|
DETROIT, Michigan: The lowly Miami Heat made the Detroit Pistons
battle to clinch their fourth straight National Basketball
Association Central Division title.
Rookie guard Arron Afflalo, filling in for the
injured Richard Hamilton, scored a career-high 15 points, including
five in the last four minutes, to spark the Pistons to an 85-69
triumph over the Heat.
Detroit’s 51st victory of the season secured
their latest division crown.
The Pistons trailed much of the first half, but
jumped ahead after the interval thanks to a brace of baskets from
Afflalo.
The Pistons used solid defense and 9 points by
reserve Jason Maxiell to maintain their lead, as the Heat scored
just 10 points in the third quarter.
Detroit led 66-55 going into the fourth quarter.
They built the lead to as much as 13 points, but a basket by
Miami’s Chris Quinn with just under five minutes left brought the
Heat within 4 points.
Afflalo sank 2 free throws to make it 77-69,
then he stole the ball, went in for a lay up, was fouled and made
the free throw to put the Pistons ahead 80-69 with less than three
minutes to play.
In Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 11 of his 31
points in the third quarter as the Denver Nuggets rallied for a
118-105 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Anthony’s fellow All-Star Allen Iverson also
scored 31 points, and Marcus Camby added 13 and 7 assists for the
Nuggets, who have won four straight games.
Denver got off to a slow start as the Mavericks
scored a season-high 39 points in the opening quarter. The Nuggets
trailed by 11 at the end of the first period and by 70-60 at
halftime, but turned things around after the break.
Denver started the third quarter with an 8-0 run
to cut the deficit to 2 points.
Jason Kidd’s three-pointer gave Dallas a 77-71
lead, but with less than seven minutes left in the third quarter the
Nuggets exploded for an 18-3 scoring run.
Anthony scored nine in the outburst as he
notched his 20th 30-point game of the season.
Camby scored nine and Iverson added eight in the
period for Denver. The Nuggets built an 18-point advantage in the
final period to capture the victory.
Josh Howard scored 30 points and Kidd had 19
with 15 assists for the Mavericks, who were without Most Valuable
Player Dirk Nowitzki for the second game in a row. Nowitzki suffered
left knee and ankle injuries in a loss to San Antonio on Sunday.
The Nuggets welcomed back Brazilian forward Nene,
who played for the first time since he took a leave of absence in
January for treatment of a malignant testicular tumor.
Nene entered the game with 77 seconds left in
the fourth quarter to a standing ovation from Denver fans.
Denver pulled into a virtual tie with the Golden
State Warriors for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff
berth.
The Nuggets, who remained one game behind Dallas
for seventh in the West, took the season series against the
Mavericks two-games-to-one, which could help them in playoff
positioning should it come down to head-to-head records.
-- AFP
|
