a buzzer-beating layup to lift Milwaukee to a 92-90 victory over Chicago on Saturday that kept the Bucks alive in their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

With the win, the Bucks pulled within 3-1 of the Bulls in the best-of-seven set.

It came down to quick action by Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd and crisp execution by Nets reserves Jared Dudley and Bayless.

Chicago star Derrick Rose had a chance to seal the series for the Bulls, but turned the ball over with 1.3 seconds to play.

Kidd promptly called a timeout, and with 1.3 still on the clock, Dudley lofted a deft inbounds pass to Bayless, who was cutting to the basket and finished for the Bucks' first playoff game win in five years.

O.J. Mayo led the Bucks with 18 points off the bench. Dudley delivered 13 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Bayless scored 10 apiece.

Jimmy Butler ended with a playoff career-high 33 points and seven rebounds for Chicago.

Rose, who scored 34 points in the Bulls' double-overtime game-three win, was limited to 14 and made eight of Chicago's 28 turnovers.

Despite the defeat, the Bulls remain in a strong position as they try to close out the series at home on Monday.

No team has rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win an NBA playoff series.

The Brooklyn Nets did what they had to do to avoid falling in an 0-3 hole, using a big second half on their home floor to defeat the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks 91-83 and narrow the gap in their series to two-games-to-one.

Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young and Joe Johnson all recorded double-doubles for the Nets, who parlayed an 18-0 scoring run that bridged the third and fourth quarters into the win they needed after dropping the first two games of the series in Atlanta.

Lopez finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, Young bounced back from a two-point performance in game two with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Johnson delivered 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 19 points for the Nets.

With their backs to the wall, the hosts seized a 15-point first-quarter lead, only for the Hawks to erase the deficit and briefly take the lead in the third quarter.

But the Hawks' shooting woes proved too much to overcome as they connected on just 35.6 percent of their attempts from the floor.

Kyle Korver, the Hawks' leading scorer through the first two games, was held to two points on one-of-eight shooting.

Al Horford was connected on three of 12 attempts for a total of seven points.

"I thought our defense, especially down the stretch, was outstanding," Nets coach Lionel Hollins said.

On Monday, the Nets will try to level the series when they host game four at the Barclays Center.

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LeBron fires 30 as Heat take 3-0 series lead

Heat 98, Bobcats 85

LeBron James scored 30 points, and the Miami Heat rolled over the Charlotte Bobcats, 98-85, to take a 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

The two-time defending NBA champions took control with a 16-4 run to end the first half for a 58-46 halftime lead, then opened the second with a 21-7 spurt to push the lead to 79-53.

Charlotte made a late run to whittle the final margin down but never seriously threatened.

James, who scored a career-high 61 points in his last visit to Time Warner Cable Arena in March, was 10-for-18 from the field and nine of 10 from the line. He also had 10 rebounds and six assists.

The Heat also got 17 points from guard Dwyane Wade and 12 from forward Chris Andersen.

Al Jefferson led the Bobcats with 20, but scored only five in the final three quarters. Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 17, and Kemba Walker and Josh McRoberts scored 13 apiece.

The Bobcats led 27-23 after one quarter, thanks to Jefferson's 15 first-quarter points on seven of nine shooting, and they extended the lead to seven points early in the second before Miami took control.

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Spurs subdue Mavs, Portland edge Rockets

SAN ANTONIO - The San Antonio Spurs, led by Tim Duncan's 27 points, rallied for a 90-85 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday to open their NBA first-round playoff series.

 The Spurs, trying to get back to the NBA finals after falling to the Miami Heat in last year's championship series, trailed 81-71 with 7:45 left to play, but closed the game on a 19-4 scoring run to secure the win.

"We're very fortunate," said Duncan, who added seven rebounds for the Spurs.

"First game of the playoffs, just get that one out of the way, get the jitters out of the way was a good one for us."

The team hosts game two of the best-of-seven Western Conference set on Wednesday.

San Antonio's All-Star point guard Tony Parker added 21 points, six assists and four rebounds as the Spurs notched their 10th straight victory over their intra-state rivals.

The lopsided rivalry, and the Spurs' league-leading 62 regular-season victories, had many thinking the first-round match-up was a mere formality for San Antonio.

But after the Spurs dominated the first quarter, taking a 21-12 lead, the Mavericks roared back to seize control of the contest.

