Day: March 29, 2011

Cavaliers beat Heat 102-90

The AP reports:

Despite blowing a 23-point lead, the Cavs battled back and beat the Miami Heat 102-90 on Tuesday night, getting a dose of revenge against [LeBron] James, who was making his second homecoming visit to Cleveland since leaving the city as a free agent last summer.

J.J. Hickson scored 21 and Anthony Parker scored 20 for the Cavs, who were embarrassed by James and the Heat 118-90 on Dec. 2—a night when Cleveland fans unleashed their hatred on the superstar.

InsideHoops.com notes: LeBron had a triple-double in the loss, putting up 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. Dwyane Wade shot just 8-of-20 for 24 points, four rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. Mike Bibby shot 7-of-11, all three-pointers, for 23 points but just one assist. And no other Heat players stepped up. Chris Bosh was quiet, shooting 5-of-14 for 10 points and little else. The entire Heat bench had six points.

Rockets beat Nets by 25

Kyle Lowry had 16 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds and the Houston Rockets moved within two games of the final playoff berth in the Western Conference with a 112-87 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night.

Kevin Martin added 20 points as the Rockets (39-35) posted their sixth win in seven games and inched closer to idle eighth-place Memphis (41-33) with eight games left in the regular season.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Rockets won the rebounding battle 56-42 and the assists category 30-20… For the Nets, Brook Lopez shot 10-of-16 for 22 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Kris Humprhies shot just 3-of-10 for six points but did grab 13 boards. Jordan Farmar scored 12. Deron Williams did not play.

Lakers assign Derrick Caracter to D-League

The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned forward Derrick Caracter to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Caracter, selected by the Lakers in the second round (58th overall) of the 2010 NBA Draft, has appeared in 40 games this season, averaging 2.0 points and 1.1 rebounds in 5.3 minutes.

The 6’9” rookie out of UTEP will be available to play for the Jam tomorrow night in their game against the Utah Flash in Utah.

This marks the second D-League assignment for the Lakers this season, having also assigned rookie forward Devin Ebanks to the Jam for six games from December 27- January 9.

Morning of Heat vs Cavaliers, LeBron James delayed by Cavs arena garage rules

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports:

There was a time when LeBron James’ friends and associates were welcomed throughout Quicken Loans Arena. That apparently is no longer the case.

James was delayed in getting into the arena for the Miami Heat’s shootaround Tuesday morning when he arrived with a driver and a second car at the entrance of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ underground parking garage.

Cavs officials said James eventually was cleared to enter the building, but several people with him were not. The two cars then left, and James alone returned a short time later and was allowed in, officials said.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Generally, when you don’t work for a company anymore, you don’t get to enjoy the perks that company offers its employees. In this case, it’s a question of if LeBron (or someone on LeBron’s behalf) asked for permission in advance to bring extra people in.

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