NBA: Bynum ruled out 'indefinitely' for 76ers

The Miami Heat battled back to edge Cleveland Cavaliers 110-108, while Philadelphia were hit with the news that new signing Andrew Bynum would be sidelined indefinitely with knee problems.

Miami's LeBron James looks for a way past Cleveland Cavaliers' Alonzo Gee and Tyler Zeller

Andrew Bynum has been ruled out of action indefinitely for the Philadelphia 76ers after continuing to suffer problems with his knees.

The centre has bone bruises in both knees and a "weakened cartilage state", according to doctors, and is yet to play for Philadelphia after being part of a four team, 12-player trade that moved him from the Los Angeles Lakers in August.

"Bottom line is Andrew is out indefinitely," 76ers general manager Tony DiLeo said. "There are no timelines. We just have to wait and see how he reacts."

DiLeo said Bynum's knees have deteriorated since arriving in Philadelphia.

"His knees now and the MRIs are not the same; it's a different type (of) situation," DiLeo said.

"At the time of the trade, we had four doctors look at his MRI. We knew it was a calculated risk. We also knew we were getting the second-best centre in the league, a franchise-type player. We took that risk."

Bynum has been told to avoid all activities that involve stress on the knees. He is doing low-impact rehabilitation and the team is hoping that rest will heal the cartilage while they consult experts around the world.

"We hope he will back. We're anticipating he will be back at some point," DiLeo said.

"We have plans for the future if he is not back with us but we want to plan on him being here long-term."

DiLeo said Bynum would have further scans in December.

The 25-year-old appeared in 60 games and averaged 18.7 points with 11.8 rebounds for the Lakers last season. He is in the final year of a $16.5 million contract.

The NBA champions Miami Heat staged a thrilling fightback to keep their unblemished home record alive, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-108 on Saturday.

The Heat, down by 11 at halftime and by seven with just under two minutes remaining, stormed home thanks mainly to Ray Allen who scored the last seven points to push the Heat to 10-3 on the season and 6-0 in Miami.

Allen coaxed in a lay up and drew a foul with 1:32 remaining for a three-point play and then gave the Heat the lead with 18 seconds left with a three-pointer.

Cavaliers guard Jeremy Pargo had a chance to send the game to overtime but Dwyane Wade blocked his late shot.

LeBron James top scored for the Heat against his former team with 30 points while Chris Bosh added 23 and Wade 18.

The Cavaliers had eight players in double figures, led by Pargo and Dion Waiters with 16 each, but the impressive team performance still was not enough, dropping them to 3-10.

"First of all, Cleveland played a very good basketball game," Erik Spoelstra, Miami's head coach, said afterwards.

"They did enough to put themselves in position to win but our guys absolutely relish those moments in the fourth quarter, the competitiveness of a close game.

"We need to get out of here quick as we can before they put more seconds on the clock."

The winless Washington Wizards suffered their most agonising defeat yet as they lost 108-106 to the surprising Charlotte Bobcats in double overtime.

Byron Mullens led Charlotte with 27 points and Ramon Sessions added 20 to secure the victory meaning in 12 games, the Bobcats have already matched their win total of seven form last season.

Washington, led by Martel Webster's 21 points, fell to 0-11. No other team in the NBA has fewer than three wins to their name.

Kevin Durant poured in 37 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime.

Russell Westbrook also shone with 30 points as the Thunder improved to 10-4 on the season.

Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 19 rebounds while Richard Hamilton also scored 19 points as the Chicago Bulls claimed their first win in five, overcoming the Milwaukee Bucks 93-86.

Tyreke Evans led the Sacramento offence with 27 point as the Kings saw off the Utah Jazz 108-97.

The Los Angeles Lakers eased past the Dallas Mavericks 115-89, the Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 96-85 and the Atlanta Hawks were 104-93 winners over the Los Angeles Clippers.

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