Wade, James, Bosh carry Heat past Nets, 101-89

MIAMI (AP) –  Terrance Williams sent LeBron James into the stands — and into overdrive. Just like that, a close game turned into a Miami Heat runaway.
Dwyane Wade had 29 points and 10 rebounds (his 96th double double giving sole possession of 4th place in Miami Heat history), James scored 14 of his 23 points in the third quarter — seven in the last 32 seconds after getting flagrantly fouled by Williams — and the Heat rolled past New Jersey 101-89 on Saturday night for their second easy win over the Nets in a week.
A 25-10 run over the final 7 minutes of the third allowed the Heat to finally take control, sending the Nets to their fourth straight loss.
Wade and James had a few highlight-reel moments. James went behind-the-back, one of his nine assists, to set Wade up for a dunk late in the first half; Wade returned the favor on a lob for a spectacular alley-oop on a 2-on-1 runout in the third quarter, prompting the two to meet in a twisting, side-bumping airborne celebration.
Then Williams really got James flying.
James was coming down the right side of the court in transition when Williams simply drove a shoulder, hockey-style, into the side of the NBA's two-time reigning MVP. James toppled over the row of courtside photographers and into some of the most expensive seats in the house for an impromptu meet-and-greet with fans.
Williams was called for a flagrant-one foul, James made one of the two ensuing free throws, then a 3-pointer on the extended possession. The next time down, James struck from 3-point range again to close the third quarter and give Miami an 87-68 lead and essentially put away the game.
Chris Bosh scored 21 points for Miami, which started a six-game homestand. The Heat have held all seven opponents under 100 points, and did so again Saturday while shooting 49 percent.
Anthony Morrow scored 25 for the Nets, 4-for-7 from behind 3-point arc, and is 15 made 3's shy of being eligible to pass Steve Kerr for No. 1 on the league's all-time accuracy list from beyond the arc. ... ,the Nets got also 12 from Brook Lopez — who made three of his first four shots in the game's opening 2:11, and went 2 for 12 the rest of the way. And Heat fans didn't forgive Williams, either: He was booed every time he touched the ball the remainder of the evening.
For the seventh game of their season, the Heat were almost implored to take a Game 7 approach.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra — who wasn't thrilled with the "energy and effort," two of his favorite buzzwords, in the early going of Miami's loss at New Orleans on Friday night — wrote the word "desperate" six times on the massive whiteboard that covers one wall of the home locker room.
Miami didn't exactly respond with that mantra in mind.
New Jersey ran out to a 12-5 lead and led for much of the game's first 18 minutes, before a three-point play by Wade put the Heat ahead 40-39 with 5:47 left until halftime. Morrow's jumper early in the third quarter tied the game at 55, but Carlos Arroyo scored on the next Heat possession and Miami wouldn't trail again.
Eventually, Miami started to click a little bit, too.
With two Nets players in front of him in transition, Wade made a nifty pass to James for a swooping left-handed layup and the foul, the three-point play putting Miami up 62-55. And the other "Big 3" guy got into the act on the next possession, with James finding Bosh for a dunk that was immediately followed by a long scream under the basket.
It was the 900th career game for Heat swingman Jerry Stackhouse.

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Winless Rockets lose Brooks, fall to Spurs in OT

SAN ANTONIO (AP)–  Tony Parker had 21 points and 14 assists, including seven points in overtime, and the San Antonio Spurs kept the Houston Rockets winless with a 124-121 victory Saturday night. The Spurs are off to their first 4-1 start since the 2007-08 season.
The only NBA team without a victory this season, the Rockets (0-5) are off to their worst start since 1999. They might have more troubles ahead, too, after point guard Aaron Brooks was carried off the court at halftime with an injured left ankle.
Brooks came down on Manu Ginobili's foot after heaving an errant halfcourt shot at the buzzer. He did not return to the game, and results of X-rays taken in the locker room weren't immediately available.
Ginobili scored 28 points, and the Spurs withstood three 3-point tries by the Rockets in the frantic final 14.3 seconds of overtime. Richard Jefferson added 22 points and was 4 of 5 from behind the 3-point line.
Kevin Martin led the Rockets with 24 points. Luis Scola had 20, and shot the last of a trio of missed 3-pointers that
 Houston was able to attempt while the scrambling Spurs couldn't corral a rebound.
Tim Duncan shook off a miserable first half and finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
With the Rockets already saving Yao Ming for Sunday's game against Minnesota, the injury to Brooks left them without two starters for the second half. It almost didn't matter.
The Rockets had two chances to put the Spurs away in the final 16.8 seconds of regulation, but Courtney Lee missed two free throws that would've pushed the lead to four and rookie Ishmael Smith missed a potential game-winning runner with 2.8 seconds left.
Shane Battier added 14 points for the Rockets.
Before arriving in San Antonio, the winless Rockets could take some comfort in losing to four teams that were a combined 18-3 entering Saturday, including unbeaten New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Silver linings in this loss might be tough to find. Brooks had 18 points before writhing on the court while his teammates trotted to the locker room without the club's third-leading scorer.
Towering over Brooks on the court in a blazer was Yao, who didn't play on the first night of back-to-back games. Faced with choosing between Yao defending San Antonio's pick-and-roll or Minnesota's Darko Milicic, Rockets coach Rick Adelman preserved Yao for the Timberwolves.
"I don't know if it's right or not," Adelman said.
The Rockets are putting strict limits on Yao's minutes to try and keep the injury-plagued star healthy for a full season. The 7-foot-6 center is averaging 12.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

