Linas Kleiza added 15 points and Jose Calderon had a season-high 17 assists for the Raptors, who bounced back from consecutive blowout losses to Atlanta and Boston and improved to 2-9 without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani, who is out with a strained left calf.

James Johnson scored 13 points and DeMar DeRozan had 11 as Toronto topped 100 points for just the third time this season, exceeding the 80.2 theyd been averaging without Bargnani. The Raptors scored 104 points Dec. 26 in an opening night win at Cleveland, and had 111 in a double-overtime win at Utah on Jan. 25.

Barbosa missed Fridays shootaround with flulike symptoms but showed no ill effects against the Wizards. He scored nine points in the second quarter and had six more in the third.

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Nick Young scored 21 points and John Wall had 15 as the Wizards lost their third straight and fourth of five. Trevor Booker scored 13 points and Jordan Crawford had 11.

Washington dropped to 1-10 away from home this season and has won just four times in 52 road games since the start of last season.

The Raptors were ahead 80-69 heading into the fourth and pulled away from there, leading by as many as 22.

Toronto, which led by 10 at the break, matched a season high with 55 first-half points.

Wizards veteran Rashard Lewis scored eight points, leaving him six shy of 15,000 for his career. When he reaches the mark, Lewis will join Paul Pierce and Jason Kidd as the only players to score at least 15,000 points, grab 5,000 rebounds and make 1,500 3-pointers.

Notes

Calderons career high in assists is 19, set twice. … Kleiza returned for the Raptors after sitting out Wednesdays loss at Boston with soreness in his surgically-repaired right knee. … Wizards coach Randy Wittman was the replacement when current Raptors coach Dwane Casey was fired by Minnesota in 2007.

Jason Richardson also added 19 points in his first action in two games after resting a sore knee. Hedo Turkoglu added 18 points and Ryan Anderson chipped in 17.

The Magic won their seventh straight over the Cavaliers, despite playing without injured starting point guard Jameer Nelson and suspended reserve big man Glen Davis.

Orlando continues a stretch of nine games in 13 days Saturday at Indiana.

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Alonzo Gee led Cleveland with 20 points, followed by Kyrie Irving with 18.

The Cavs have now lost three of their last four. Cleveland returns home to host Dallas on Saturday and head to Miami Tuesday.

The Magic, who came in averaging 15.5 turnovers per game, had just five against the Cavs and opened up a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Cavs got it down to 95-90 wit fouling Howard intentionally and sending him to the free-throw line.

Howard missed four straight attempts from the line during one stretch before sinking a pair to give the Magic a seven-point cushion and help close it out.

Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy had to make some pregame adjustments to his rotation after Davis was suspended for two games prior to tip-off Friday for conduct detrimental to the team. Hell also miss the Indiana game.

Van Gundy acknowledged before the game that he and Davis were involved in a verbal incident during the morning walkthrough, but said nothing physical took place. He didnt elaborate further, though added he said he didnt expect the suspension to go beyond two games.

Nelson continues to deal with concussion symptoms. Without a true third point guard behind Chris Duhon, the team released Larry Hughes following Wednesdays win over Washington and signed free agent Ish Smith Thursday.

Smith had two early assists, including one on a dunk by Earl Clark, but also had three fouls in just five minutes of action early. He finished with four assists in nine minutes of action.

Despite the missing bodies, the Magic managed to take a nine-point advantage into the break, building their cushion hitting six first-half 3s. Richardson also hit five of his six attempts from the field for 11 points.

Cleveland also helped out, connecting on only 29 percent of its field goals (14 for 48). Jamison kept the Cavs close with an 11-point, 10 rebound effort in the half.

Notes

Van Gundy said Nelson, who sat out his fourth straight game with concussion symptoms, did do some limited, off-court physical activity Friday and has a chance of returning Monday against the L.A. Clippers. … The Cavs played without G Daniel Gibson (soft tissue infection in neck), G Anthony Parker (back strain) and F Tristan Thompson (ankle sprain).

Mario Chalmers scored 13 points and Chris Bosh had 12 to help the Heat go on a dominant late run that put away the pesky Sixers.

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The Heat used a 15-0 spurt in the fourth quarter to turn a tight one for 36 minutes into a comfortable victory and hand the Sixers just their third home loss of the season.

