TORONTO — LeBron James scored 30 points, Chris Bosh had 28 against his former team, and the Miami Heat beat Toronto 100-85 Sunday for their 10th straight victory over the Raptors.
TORONTO — LeBron James scored 30 points, Chris Bosh had 28 against his former team, and the Miami Heat beat Toronto 100-85 Sunday for their 10th straight victory over the Raptors.
Dwyane Wade added 23 points as the Heat bounced back after Friday’s 102-89 loss at Indiana, ensuring that coach Erik Spolestra will coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars. The Heat clinched the best record in the East through Feb. 3 with the win. Had Miami lost, New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson would have been in charge of the East’s bench.
Rudy Gay led the Raptors with 29 points, and DeMar DeRozan had 27. Kyle Lowry scored 10 points, and Aaron Gray had 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost four of five.
James finished with team highs of eight rebounds and seven assists, and Bosh scored 13 in the fourth quarter for Miami, which improved to 12-11 on the road.
CELTICS 106, CLIPPERS 104
BOSTON — Paul Pierce scored 22 points and Boston held off a late comeback to beat Los Angeles and improve to 4-0 since losing Rajon Rondo for the season to a torn knee ligament.
The Clippers had pulled to 103-101 on a 3-pointer by Eric Bledsoe with 56 seconds remaining. But Avery Bradley drew an offensive foul on Los Angeles’ Jamal Crawford with 26 seconds to go, and Pierce held on to the ball before making a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to clinch the win.
Jeff Green and Leandro Barbosa scored 14 points each for the Celtics.
The Clippers were led by Bledsoe, replacing Paul, and Crawford, who made a 3-pointer at the buzzer, with 23 points each.
LAKERS 98, PISTONS 97
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Pau Gasol had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and he contested Detroit’s last-second alley-oop attempt to help Los Angeles hold on for the win.
The Lakers blew an 18-point third-quarter lead but went back ahead for good on Kobe Bryant’s driving three-point play with 1:09 remaining. That gave the Lakers a 98-95 lead, and they held on despite missing four free throws in the final 16.8 seconds.
Bryant scored 18 points for the Lakers, who have won five of six, including their last two games without Dwight Howard. The All-Star center has been out with a right shoulder problem.
Greg Monroe had 20 points for Detroit, and Will Bynum had 18 points and 10 assists.