Mason Plumlee rejected LeBron James' potential game-winning dunk attempt at the rim, and the Brooklyn Nets escaped AmericanAirlines Arena with an 88-87 win to earn a 4-0 season sweep of the two-time defending champion Miami Heat.
2014 NBA scores: Nets complete season sweep of Heat
Mason Plumlee’s dramatic block of LeBron James gave the Nets a season sweep of the Heat. Elsewhere, Steve Nash moved into third place on the NBA’s career assists list, while Dirk Nowitzki is now in 10th place on the NBA’s career scoring list.
Mike Ehrmann
The Heat trailed by one with time running out when James found Rashard Lewis streaking toward the basket. When several Nets converged on Lewis, the veteran somehow snuck a pass back to a cutting James, who appeared to have a clear path to the basket. But James was met at the rim by Plumlee, and although there was a lot of contact on the play, no foul was called:
Marcus Thornton scored 11 of his 16 points in a back-and-forth fourth quarter, including what turned out to be the game-winning three-pointer with 1:40 left. Joe Johnson led the Nets with 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Brooklyn shot 52.9 percent for the game.
James had a monster effort in the absence of Dwyane Wade, who missed his seventh straight game with a hamstring issue. James tallied 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but he didn't get much help. Chris Bosh struggled, scoring just 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
Houston Rockets 145, Los Angeles Lakers 130
The Rockets had no issues carving up the Lakers' porous defense, shooting 57.7 percent overall and 11-of-26 from three to cruise to an easy win. Terrence Jones had 33 points on 13-of-18 shooting before exiting with leg cramps, while James Harden had 32 points and 15 assists.
Houston scored at will all night, but Los Angeles trailed by just five at halftime. Then the Rockets really exploded, scoring 49 points in the third quarter to open up a 25-point advantage.
The 53rd loss of the season is the Lakers' most ever since moving to Los Angeles. This was the third time this season the Lakers allowed more than 140 points, which marks the first time a team has given up more than 140 points in more than two games since the 1992-93 Philadelphia 76ers.
Nick Young had 32 points in 23 minutes off the bench to lead Los Angeles. Jodie Meeks added 30 points. Steve Nash reached a milestone by moving into third place on the NBA's career assists list:
However, Nash’s nerve issues flared up again and he may be done for the season.
Detroit Pistons 102, Atlanta Hawks 95
The Hawks apparently don't want to put the New York Knicks out of their misery, dropping a head-scratcher at home to the woeful Pistons. Atlanta is now 1½ games ahead of New York for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
A game after thrashing the Indiana Pacers in Indy, the Hawks put forth a terrible offensive effort back in Atlanta. The Hawks shot just 38.2 percent and went 9-of-35 from three-point range. Paul Millsap did have 24 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn't good enough to overcome the poor shooting from most of the rest of his teammates.
Rodney Stuckey had 29 points to lead Detroit. Both Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond notched double-doubles, with Monroe tallying 21 points and 13 rebounds and Drummond putting up 19 points and 17 rebounds.
Ricky Rubio had 23 points and seven assists to lead the Timberwolves to a dominant victory over the Tony Parker-less Spurs. Kevin Love added 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Gorgui Dieng had 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Minnesota was in control from the get-go, leading by eight points after one quarter and 20 at the break. The Wolves didn’t shoot particularly well, but they did grab 16 offensive rebounds to help the cause.
Playing without Parker due to a back injury, San Antonio’s normally superb offense was out of sorts. The Spurs shot just 44.4 percent overall and 4-of-17 from three, and they also turned the ball over 16 times.
Dallas Mavericks 95, Utah Jazz 83
Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points and passed Oscar Robertson for 10th on the NBA's career scoring list. Nowitzki shot 9-of-11 from the field as the Mavs shot 55.6 percent as a team:
Dallas scored 39 points in the first quarter and jumped out to a 14-point lead. The offense cooled down for the remainder of the game, but the Jazz never posed much of a threat.
Derrick Favors had 19 points to lead Utah. Enes Kanter had 15 points and 19 rebounds.
Kevin Durant’s streak of games with at least 25 points ended at 41, but Durant still scored 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting in a win over the Kings. Caron Butler had a monster game off the bench, scoring 23 points and making all six of this three-point attempts.
The Thunder led for most of the night, although the margin was just eight entering the fourth quarter. With Durant on the bench with 23 points to start the quarter, Oklahoma City went on a run to put the game away, and the MVP candidate never came back into the game.
DeMarcus Cousins and Travis Outlaw both had 24 points for Sacramento.
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