Thaddeus Young scored 16 points for the Sixers, who snapped a four-game winning streak.

Wade used a pair of ferocious dunks during the game-changing run that pushed the Sixers first sellout crowd of the season toward the exits.

The Sixers opened the week with wins against Orlando and Chicago. The Heat squashed the home-week sweep.

Miamis 113-92 win on Jan. 21 was Philadelphias only double-digit loss of the season. Entering the fourth, duplicating that feat seemed out of reach.

Unlike the Sixers, the Heat can turn to their stable of stars to crank up the pressure.

Wade started the run easily enough with free throws. Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller buried mid-range jumpers, James followed with a 3 and the game changed in a hurry.

The Sixers (12-3 at home) had grown used to the confetti gun blasting off after each victory. By the time they dusted off the seldom-used inspirational movie scene video reel, it was too late. Wade, Bosh and James were headed toward the bench, another win over the Sixers in the books.

The Heat played in Philadelphia for the first time since they blew a six-point lead with 95 seconds to play in Game 4 of their opening round playoff series. Jrue Holiday hit a late 3 that sliced the deficit to one and Lou Williams made the go-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the arc over a lunging Wade with 8.1 seconds left for an 86-82 win.

“Our first-round series against them was arguably the toughest, outside the finals,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game.

Last season, opening round. This season, something deeper?

The Sixers had stamped themselves as a rising threat in the East. The Heat couldnt shake the upstart Sixers and never led by more than seven points in the first half.

The Sixers have done serious damage this season in the third quarter, putting teams away with big runs and tough defensive efforts. The Bulls scored 11 points in the third Wednesday. The Magic scored only nine points Monday.

The defense was as tight as usual, limiting the Heat to 16. The offense (6 of 18) never got going.

Boshs putback ended an 0-for-10 start to the third for the Heat for a two-point lead. While the Heat struggled, the Sixers couldnt capitalize. Elton Brand and Tony Battie, two frontcourt starters, both went scoreless.

Andre Iguodala, who has cranked up his numbers when the Sixers need him most, continued with the clutch stops. He intercepted a pass from Wade into the post and drove the length of the court for a monster one-handed jam that had fans jumping out of their seats. But he went only 4 for 10 from the floor for 10 points.

The Sixers could never take the lead in the third and that cost them in the final minutes. James scored the last eight points of the third, including a long jumper that made it 67-63. Iguodala buried a 50-footer that was waved off after review.

Philadelphias winning streak was put to rest in the fourth.

Notes

The Heat only made 11 of 20 free throws. … The Heat made up for that number with just nine turnovers. … The Sixers missed eight of their first nine shots in the third quarter. … Rick Mahorn, Jane Pauley, Garry Trudeau and Mary Carey were all at the game.

Anthony scored 25 points in his return to the lineup, Landry Fields added 16 of his 18 in a flawless first half, and the Knicks snapped a three-game losing streak with a 113-86 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.

Tyson Chandler had 17 points and Amare Stoudemire 15 for the Knicks, whose slumbering offense awoke in just their second victory amazingly t and fell just a point short of matching their highest scoring effort.

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“A lot of that is Melo,” Knicks coach Mike DAntoni said. “You could see he was well, he looked good and we play a lot off him and he draws a lot of attention, makes it easy for everybody else, kind of puts everybody else back in their roles that they do. And we struggled with him out or with him hurt.”

Anthony had missed two straight games because of injuries to his ankle, wrist and thumb, finally shutting it down after shooting just 31.7 percent in six games since he was hurt on Jan. 12 at Memphis. But he drove easily and shot well after deciding shortly before the game he was ready to go, going 9 of 14 from the field and handing out six assists.

“My legs felt great out there tonight,” Anthony said. “I felt refreshed. Just taking these five, six days off that I did really helped me out big time. I could feel me having my explosiveness back. A lot of the things that I was doing prior to the Memphis game, it came back tonight.”

Jonas Jerebko scored 15 points and Greg Monroe had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Pistons (4-19), who lost their sixth straight and are struggling to even be competitive while playing without Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva and Will Bynum.

“Were not even putting ourselves in a position where these games are in doubt,” Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. “Were all embarrassed that were not doing better. We all have to raise our hands and figure out ways we can improve.”

Fields, who has played better lately after struggling early, made all six of his attempts in the first half, including four 3-pointers. The Knicks made 23 of 35 shots (65.7 percent) in the first half, going 6 of 8 behind the arc, and kept it up the rest of the night.

The Knicks have been in a season-long shooting slump, coming into the game 29th in the NBA in field-goal percentage at 41.4 percent. DAntoni traced much of the problems to Anthonys physical struggles, saying the Knicks had no way to attack without him.

But theyve shredded the Pistons twice, dunking 13 times in a 103-80 victory on Jan. 7 in Detroit. All 12 players scored Tuesday, with reserve Bill Walker chipping in 11 points.

The Pistons trailed by double digits after one quarter in their previous two games, and were quickly down 17-7 in this one. They cut into the lead before Fields and Anthony made 3-pointers in the final 25 seconds of the period to give New York a 33-24 lead. Detroit kept it close until late in the second, but New York finished the half with a flurry and blew it open easily in the third quarter, when the Pistons managed just 12 points.

“We just didnt give ourselves a chance,” forward Tayshaun Prince said. “When youre losing games and playing the way were playing, the one thing you want to do is give yourself a chance to win, but we dont do that.”

New York had botched home games against sub-.500 teams Charlotte, Toronto, Phoenix and Milwaukee, but couldnt afford to blow this one with a back-to-back-to-back set that includes Chicago and Boston starting Thursday.

They got plenty of rest for that, emptying the bench early in the fourth.

“We were moving the ball,” Fields said, “and just going in tonight we wanted to make a statement going into these next three games. So I think we did that.”

Notes

The Pistons finish a stretch of three games in three nights Wednesday at New Jersey, where Frank was the Nets coach from 2004 until he was fired after losing his first 16 games in the 2009-10 season. DAntoni said he doesnt expect Baron Davis to play until next week. Davis is still recovering from a herniated disk in his back and started practicing last week, but wasnt ready to debut during their four-game road trip and sat out practice Monday. DAntoni said Davis didnt have a setback, but the team felt it was better to give him more time.

They merely crumbled this time.

Two days after blowing a big late lead and losing at home to Cleveland, the Celtics nearly did it again before recovering and hanging on for a 93-90 win over the scrappy Cavaliers, who trimmed a 22-point deficit to 2 in the final minutes.

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Paul Pierce scored 20 points, Ray Allen had 12 in the third quarter and Kevin Garnett made a key jumper down the stretch for the Celtics, who came away victorious but unfulfilled.

“I hate it,” Allen said. “We won, but I take it as a loss in terms of getting better. Being able to play for a full four quarters is what I want. Every day we have to get better.”

On Sunday, Boston wasted an 11-point lead in the final 4:25 as the Cavaliers scored the games final 12 points, capped by sensational rookie Kyrie Irvings layup with 2.6 seconds left, to stun the Celtics.

It nearly happened again, but the Cavs couldnt quite climb out of a 22-point hole.

“We just couldnt finish it off,” said Irving, who scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. “We fought back. They gave us their best shot and it came down to the final minutes. Were just got to keep our energy up for 48 minutes.”

Garnett and Brandon Bass added 13 points apiece for the Celtics, who were again without All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo. He missed his seventh straight game with an injured right wrist, and although the Celtics improved to 5-2 without him, it was anything but easy.

Anderson Varejao added 20 points and a career-high 20 rebounds for the Cavs, who were also short-handed while playing without injured guards Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker. a reasonably comfortable margin. Or so the Celtics thought.

The Cavs werent done.

With Varejao outworking Bostons big men underneath for nearly every rebound and loose ball and Irving taking control, the Cavaliers stormed back and closed within 78-71 when Alonzo Gee drained a 3-pointer with 6:36 to play, sending Clevelands crowd into a frenzy.

Pierce and Garnett restored order with buckets and the Celtics pushed their lead to 11. But the Cavs kept fighting and were only down four with 1:18 left when Irving scored on a layup eerily similar to the game-winner he dropped after spinning down the lane at Boston Garden to win Sundays game.

On Bostons next trip, Garnett hit the games biggest bucket. His turnaround jumper from 13 feet caromed off the rim and halfway up the backboard before dropping in, giving the Celtics, who looked and played tight down the stretch, some breathing room.

“Ive been struggling with my shot a little bit,” Garnett said. “I came down and hit one.”

