Win assures Cavs of third Central title

Source: (The Philippine Star) from Associated Press

CLEVELAND – 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, on Wednesday 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.

At Charlotte, Stephen Jackson scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half as the Bobcats rallied to beat Oklahoma City,100-92, 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.

At Orlando, Vince Carter had 24 points and eight assists as the Orlando Magic smothered San Antonio star Tim Duncan, 110-84.

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.

At Boston, Paul Pierce scored 29 points, Kevin Garnett had 22 and Boston cruised to a 109-97 victory over New York, 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.

At Toronto, Chris Bosh scored with 2.1 seconds left as Toronto beat Atlanta to end a five-game losing streak, 106-105.

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.

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