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Celtics' Pierce reaches 20,000 career points

BOSTON (Reuters) - All Star forward Paul Pierce became the third life-long Boston Celtics player to reach 20,000 NBA career points on Wednesday.
Pierce, who scored 28 points in his team's 105-102 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, has spent all of his 13 seasons in the NBA with the Celtics. Hall of Fame players Larry Bird and John Havlicek, who both also achieved the mark, spent their entire careers with Boston.
"It was really emotional," Pierce told television reporters after he passed the mark from the free throw line and received an ovation from his home crowd.
"I've been through so many hard years here. To come so far at this point in my career I'm just blessed and happy to still be a Celtic."
Pierce now has 20,005 points and joins three of his current team mates, center Shaquille O'Neal, power forward Kevin Garnett and guard Ray Allen in achieving the milestone.

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Paul helps Hornets sting Rockets for 4-0 start

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Chris Paul led the New Orleans Hornets to a 107-99 victory over the winless Houston Rockets on Wednesday as the team improved to 4-0 and matched their best start to an NBA season.
The three-time All-Star led all scorers with 25 points, including 13 in the final three minutes, and added eight assists.
Paul, who missed 37 games last season due to injury, put New Orleans ahead for good with 2:33 remaining, sending Houston (0-4) to their worst start since 1999.
The Hornets, meanwhile, remained one of the three unbeaten teams in the NBA alongside the Atlanta Hawks and two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.
"We talked about being as desperate as (the Rockets) are before the game," Hornets first-year coach Monty Williams told reporters.
"I asked the guys, 'How would you feel if you were 0-3?' That was my mindset all day. How would I feel if we were 0-3?"
Guards Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks each scored 18 points for Houston, who led by one point with three and a half minutes to play before New Orleans surged to the finish.
Brooks was ejected in the final minutes after receiving a double technical for arguing a call.
"It's been the same story for four games now," Houston coach Rick Adelman said. "We right in that game with a couple minutes to go, and we're just not finishing them."
China's Yao Ming, who missed last season after surgery on his left foot, had 15 points.
Marco Belinelli added 18 points for the Hornets who trailed by nine in the third before a 14-2 run helped them go ahead by two heading into the fourth.

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Lakers trounce Warriors to remain unbeaten

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles Lakers All-Stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol helped the two-time defending NBA champions breeze to a 3-0 start to the season with a one-sided 107-83 victory over the Golden State Warriors Sunday.
Spanish center Gasol paced the team with 26 points and 12 rebounds while Bryant recorded 20 points and seven rebounds in just 27 minutes of work.
"It feels good (to rest down the stretch). That means we're taking care of business," Bryant told reporters. "We're playing well, the pieces we have complement each other and we're just going to keep it rolling."
The Lakers got off to a fast start, outscoring the Warriors 34-14 in the first quarter, and cruised to their 10th straight win against Golden State, who last defeated Los Angeles in March 2008.
Lamar Odom scored 11 of his 16 points in the opening quarter and also chipped in 14 rebounds to continue his strong start after spending the summer helping the United States win a gold medal at the FIBA World Championships.
Monta Ellis scored a team-high 20 points for the Warriors (2-1) who had began the year with two wins but were without sharp-shooting guard Stephen Curry who missed the game with an ankle injury.
Curry averaged 17.5 points per game last season to finish runner-up for the Rookie of the Year Award, but he has been slowed by an ankle ailment since the preseason.
In his absence, Golden State shot just 40 percent from the field and was outrebounded 55-42.
In their quest for a third straight NBA title, the Lakers have leaned on Gasol early in the campaign while Bryant works his way back from offseason knee surgery and center Andrew Bynum sits out after his own knee procedure.
"Probably (this is the best start I've had in my career)," said Gasol, who has led the team in scoring in two of the three games. "I try not to look at numbers. I'm happy with us playing well and we'll try to continue."

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