Heat, Blazers 2-0; Mavs tie Spurs
MIAMI – LeBron James drove to the rim as time was winding down, got clobbered by Josh McRoberts and sat on the hardwood gathering himself for a few seconds afterward.
It was fitting. Miami took Charlotte’s best shot, and survived.
James scored 32 points and added eight assists, Chris Bosh scored 20 points and the Heat wasted two big leads before hanging on to beat the Bobcats, 101-97, on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
In Houston, L a M a rc u s Aldridge scored 43 points and Damian Lillard made six free throws down the stretch to give the Portland Trail Blazers a 112105 win over the Houston ockets and a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.
In San Antonio, eighth-seeded Dallas rolled to a 113-92 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night, snapping a 10-game skid against the Spurs and evening their first-round series at a game apiece.
“We can play better basketball,” James said. “We haven’t played our best basketball.”
Dwyane Wade scored 15 points, and had a steal in the final seconds to seal the win for Miami. He stripped the ball from Chris Douglas- oberts with the Heat protecting a three-point lead with about 3 seconds left, and the Bobcats never got another shot off.
“A very instinctual, high-risk play,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “The ball’s there and you know you have an opportunity to get it when most people can’t get that, and that saved the game.”
Game 3 is Saturday in Charlotte. The Heat were the BA’s only higher-seed to open the playoffs with two home wins.
Dallas didn’t relent in Game 2 after watching a 10-point lead evaporate in the final eight minutes of the series opener Sunday.
“Game 1 actually helped a lot more than today,” Mavericks forward Dirk owitzki said. “We were down after Game 1, but in this building to be up 10 with six or seven minutes left, I think that gave us a lot of confidence coming into this one. Just keep executing the game plan.”
It was Dallas’ first playoff victory since June 12, 2011, when it rebounded from an 0-2 deficit to defeat the Miami Heat for the BA title.
If not for the final eight minutes of the series opener, the Mavericks would have a 2- 0 lead entering Game 3 on Saturday.
“It feels great, but it’s nothing to celebrate,” Dallas point guard Jose Calderon said. “I think we have to keep doing what we’re doing. I think we played two really good games.”
In Game 2, the Mavericks used an aggressive offense and a brutal defensive effort that discombobulated the normally even-keeled Spurs, who finished the regular season with the league’s best record.
Monta Ellis scored 21 points, Shawn Marion added 20 points, owitzki had 16, Devin Harris had 18 and Calderon 12 for Dallas, which never trailed after the opening minutes of the second quarter.
(AP)