Basketball

(The Sports Xchange) – LeBron James scored 33 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:08 remaining, and Cleveland completed a four-game sweep of Indiana in their NBA playoff opening-round series.

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, CMC – The Bahamas crowned themselves Caribbean champions when they turned back a resilient Cuba in the final of the regional Basketball Championship here Saturday night.

The ‘Road to Mecca’ began Saturday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall with wins for Colts, Retrieve Raiders, Ravens and Kings as the new executive of the Guyana Amateur Basketball federation staged its first tournament a countrywide inter-club affair.

Masked James leads Heat past Orlando (The Sports Xchange) – Indiana forward Paul George scored 10 points over the final four minutes, 20 seconds as the Pacers, the team with the best record in the NBA, beat the Boston Celtics 102-97.

SAN ANTONIO, (Reuters) – Stringing together a two-game win streak sounds routine for the reigning champion Miami Heat, but they have failed to do it for more than three weeks and must do so in the NBA Finals or risk losing their crown.

(Sports Direct) – Roy Hibbert collected a post-season career-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as host Indiana Pacers won a defensive battle over the New York Knicks to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal with a 82-71 points win on Saturday.

(Sports Direct) – Denver’s Andre Iguodala collected 25 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists as the Nuggets forced a Game Six against Golden State with a 107-100 points win.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The Los Angeles Clippers are sweating on the fitness of All-Star forward Blake Griffin, who aggravated an ankle injury during a first-round playoff loss to Memphis on Tuesday that leaves the team on the brink of elimination.

(Reuters) – LeBron James scored 29 points and flirted with a triple-double as the Miami Heat claimed a 103-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in a rematch of last season’s NBA finals on a Christmas Day schedule of five games.

(Reuters) – The Denver Nuggets took full advantage of a Memphis Grizzlies team lacking in confidence by grinding out a 99-94 home win to get back to .500 for the season on Friday.

Coach of the Bounty Colts basketball team, Philip Rockcliffe ‘One Foot’ George was laid to rest yesterday after a ceremony at the Our Lady of Fatima Cathedral on North Road which was attended by a large number of former players.

(Reuters) – The Miami Heat gained a  little revenge for their loss in last year’s NBA finals, by  spoiling the Dallas Mavericks’ championship celebration with a  resounding 105-94 victory on today’s opening day of the season.

After a two-year hiatus Guyana’s national female basketball team will be back in action as they are scheduled to compete in the Gillian Brazier tournament in Antigua.

Former junior national basketball player Orin Rose put on a clinic to lead his team, Unknowns, undefeated through to the next round of the Mackeson Smooth Moves 3-on-3 basketball tournament at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) Court last Wednesday evening.

Tonight’s third night of the Mackeson Smooth Moves basketball tournament will see action at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court and the Albouystown basketball court as the nation’s   premier players vie for a chance to cash in on the tournament’s $1M first prize.

(Reuters) – The National Basketball Association (NBA) has cancelled the first two weeks of the regular season after the league owners and players were unable to resolve a bitter labor dispute on Monday.

Christopher Barnwell’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) performance led the Celebrity Athletes to a marginal victory over the Celebrity Entertainers of the annual Celebrity Athletes versus Entertainers Basketball showdown at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall last Sunday.

The South Pacific Play Ground in Brooklyn came alive last Sunday as scores of overseas-based Guyanese turned out to witness the start of the three-game friendly series between Linden and Georgetown.

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Standing seven-foot, six  inches tall and weighing 140 kilograms it is hard to imagine Yao  Ming being afraid of anything, but the Chinese basketball icon,  who retired on Wednesday, told Reuters he was “scared” after  being taken first in the 2002 NBA draft.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Disgraced Olympic sprinter  Marion Jones has been released by the Tulsa Shock, putting her Women’s National Basketball Association career in jeopardy, the team said yesterday.