NBA round-up: No James, no problem for Heat in 93-79 win over Bulls

Jamal Crawford scored 36 points to help the LA Clippers in their win while Isaiah Thomas and Rudy Gay combined for 65 points as the Sacramento Kings earned their first victory in Denver in six years.

Miami Heat's LeBron James, right, high-fives Dwyane Wade during a time out in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls on February 23, 2014, in Miami. The Heat defeated the Show more

MIAMI // LeBron James watched from the bench in a stylish gray suit, and with the game deadlocked at halftime, he took off his necktie.

Soon the tie on the scoreboard was gone, too. Stout defense plus Chris Bosh’s outside shooting and a boost from Miami’s reserves helped the Heat overcome the absence of their MVP on Sunday to beat the Chicago Bulls 93-79.

“We were missing a pretty big man,” Dwyane Wade said. “There’s nothing we can do to replace the best player in the world, but we just had to go out there and play team basketball on both ends of the floor.”

James was a late scratch after he broke his nose in Thursday’s win at Oklahoma City, and his teammates picked up the slack. Former NBA No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden replaced James for his first NBA start since December 2009, and reserves Chris Andersen, Michael Beasley and Ray Allen helped the Heat pull away in the second half.

Bosh tied a career high with four 3-pointers and had 28 points and 10 rebounds. Wade added 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Mario Chalmers contributed 12 points and nine assists.

Joakim Noah had 20 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks for the Bulls, who had won five in a row.

“Those guys have ended our seasons a lot,” Noah said. “You’ve got to hate playing those guys, and every time we play them our intensity has to be high. We did it in spurts, it wasn’t good the whole time, and that’s what’s disappointing.”

CLIPPERS 125, THUNDER 117

OKLAHOMA CITY // Jamal Crawford scored 36 points to help the Clippers get the win.

Matt Barnes scored 24 points and Chris Paul had 18 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who snapped a two-game skid.

Kevin Durant had 42 points and 10 assists and Serge Ibaka added 20 points for the Thunder, who lost their second straight. It was the most points the Thunder have allowed this season.

KINGS 109, NUGGETS 95

DENVER // Isaiah Thomas scored 33 points, Rudy Gay had 32 and Sacramento earned its first win in Denver in six years.

DeMarcus Cousins added 27 points for the Kings, who snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. It was Sacramento’s first win in the Mile High City since a 118-115 victory on April 5, 2008. The Kings have won three of their last four games overall.

Randy Foye and Evan Fournier each scored 27 points for the slumping Nuggets, who lost for the seventh time in the last eight games. The Nuggets fell to 1-5 without leading scorer Ty Lawson, who missed a sixth game because of a fractured left rib.

ROCKETS 115, SUNS 112

PHOENIX // Patrick Beverley sank the go-ahead 3-pointer with 34.3 seconds to play and Houston escaped with the win.

Dwight Howard scored 25, James Harden had 23 and Beverley 20 for the Rockets, who trailed by 10 entering the fourth quarter.

Goran Dragic scored a career-high 35 points for the Suns, but missed a 3 at the buzzer. Gerald Green had 18 of his 23 points in the third quarter, and Markieff Morris finished with 21 points.

TRAIL BLAZERS 108, TIMBERWOLVES 97

PORTLAND, Ore. // Damian Lillard had 32 points and the short-handed Trail Blazers rallied for the victory.

Thomas Robinson had 14 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for Portland, which won its second straight after a three-game slump.

Kevin Love scored 31 for Minnesota, which had won three in a row. It was Love’s franchise-best fifth straight game with 30 or more points.

WIZARDS 96, CAVALIERS 83

CLEVELAND // John Wall scored 21 points and Bradley Beal had 17, leading Washington to the road victory.

The Wizards held the Cavaliers to 11 fourth-quarter points to return to .500 at 28-28 on the season. They also strengthened their hold on the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

The strong defensive performance in the final period came after Washington lost Nene to a sprained left knee midway through the third quarter. He had eight points, four rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes.

RAPTORS 105, MAGIC 90

TORONTO // Kyle Lowry scored 28 points, DeMar DeRozan had 24 and the Raptors handed the Magic their 15th straight road loss.

Terrence Ross scored 16 and Amir Johnson had 12 points and eight rebounds before leaving with a sprained right ankle in the Raptors’ fifth victory in six games.

Toronto improved to 12-3 in its past 15 home games and moved six games above .500 for the first time since Feb 24, 2010, when its record was also 31-25.

NETS 108, LAKERS 102

LOS ANGELES // Deron Williams had 30 points and Paul Pierce added 25 points helping the Brooklyn Nets end an 11-game losing streak against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 108-102 victory on Sunday night.

Pau Gasol had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who never led and lost for the 24th time in 30 games with Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Xavier Henry all sidelined by injuries.

Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE