NBA PLAYOFFS

Bobcats put up fight, but Heat keep cool at end

MIAMI - LeBron James scored 32 points and added eight assists, Chris Bosh scored 20 points and the Miami Heat held on to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 101-97 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference first-round series.

Dwyane Wade scored 15 points, and had a steal in the final seconds to help seal the victory for Miami. Mario Chalmers added 11 for the Heat.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 22 points for Charlotte, which got 18 points and 13 rebounds from Al Jefferson, who played through a left plantar fascia strain and shot 9 for 23 from the floor. Kemba Walker added 16 and Gerald Henderson scored 15 for the Bobcats.

Game 3 is Saturday night in Charlotte.

The Bobcats were down 100-97 with 10 seconds left, but never got a tying shot off. Wade stole the ball from Chris Douglas-Roberts with three seconds left, made a free throw and that was enough for the Heat - who wasted a big first-half lead, then saw another one in the fourth quarter get whittled down to nearly nothing.

Not only have the Bobcats lost 18 consecutive games to Miami, but the Heat have never dropped any of the previous 11 postseason series in which they’ve grabbed a 2-0 series lead.

James, between his time in Cleveland and Miami, is 11-0 in such situations. Wade has been part of nine previous 2-0 leads with the Heat, and six of those series ended in no more than five games.

Miami led 57-47 at the half as the Bobcats missed 17 of their first 22 shots.

MAVERICKS 113, SPURS 92

SAN ANTONIO - Monta Ellis scored 21 points and Dallas rolled to a victory over San Antonio, snapping a 10-game skid against the Spurs and evening its first-round series at 1-1.

Shawn Marion scored 20 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 16, Devin Harris had 18 and Jose Calderon 12 for Dallas, which never trailed after the opening minutes of the second quarter.

Manu Ginobili had 27 points, Tony Parker added 12 and Tim Duncan 11 for the Spurs.

Dallas didn’t relent in Game 2 after blowing a 10-point lead in the final eight minutes of the series opener. San Antonio’s ineptness had as much to do with tying the series, however. The Spurs averaged 14.4 turnovers during the regular season, but had 15 with three minutes left in the first half.

San Antonio finished with 22 turnovers, which resulted in 33 points for the Mavericks.

TRAIL BLAZERS 112, ROCKETS 105

HOUSTON - LaMarcus Aldridge scored 43 points and Damian Lillard made six free throws down the stretch to give Portland a victory over Houston and a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

James Harden knocked down a three-pointer with about 30 seconds left to get the Rockets to within 106-103.

Lillard made two free throws before Harden fouled out about 10 seconds later. Mo Williams and Lillard both made two free throws after that to secure the victory.

Aldridge became the first player with consecutive 40-point games in the playoffs since LeBron James did it in May 2009 after scoring a career-high and franchise playoff-record 46 in an overtime victory in Game 1.

Dwight Howard scored 25 points in the first half but managed just seven in the second half.

NBA playoff glance All times Central

TUESDAY’S GAMES

Indiana 101, Atlanta 85

Series tied 1-1

Toronto 100, Brooklyn 95

Series tied 1-1

Washington 101, Chicago 99, OT

Washington leads series 2-0

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Miami 101, Charlotte 97

Miami leads series 2-0

Dallas 113, San Antonio 92

Series tied 1-1

Portland 112, Houston 105

Portland leads series 2-0

TODAY’S GAMES

Indiana at Atlanta, 6 p.m.

Series tied 1-1

Oklahoma City at Memphis, 7 p.m.

Series tied 1-1

LA Clippers at Golden State, 9:30 p.m.

Series tied 1-1

Sports, Pages 19 on 04/24/2014

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