Varejao then missed two shots and Irving misfired before Pierce was fouled and hit two free throws with 2.6 seconds left to give the Celtics a 93-87 lead.

Irving hit a 3-pointer from the corner as the final horn sounded, ending a frantic fourth quarter and allowing the Celtics to slip out of town with a win they nearly gave away.

“Wed like to end the game a little bit better with such a big lead,” Pierce said. “They really scrapped back and put pressure on both sides. I didnt think, `Here we go again. We just needed to respond. Thats it. This type of thing happens quite a bit. We have to figure out how to make big plays down the stretch and we did that.”

Varejao left his imprint on the Celtics and all over the floor, diving, pushing and battling for rebounds. Celtics coach Doc Rivers believes Varejao deserves All-Star consideration.

“Hes always an All-Star, in my opinion,” Rivers said. “They should keep a spot for a role player. Thats what he does. What did he have, 20 points? I guarantee you they didnt run one set for him. He had 20 rebounds, but he probably kept 10 more alive.”

Pierce also offered a compliment, of sorts, to Varejao.

“Anderson Varejao is a pain in the butt with his offensive rebounding and the way he knocks down shots and the way and keeps balls alive,” Pierce said. “Hes probably one of the most underrated players in the league. I was kind of joking saying we need to double-team him on the rebound when the ball goes up.”

Notes

Rondo traveled with the team, a strong sign hell be back soon. Boston opens a five-game homestand Wednesday against the Raptors and will host the New York Knicks on Friday. “Hes really close,” Rivers said. Gibson returned to Cleveland after being hospitalized for two days in Boston with a neck infection. Gibson, who is being treated with antibiotics, will undergo further tests Wednesday before the team can determine when hell return. Cavs rookie F Tristan Thompson did not return after injuring his left ankle in the second quarter. Allen had missed three of Bostons previous four games with an ankle injury.

Kobe Bryant scored 24 points, Andrew Bynum added 20, and the Lakers beat slumping Charlotte 106-73 on Tuesday night in their final home game before beginning their annual Grammy trip on Friday at Denver.

The Lakers have been a dominant 11-2 at home, but are only 2-7 away from Staples Center.

“We just got to do our job, thats all. Go out, play hard, play physical and rebound the ball,” Bryant said. “These road losses that weve had, the consistent factor has been teams getting on the offensive boards against us and we have to do a much better job of that.”

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Bynum had 11 rebounds, while Pau Gasol had 10 points and Andrew Goudelock keyed a big night for the bench with 12 points as the Lakers reserves outscored the Bobcats bench 48-30. Bryant, Fisher and Metta World Peace sat out the entire fourth quarter, when Bynum and Gasol each played less than five minutes.

“They played extremely well,” Bryant said of the bench. “Its on them to make the most of it, and if they dont, I have to come back in there, Pau has to come back in there, Andrew has to come back in there, and we have to play the whole second half or whatever the case is.”

It was the Lakers biggest victory against the Bobcats, who had beaten Los Angeles in eight of their previous 11 meetings. The Lakers have now topped the 100-point mark in each of their past two victories after failing to do so in 13 consecutive games.

Gerald Henderson scored 14 points in his return after a two-game absence because of a lower-back contusion for the Bobcats, who fell to 1-11 on the road and 3-19 overall with their ninth consecutive loss. Derrick Brown added 12 points and Kemba Walker 12 coming off his triple-double against Washington on Saturday. Boris Diaw added 11.

“Weve got a horrible record and were trying to make our way back up,” Henderson said. “Were starting to get guys back healthy. In fact, it seems like every game we get a new guy back. So hopefully, as we get more acclimated to each other, things will start improving.”

The Bobcats were well rested, not having played since that three-point loss, but that didnt help the leagues worst team.

“Its been hard, but were a very young club and were in a rebuilding mode, so theres basically nothing you can do,” coach Paul Silas said. “When I took over last year in December, we had about five or six of the players we have on the team right now. So its been tough. My thing is, I love winning. And its been hard on me, very difficult.”

The rout was well under way in the first quarter, when Bryant racked up 18 points in 10½ minutes and the Lakers led 30-18. He had six more points in the second quarter and the Lakers went into halftime ahead 60-36.

