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MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2012
NBA
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Injured Bryant drops 33 points against Heat
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LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant scored 33 points in his third straight stellar performance since Dwyane Wade broke his nose in the All-Star game, and Wade managed just 16 points before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' 93-83 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday.
Metta World Peace scored 17 points while leading a solid defensive effort for the Lakers, who have won 17 of their last 18 home games. Andrew Bynum had 16 points and 13 rebounds as Los Angeles never trailed in the final 44 minutes against Miami, snapping a four-game skid in Bryant's head-to-head matchups with Wade's Heat.
LeBron James had 25 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Heat, who lost on the final two stops of their three-game trip after nine consecutive victories. Only Mike Miller's jumper with 21.4 seconds left saved Miami from its lowest-scoring performance of the season.
Just one week after Wade gave
bryant a concussion with a hard foul in the All-Star game, Bryant scored 18 points in a dynamic first quarter while wearing a clear plastic mask over his still-tender nose. He added just enough big baskets in the second half to keep the Lakers ahead, finishing with his third straight 30-point game as the Masked Mamba.
Wade scored 16 points on 7-for-17 shooting before fouling out with 5:14 to play, committing three foul in rapid succession for an early end to a rough day. Wade and James were both out of sync, as evidenced by their combined 2-for-5 performance at the free-throw line.
Pau Gasol had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won eight of 10 to challenge the Clippers atop the Pacific Division.
Mario Chalmers scored 15 for the Heat, who played their third straight game without Chris Bosh after the All-Star forward attended his grandmother's funeral on Saturday. Miami beat the Lakers in their first meeting of the season six weeks ago even with James battling the flu and Wade sitting
out with a sprained ankle.
Although the Staples Center crowd roundly booed Wade during pregame introductions and the first few times he touched the ball, Wade apologized profusely after the All-Star game to Bryant, his fellow U.S. Olympian. Bryant insisted he bore no grudge, saying Wade would never injure him on purpose.
Bryant then played the first quarter with a fire that sure appeared to be motivated by something even bigger than an elite opponent and a national television audience.
Driving to the hoop and hitting fallaway jumpers with equal grace, Bryant went 8 for 10 and earned a handful of standing ovations while leading Los Angeles to a 10-point lead.
Bryant didn't make a shot in the second quarter, but the Lakers expanded their lead with Bynum's stellar inside play and help from rookie Andrew Goudelock, who made two 3-pointers, and World Peace, who scored eight points and played solid defense on James.
the second and Los Angeles led 50-38 at the break. The Heat surpassed their lowest-scoring half of the season by just one point after making only three shots in the final 7:46.
James made just one shot in
Miami controlled the third quarter behind James, who guarded everybody from Gasol to point guard Steve Blake depending on the Heat's needs. But when James slightly shoved Troy Murphy in frustration after missing a layup at the third-quarter buzzer, Gasol stepped in to challenge James, earning matching technical fouls before officials and World Peace restored order.
Los Angeles nursed its lead through the final period, and the Staples Center crowd gave a standing ovation after Wade committed three fouls in less than three minutes. He picked up his sixth when he foolishly tried to reach over the 7-foot Bynum's back to stop an alley-oop pass.
James appeared to injure his left foot with 1:05 to play when he stepped out of bounds and landed awkwardly on the foot of a fan sitting courtside, but he returned to the game after a timeout.
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant shoots over Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade.
GOLF
McLroy claims No.1 spot with victory at tournament
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Roy Mclroy won the Honda Classic with a performance worthy of the new No. 1 player in golf.
Right when it looked as though McIlroy had no serious challenge Tundra, Tiger Woods put some color into that red shirt with a birdie-eagle finish for a 62 — his lowest final round ever — to get within one shot of the lead.
McIlroy could hear the roar from the farthest corner of PGA National, and the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland responded with some clutch golf of his own. He made an 8-foot birdie putt, and then made three clutch par saves during a dawning stretch at PGA National.
