(The Sports Xchange) – – – LeBron James appeared to sprain his left ankle and exited the game in the third quarter only to return triumphantly in the fourth and finish with 30 points in Miami’s 117-94 points win over the Western Conference’s Utah Jazz Monday night at American Airlines Arena.
Dwyane Wade had 27 points and the Heat (18-6) is now 4-1 in its past five games and is in second place in the Eastern Conference.
The Jazz (6-21) has lost six of its past eight games and is in last place in the Western Conference.
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Pistons 101, Pacers 96
Josh Smith scored 30 points and point guard Brandon Jennings had 18 points with eight assists as the Detroit Pistons held on to beat the East-leading Indiana Pacers.
Indiana (20-4) received a career-high 23 points from guard Lance Stephenson, who added seven rebounds and six assists, but the Pacers lost for the first time in 12 home games this season.
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Celtics 101, Timberwolves 97
Jared Sullinger hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Boston ahead to stay with 2:22 left and the surprising Celtics knocked off Minnesota.
Sullinger finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. The win, Boston’s second straight and eighth in the past 12 games, raised the Celtics, a team that was expected to be fighting for a lottery spot, to 12-14 on the season.
Kevin Love had 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves (12-13) who played without guard Kevin Martin (knee) and his average of 20.6 points per game.
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Hawks 114, Lakers 100
The Atlanta Hawks hit 11 3-pointers and pulled away from the Lakers in the second half for a big victory.
The Hawks (13-12) outscored the Lakers 35-19 in the third quarter en route to posting a season-high point total.
In his fifth game since returning from an Achilles injury, Kobe Bryant struggled in recording six assists, five turnovers and eight points on 4-of-14 shooting. The Lakers (11-13) fell to 1-4 with Bryant on the court.
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Magic 83, Bulls 82
Arron Afflalo scored 23 points, and the Orlando Magic survived a late-game dry spell to pull out a victory over the Chicago Bulls.
After trailing by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter, the Bulls had a chance to tie the score, but forward Luol Deng missed a cutting layup attempt with 1.7 seconds remaining.
Deng led the Bulls with 26 points, but they fell to 3-10 since losing Derrick Rose to a knee injury.
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Wizards 102, Knicks 101
Martell Webster scored 30 points off the bench, and guard Bradley Beal had 21, including the game-winning layup with 6.9 seconds remaining, as the Washington Wizards snapped a four-game losing.
With the Knicks leading by a point in the final seconds, Beal drove past guar Beno Udrih on an isolation play along the left wing.
Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks (7-17) with 32 points, but he missed a running 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
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Nets 130, 76ers 94
Joe Johnson scored a season-high 37 points and made an NBA season-high 10 3-pointers to guide the Brooklyn Nets to a blowout victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Johnson set a career high for 3-pointers in a game as Brooklyn (9-15) ran away from Philadelphia (7-19) in the second half where they outscored them 72-46.