Bryant helped turn a five-point lead into 20 points in a 26-11 spurt over the end of the first quarter and start of the second with eight points, while Goudelock added seven and Bynum six. The Bobcats actually outscored Los Angeles in the third, 22-13, as Bryant went scoreless, but they still trailed 73-58.

“I didnt like the third quarter and how we allowed them to come back in the game,” Gasol said. “But I really liked the fourth quarter where our bench really got going, made simple plays, moved the ball, found the open shooters and it got a lot better for us.”

With Bryant on the bench the entire fourth quarter, soon joined by Bynum, the Lakers reserves put on a 3-point shooting clinic. They reeled off seven consecutive treys to push their lead to 98-70. Troy Murphy had hit three 3s, Jason Kapono chipped in two, and Goudelock and Barnes had one each. Murphy finished with 12 points and Barnes 10.

“We got a lot of shooters on this team, with our second group especially,” Goudelock said. “They can stretch out the floor with Troy Murphy and Kapono obviously, and we got Bynum down low, so they cant really double team because if they do, they really have to pick their poison.”

Bryant has bestowed the nickname “Mini Mamba” on Goudelock.

“Its a very big compliment, especially coming from the real Mamba,” the rookie said.

World Peace got his second successive start in place of Barnes, but he wasnt a factor with two points, two rebounds, two assists and four fouls in 23 minutes.

Notes

Lakers coach Mike Brown said the team has inquired about former Orlando G Gilbert Arenas, a free agent. “Weve called to see what his status is. Thats it,” he said. Brown said theres no plans to bring Arenas in for a workout. “I have not talked to him, I have not watched any tape on him. Its really just conversation,” he said. The Lakers previous biggest victory against Charlotte was 11 points in January 2005. Reserve Lakers G Steve Blake, out with broken cartilage in his ribs, has been cleared to run on a treadmill, but theres no timetable for his return. Asked about Blake Griffins dunk for the Clippers a night earlier, Brown said: “It was fantastic.”

One day after a four-point loss in Miami, the Bulls rebounded to improve their Eastern Conference-leading record to 18-5. They had lost two of their last three.

Meanwhile, the Wizards have lost 16 of 2 both against the woeful Charlotte Bobcats, who have the worst record in the NBA.

Rose, who was 10 for 20 from the field and 14 of 15 from the free-throw line, had 34 points in his previous two games. He had 13 in the first quarter for the Bulls, who never trailed.

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John Wall led the Wizards with 20 points, while Nick Young had 17 and JaVale McGee scored 16.

Chicago quickly opened up a 21-10 lead and had a 26-16 advantage after the first quarter. Midway through the second, the Wizards scored seven straight to cut the lead to 36-30, but the Bulls stretched their lead to 51-40 at halftime. Korver had 14 in the first half, including four 3-pointers.

Chicago ran off 11 straight points in the third quarter to take a 70-49 lead with 5:24 left. Rose had 15 of the Bulls 25 points in the third.

when he missed a pair of key throws and and vowed not to let it happen again before Mondays game.

“If I ever get in that position again, I know it will be totally different. Yesterday isnt going to do anything but make me stronger as a player,” Rose said. < hitting six of eight from the field in the first quarter.

When the teams last fewest in franchise history. They lost that game by 14. This game was slightly more competitive for Washington, but it never seriously challenged in the second half.

Early in the fourth, the Bulls led by 19, but Washington cut it to eight with 6:50 to play. Boozer hit three straight baskets, and Chicago led 92-78.

Notes

Wizards F Andray Blatche will miss three-to-five weeks with a strained left calf, coach Randy Wittman announced before the game. … Washington recalled C Hamady Ndiaye from Iowa of the D-League. … The Bulls played without G Richard Hamilton (right thigh) and F Luol Deng (left wrist). It was the fifth straight game Deng missed. … This was the second of a nine-game road trip for Chicago – its longest since 1992-93. … The Bulls have won seven straight between the teams. … The attendance was 18,357 – highest of the season.

The Sixers raced to their best start in nearly a decade by taking advantage of a soft schedule for the first third of the season, but it gets tough from here. Orlando was the first opponent in a long run of games against winning teams that includes home games this week against Chicago and Miami.