He played it safe with a two-shot lead on the par-5 18th and made par to close with a 1-under 69 and the victory he needed to replace Luke Donald atop the world ranking that will be published Monday.
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Rory McIlroy holds the trophy after winning the Honda Classic golf tournament in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Sunday. McIlroy became the top-ranked golfer in the world.
"It was tough today, especially seeing Tiger make a charge," McLtry said. "I knew par golf would probably be good enough. To shoot 1 under in these conditions, when you go into the round with the lead, is very nice. And I was just able to get the job done."
Mellroy is the 16th player to be No. 1 in the world, and the second-youngest behind Woods, who was 21 when he first went to No. 1 after the 1997 U.S. Open.
Donald responded quickly to the victory, tweeting "Congrats (at)MclroyRory enjoy the view!"
Woods made two eagles in the final round and wound up two shots behind.
along with Tom Gillis, who birdied the last hole for a 69.
Milroy, who finished 12 on-under 268,
won for the fifth time in his career.
Associated Press
EASTERN CONFERENCE
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Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett, center, competes with New York Knicks' Tyson Chandler, left, and Jeremy Lin, right, for a loose ball in the second quarter of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Sunday.
Rondo's triple-double gives New York a loss in overtime
Rondo had 18 points, 20 assists and a career-high 17 rebounds, and Paul Pierce scored 34 — including a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Kevin Garnett scored 18 with 10 rebounds, and Ray Allen gave the Celtics the lead for good with a 3-pointer to make it 108-105, then followed it with a fastbreak layup — both on assists from Rondo.
BOSTON (AP) — Rajon Rondo had his second triple-double in three games, spoiling Harvard grad Jeremy Lin's return to Boston on Sunday and leading the Boston Celtics to a 115-111 overtime victory over the New York Knicks.
Lin picked up two fouls in the first three minutes and struggled to 14 points in 32 minutes. He had five assists and four rebounds while shooting 6 for 16 from the floor.
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Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points for the Knicks, six of them in the final 100 seconds of regulation as they briefly took the lead. Amare Stoudemire scored 16 with 13 rebounds and Tyson Chandler had 14 boards for New York as it fell a game below .500 and 1 1-2 games behind Boston in the Eastern Conference.
Lin, who led the Knicks to seven straight wins after cracking the rotation, had one stretch to remind his fans in Boston what the fuss is all about. Boston led 94-89 with 3:35 left in regulation when he sank the second of two free throws, stole the ball and took it in for a layup and then hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one point.
Anthony took it from there, making the next three Knicks baskets and giving them a 101-100 lead with 36 seconds left. Pierce missed one attempt at a game-winner, but after Novak made a pair of free throws the Celtics captain sank a long, offbalance 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left in regulation to tie it 103-all.
Anthony missed at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
Once there, Rondo took over.
He found Allen on the wing for a 3-pointer that gave Boston a 108-105 lead and, after Lin's driving layup bounced around and off the rim, Rondo wound up with the ball on the fast break and dropped it for Allen for the layup.
Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust met with Lin before the game, and Crimson coach Tommy Amaker was also at the game one day after the Crimson beat Cornell to clinch at least a share of the Ivy League title.
Lin's last trip to play the Celtics, on Feb. 3, he scored just two points in under seven minutes. The next night, he came off the bench to score 25 points against the New Jersey Nets. He has been in the starting lineup ever since, sparking a seven-game winning streak that rejuvenated the Knicks and gave birth to Linsanity.
The phenomenon has been felt back in Cambridge, too.
The rest of the crowd greeted Lin rudely in the first quarter, but two fouls in the first three minutes seemed to eliminate the chance that it would be another big game.
The Knicks fell behind 21-12 in the first quarter before scoring the next 12 points. It was 52-40 New York with 3:33 left in the second, but Boston cut it to five points at the half when the Knicks committed two turnovers in the final 37 seconds and then Anthony fouled Rondo with 0.9 seconds left, sending him to the line for two free throws that made it 56-51.
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Pierce scored 15 points in the third quarter when the Celtics went on a 19-2 run to turn a five-point deficit into a double-digit lead.