Eastern Conference watch: Celtics, Heat win
Tribune News ServicesNEW ORLEANS -- Ray Allen scored 20 points, including the clinching free throws with 2.8 seconds left, and the Boston Celtics rallied to beat the New Orleans Hornets 89-85 on Saturday night to gain a share of first place atop the Eastern Conference standings with the Bulls.
Allen also had a key offensive rebound that led to Glen Davis' two foul shots that made it 87-83 with 15.2 seconds left. Davis also had 20 points.
The Celtics trailed 56-41 early in third quarter, but closed the period with a 23-6 run to go ahead 67-64.
David West led New Orleans with 32 points. Marco Belinelli added a season-high 23 points but Chris Paul went without a basket for only the fourth time in his career, finishing 0 of 9 from the floor.
Meanwhile in Miami, LeBron James scored 33 points, Dwyane Wade had 32 and the Heat never trailed during a 103-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets.The Heat are now two games back of the Bulls and Celtics.
Photo: The Celtics' Paul Pierce drives to the basket on New Orleans' Emeka Okafor. (Chuck Cook/US Presswire)
Chris Bosh finished with his fifth straight double-double, 18 points and 11 rebounds. But the Heat may have taken a significant hit when starting point guard Mario Chalmers was carried off the floor late in the first quarter with what was preliminarily diagnosed as a sprained right knee.
"Injuries have just figured out a way to bite us, seems at the wrong times," James said. "And it happened again tonight. Hopefully it's not a huge thing."
Mike Bibby, the only other true point guard on Miami's roster, scored 14, going 4 for 8 from 3-point range.
But Chalmers' health concerns clearly seemed the most pressing.
"I think Mike fits right in," Wade said of Bibby, a late-season acquisition. "He's a guy who's great when he gets the ball ... a very good shooter and most importantly, he's a veteran guy who's very smart. He's going to be big for us in the playoffs."
Chalmers was guarding Lawson on the right wing with about 1 minute left in the first quarter when he got hurt. Lawson tried to drive and Chalmers tumbled backward, appearing to favor his left leg. Chalmers tried to recover, then making contact with Lawson's outstretched right leg as he made a jumper.
Chalmers, who has started 27 straight games since Jan. 22, went down, holding his right knee. He will be re-examined on Sunday.
James picked up where he left off in Atlanta on Friday night, shooting 6 for 8 in the opening quarter for 13 points and helping stake the Heat to a 29-21 lead. But by then, Denver was finding its groove, and actually got within one on a 3-pointer by Smith with 7:20 left until halftime -- with Miami's thoughts stuck on Chalmers.
"You just want to know," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "The unknown is probably worse than anything. And it was like getting hit in the face. But we gathered and I was glad to see our maturity from that point on. ... We continued to grind the game. It wasn't necessarily a pretty game going down the stretch, but we made enough plays."
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