They couldn't maintain the momentum however, and were held to just one basket from the field in the final seven minutes.

"It's a 48-minute game, and the last seven -- you know, we've got to finish better," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said.

Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki was limited to 11 points and eight rebounds on 4-of-14 shooting.

"We had our chance," said Nowitzki, who missed his last four shots and didn't even get an attempt off in the final three minutes. "They just did a better job closing."

- Ebb and flow -

It was a different story for visiting Portland in Houston, where the Trail Blazers edged the Rockets 122-120 in overtime to open their series.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 46 points -- a Blazers franchise record for a playoff game -- and pulled down 18 rebounds before he fouled out in overtime.

Damian Lillard added 31 points with nine rebounds and five assists, draining two free throws with 17 seconds left in the extra period to give Portland a 121-120 lead.

James Harden then missed a three-pointer and Rockets center Dwight Howard was called for a loose-ball foul on Joel Freeland.

Freeland missed his first free-throw but made the second to make it 122-120 for Portland.

Harden had a last chance for the Rockets, but his awkward jump shot as time expired bounced off the back of the rim.

Harden and Howard scored 27 points apiece for the Rockets, but Harden was also off-target with a turnaround jump shot as time expired in regulation, which finished with score knotted at 106-106.

Houston scored the first six points of overtime, but Portland responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Aldridge and Nicolas Batum. Wesley Matthews then made two free-throws to give the Trail Blazers their first lead since the second quarter.

"I thought the game had a lot of ebb and flow to it," said Portland coach Terry Stotts.

"We knew we had to win at least one here, and so we've done that. We're not by any means satisfied, we've got a lot of work cut out for us. But we knew we had to win at least one here. We put ourselves in a position to win -- we were able to eke it out," Stotts said.

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Bulls shock Heat in East series opener

MIAMI - Nate Robinson scored the go-ahead jumpshot with 1:18 left as the Chicago Bulls scored the final 10 points en route to a 93-86 win over reigning champions Miami in the opener of their NBA playoff series.

Robinson, who was bloodied in the first half after a collision with LeBron James, carried the visiting Bulls on his back down the stretch by scoring the final seven points Monday to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"We've been hit all year with a lot of different things, but I like the mental toughness of our team," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "This is just one game."

Robinson finished with 27 points and nine assists for the injury-riddled Bulls, who had snapped the Heat's 27-game winning streak during the regular season and handed them their first loss in their last 13 games on Monday.

Robinson played with 10 stitches in his mouth after hitting his face on floor. He left the game to get medical attention but returned later.

"It was just a hustle play that went wrong," Robinson said. "You have to play through it."

James had 22 of his 24 points in the second half for Miami, which lost its third game in its last 44 going back to February 3.

Miami will host game two Wednesday where the Heat will try to get a split of their two games at home to begin the second-round series.

The Heat, who had been idle for the past week, looked rusty down the stretch.

The Bulls bottled up James late in the fourth as they appear to have developed a formula this season for beating the mighty Heat. The Bulls finished the contest on a 10-0 run.

"Our offence was not as fluid and efficient as it normally is, and you have to give credit to their defence for that. We need to show more poise, patience and aggressiveness," Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Chicago ended Miami's 27-game winning streak, which was the second-longest in league history. After that regular-season loss, James complained about the Bulls physical play, especially the defence of Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson.

James didn't have to contend with injured Hinrich Monday, but he did have his hands full with the rest of the Bulls' balanced attack.

On top of missing Hinrich and injured former MVP Derrick Rose, Luol Deng also didn't play against Miami with complications from a spinal tap procedure.

Deng, 28, underwent the spinal tap last week to rule out meningitis.

The complications from the procedure led to further problems. Deng reportedly had to return to a Chicago emergency room Sunday morning after being released from the hospital Saturday.

Injuries aside, the Bulls showed their depth as five players finished in double figures, including forward Gibson who came off the bench to score 12 points.

Jimmy Butler had 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Joakim Noah added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who held a commanding 46-32 advantage on the glass and a 17-8 edge in second-chance points.

The trio of James, Wade and Chris Bosh combined for just 12 points in the opening half, their lowest first-half total of the season.

Since the 2005-06 season, the teams have met in the playoffs four times, including a Chicago series sweep in 2007. The Heat won in 2006 and 2011.

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