Led by Iguodalas burst in the third quarter, the Sixers (15-6) outlasted the stumbling Magic and won despite posting their lowest point total of the season. Dwight Howards 17 points and 11 rebounds werent enough in Orlandos fourth straight loss.

Howard wants out of Orlando and criticized his teammates Friday for not playing hard enough in a loss to New Orleans. He missed eight of 13 free throws overall against Philadelphia and the Magic missed 14 of 17 shots from the floor in the third. Ryan Anderson had 14 points and 20 rebounds.

The Magic missed nine straight shots during a 6-minute stretch in the third that allowed the Sixers to build a double-digit lead. Jodie Meeks hit a 3-pointer for a 53-40 lead and the 76ers withstood three late 3s by Orlando that trimmed the final margin.

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The Magic scored only nine points in the third quarter. Howard had all three baskets.

With 6 minutes left in the game, the Magic had yet to reach 50 points.

Long the fourth pro team in Philadelphia, the improved Sixers are winning back fans one victory at a time. They improved to 11-2 at home in front one of their largest crowds of the season (16,299). Heading into a timeout in the third, the Atlantic Division leaders walked off toward the huddle to a standing ovation.

Coming off a triple-double against Detroit on Saturday, Iguodala fell four assists shy of a repeat effort. The rest of the Sixers struggled to score, but Philadelphia didnt need to do much against an Orlando team that has completely unraveled.

Sixers first year CEO Adam Aron conducted as he mingled with fans and the teams retro theme song was blasted for the enthusiastic crowd. Aron and the new ownership group have overhauled the game-night atmosphere, but the biggest change has come on the court.

Theyll need more than a catchy tune to get through the next two weeks. After Chicago and Miami, the Sixers play Saturday at Atlanta. They return home next week for games against the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers.

Fans yelled “On the list!” at Howard, a reference to placing the Sixers on his short list of teams where hed like to be traded.

Before the game, Howard walked around the locker room with a brick in each hand, playfully swinging them around and yelling, “Im going to knock somebody in the head!”

He shot more bricks from the free throw line, not a total surprise considering he shoots 46 percent from the line.

Evan Turner scored 12 points for the Sixers and Thaddeus Young had 10.

Notes

Magic point guard Jameer Nelson did not travel with the team, sidelined with concussion-like symptoms after taking an inadvertent blow to the head and jaw in Orlandos loss at New Orleans on Friday. Coach Stan Van Gundy said Nelson could be sidelined another week. … The 76ers played again without starting center Spencer Hawes (left Achilles strain) and his backup, rookie Nik Vucevic (left quad strain). … Iguodala moved into fourth place on the teams career steals list, passing Charles Barkley. … Orlandos nine points in the third was the low against Philly for a quarter.

He missed that one.

On Sunday night, Cavaliers coach Byron Scott called it again.

“He [learned] not to miss the layup this time,” Scott said after Irving made a layup with 2.6 seconds left to give the Cavaliers an 88-87 victory over Boston. “He had that little look in his eye like he wanted it, almost like he wanted to redeem himself.”

Irving scored 23 points, including the go-ahead layup in the final seconds as Cleveland scored the last 12 points of the game to snap Bostons four-game winning streak. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft, Irving remembered missing a potential game-winner on the same play when the Cavaliers played Indiana on Dec. 30.

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“They gave me the ball at the end of the game and they trusted me to make that shot,” said Irving, whose father, former Boston University star Drederick Irving, was in the stands. “So Im happy that I actually made the shot this time.”

Irving scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including six in the 12-0 run that brought the Cavs back for the win. Anderson Varejao scored 18 points and added nine rebounds for Cleveland, which had lost five of six.

Ray Allen returned from an ankle injury and scored 22 points, making 4 of 6 from 3-point range. But he missed a jumper from the left corner when Boston still held a one-point lead on its second-to-last possession.

“This was a bad loss for us,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “Not that it was Cleveland; it was that we had the game under control. And we didnt take care of it.”

Paul Pierce scored 18 points with six rebounds and five assists and seven turnovers for the Celtics. But he couldnt get a shot off after Boston inbounded the ball with 2.1 seconds left.

After the game, Pierce acknowledged turning the ball over too much. But asked what the Celtics should have done differently in the fourth, when he sat on the bench until the 3:42 mark – Boston still led by eight points at the time – he said, “Maybe I should have played more.”

