Hibbert leads Pacers past Celtics

March 28, 2011

Roy Hibbert scored 26 points as the Indiana Pacers beat the Boston Celtics, 107-100, Monday night and remained in sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one game ahead of Charlotte.

Amityville's A.J. Price had 15 points and three assists off the bench for the Pacers.

Boston point guard Rajon Rondo started after missing Sunday's game against Minnesota with a jammed finger on his right hand. Coach Doc Rivers said before the game that Rondo would not play, but Rondo scored 10 points in the first 5:10 and finished with 22 points and eight assists.

Paul Pierce led Boston with 23 points, and Glen Davis had 20 for the Celtics.

76ers 97, Bulls 85: Thaddeus Young scored 21 points for the 76ers, who ended the Bulls' home winning streak at 14. Chicago, which lost for only the second time in its last 14 games overall, got 31 points from Derrick Rose, who also had 10 turnovers. The Bulls remained two games in front of the Celtics and Heat for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The 76ers are in sixth place, two games in front of the Knicks.

Bobcats 87, Bucks 86: Gerald Henderson scored the final seven points, including the go-ahead jumper with 22 seconds left for the host Bobcats, who played with no available centers and lost their top two point guards, D.J. Augustin and Shaun Livingston, to injuries.

Trail Blazers 100, Spurs 92: Andre Miller scored 26 points to lead Portland. The slumping Spurs were without Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan, who sat out with injuries.

Another return for LeBron

The hype and the hate just aren't the same.

LeBron James will make his second trip to Cleveland as a visiting player tonight and he doesn't expect it to be nearly as intense as his return on Dec. 2, when Cavaliers fans unloaded months of built-up frustration on the superstar, who bolted as a free agent last summer.

James said his upcoming visit "can't get no worse than it was Dec. 2. I know that for a fact."

Cleveland fans aren't frothing like they were three months ago. Maybe that's because the Cavaliers have fallen on hard times, a slide that accelerated after James returned and helped the Heat embarrass the Cavaliers. James scored 38 points -- 24 in the third quarter -- to power the Heat to a 118-90 victory.

Coach Byron Scott contends the loss didn't have a negative affect on his team, but the Cavaliers lost a record 26 straight games shortly after James' homecoming.

-- AP