Rose takes blame as Bulls fall to Heat

LeBron James scored 35 points and reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose wasted two chances in the final 23 seconds yesterday as the host Miami Heat escaped with a 97-93 win over the Chicago Bulls. Chris Bosh had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat. Rose scored 34 points for Chicago but missed a pair of foul shots that would have given Chicago the lead with 22.7 seconds left.

Cavaliers 88, Celtics 87: Kyrie Irving scored 23 points, sinking a layup with 2.6 seconds left as visiting Cleveland scored the last 12 points of the game. Anderson Varejao had 18 points and nine rebounds for Cleveland, which had lost five of its previous six games. Ray Allen returned from an ankle injury and scored 22 points, making 4-for-6 from three-point range.

Mavericks 101, Spurs 100: Jason Terry scored 34 points, including four in the last 42 seconds of overtime, and host Dallas rebounded after blowing an 18-point lead. Vince Carter had 21 points, his most with the Mavericks.

Lakers 106, T-Wolves 101: Kobe Bryant had 35 points and 14 rebounds and Pau Gasol 28 points to give Los Angeles a much-needed road victory. Kevin Love had 33 points and 13 rebounds for the Wolves, who lost to the Lakers for the 16th straight time.

Hawks 94, Hornets 72: Jeff Teague had 24 points for visiting Atlanta, which won for the fourth time in five games.

Clippers 109, Nuggets 105: Chauncey Billups scored 32 points and drew a crucial foul in the waning seconds to help seal the win for visiting Los Angeles that snapped Denver's six-game winning streak.

Pacers 106, Magic 85: Danny Granger scored 24 points and David West and George Hill each had 16 for visiting Indiana. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 24 points and 13 rebounds but was 4-for-15 from the free-throw line. -- AP