Boston led 87-76 before Cleveland scored eight straight points, including two layups by Varejao, to make it 87-84 with 98 seconds left. After a timeout, Pierce missed a finger roll and Alonzo Gee, who was hacked trying to score on an offensive rebound, sank a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game.

Allen missed from the left corner, and Kevin Garnett grabbed the rebound but traveled. Irving missed for Cleveland and Varejao got the rebound out to Antawn Jamison, who missed a 3-pointer. Bostons Brandon Bass got the rebound but Gee knocked it loose, Varejao went to the floor to corral it and called a timeout.

Irving dribbled down the clock near midcourt, then drove to the basket, spun and laid it in to give Cleveland its first lead in almost 20 minutes.

Pierce got the ball on the inbounds pass and was fouled. He got the ball again on the restart, took one dribble and got off a shot that bounced off the rim as the officials waved it off anyway.

Boston fell to 4-2 since point guard Rajon Rondo went out with a right wrist injury. The Celtics were also without Allen for three games with a sore left ankle.

The Celtics had beaten the Cavaliers twice in a row and five times in their last six meetings, including the last three games of a second-round playoff series in 2010 that was LeBron James swan song in Cleveland.

Boston led 44-43 at halftime. Cleveland led 55-53 early in the third quarter before Allen hit a 3-pointer to give the Celtics the lead for good and start them on a 14-2 run that gave them the first double-digit lead of the game for either team.

Notes

Cleveland G Anthony Parker had back spasms and did not play in the second half. Irving made his first six shots. Celtics point guard Avery Bradley went to the locker room in the third quarter with a rolled ankle. He had it re-taped and returned to the game. The Celtics held a moment of silence for former Boston mayor Kevin White, who died on Friday.

Andrew Bynum added 21 points for the Lakers, who won for just the second time in nine road games this season. They led by 18 in the third quarter, then withstood a furious Timberwolves charge to hang on for their second victory in six games.

Kevin Love had 33 points and 13 rebounds and Michael Beasley added 18 points and 12 boards for the Wolves, who lost to the Lakers for the 16th straight time.

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Minnesota led 94-93 with 3:19 to play, but the Lakers size was too much down the stretch. Bynum threw down two dunks and Bryant slithered into the lane for two clutch jumpers to turn back the young Wolves.

The Lakers staggered into Target Center on Sunday night with four losses in five games and an ugly 1-7 mark on the road. Their struggling offense in new coach Mike Browns first season had failed to top 100 points in 13 straight games, the clubs longest streak since the shot clock was implemented in 1954.

But the Lakers shot 50 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range against the Wolves.

What had been a sleeper of a game turned into a heart-pounder in the final 17 minutes.

The Lakers were in complete control midway through the third quarter, shooting 55 percent and suffocating the young Wolves offense. Bryant was feeling it, yapping at Wes Johnson after drilling a 3-pointer right in his grill and Gasols layup gave the Lakers a 73-55 lead with five minutes to play in the period.

Ricky Rubio had just one point, two assists and two rebounds at that point, and the Wolves were unable to get anything going outside of Loves typically efficient night.

Then Wolves coach Rick Adelman switched to a zone defense and Beasley and Anthony Randolph added some much-needed energy to rally the team. Martell Webster hit a 3, Randolph threw down an alley-oop from Rubio and the Spanish rookie finished a 19-6 quarter-closing surge with a running bank shot to cut the Lakers lead to 79-74 heading into the fourth.

Rubios pull-up jumper tied the game at 89 with six minutes to play.

But the Lakers finally started using their size to find holes in the zone and overpower the undersized Wolves.

Gasol had an awful night in Milwaukee, shooting 6 of 18. But he was sharp from the start against the Wolves, hitting his first four and scoring 14 on 6-for-8 shooting in the first quarter.

Rubio finished with five points, eight assists and four rebounds. Webster had 10 points.

Notes

Bryant surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most field goals made in franchise history. … Adelman interviewed for the Lakers coaching job. “I never look back on something like that,” he said. “When I interviewed, they still had the same people they have now. Theyre a talented team.” … Brad Miller made his season debut for the Wolves, scoring three points in eight minutes. … The Wolves bench outscored the Lakers 42-15 and they outrebounded Los Angeles 52-41 while committing just four turnovers.