Dein erstes Forum » relievers to close out the game. NOTES: Mi

MIAMI -- LeBron James couldnt wake up Sunday. He was sluggish when his alarm went off at 8 a.m. and still in a funk when the Miami Heat and New York Knicks tipped off five hours later. He eventually got into form, just in time to perhaps doom the Knicks playoff chances. James scored 38 points and the Heat survived an NBA-record 22 3-point attempts from New Yorks J.R. Smith in a 102-91 victory that kept Miami atop the Eastern Conference standings. "You do your job and you live with the results," James said. "We lived with the result of J.R. making some of those bombs." Chris Bosh added 14 points and Ray Allen had 12 for the Heat (53-23), who are a full game ahead of Indiana (53-25) and two up in the loss column in the East race. The Pacers lost at home to Atlanta later Sunday night. Smith was 11 for 28 from the floor, 10 for 22 from beyond the arc, and took 10 3s in the fourth quarter alone while Carmelo Anthony didnt attempt a single shot in the period. The single-game mark was previously held by Damon Stoudemire, who hoisted 21 3s on April 15, 2005. "Its not really been a goal of mine," Smith said. "I saw the open 3 and tried to take them. I had to take advantage." Smith finished with 32 for the Knicks, who got 14 from Raymond Felton and 13 from Anthony on 4 for 17 shooting. Anthony has been bothered by a sore right shoulder, but played 44 minutes. "Melo is still hurting," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "I couldnt rest him again tonight. That second half, he was giving us what hes got." A bad day got worse for New York when the Hawks-Pacers game went final. The Knicks (33-45) are two games behind the Hawks in the race for the final playoff spot, three in the loss column. And New York has only four games left. "Our fate is almost now in Atlantas hands," Anthony said. "Its tough. ... My fate is in somebody elses hands." The start suggested it would be a great day for the Knicks. James had four turnovers in the opening minutes and New York -- which had its best opening 2 1/2 minutes offensively in at least a decade, according to STATS LLC -- held a 16-3 lead. "Flummoxing," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It was bizarre. Our turnovers were, no offence to the Knicks, absolutely unforced." It was still 16-3 when Felton was whistled for a second early foul, and everything changed. The Knicks missed six straight shots and the Heat scored nine straight points. James -- who had one turnover in the final 3 1/2 quarters -- settled down and things started going Miamis way. "I wasnt awake yet," James said. Miami got snippy with one another in plenty of huddles during the game, something that Spoelstra seemed to particularly relish. "Verbally spitting at each other, I like it," Spoelstra said. "Thats what we need to get ready for the second season." Miamis lead was 15 with just under 9 minutes to go before the Knicks made it interesting. Iman Shumpert missed a wide-open 3 with 3:30 left that would have gotten New York within four. James answered a layup at the other end and after Smith made his ninth 3, Mario Chalmers answered with one of his own, making Miamis lead 97-88. So Smith made another, giving the Knicks life. And Miami again answered, this time Bosh doing the long-range honours to restore the nine-point edge. Miami played without Dwyane Wade (hamstring), Greg Oden (back) and Chris Andersen (back, knee). Amare Stoudemire scored 12 and Tyson Chandler finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for New York. James had four turnovers by the time Miami scored six points. But he settled in before the quarter was over, outmuscling Tim Hardaway Jr. for what became a three-point play. Hardaway tried to wrap James up on a break, but the four-time MVP kept going, scored and then flexed a biceps muscle to the roaring crowd. "Trying to make a play," James said. And after that sizzling 14-point beginning, New York needed more than 13 minutes to score its next 14 points. A 31-10 run helped the Heat take as much as an eight-point lead in the second quarter, before the Knicks went into halftime up 50-48. Miami found some breathing room by scoring the final seven points of the third. James laid it in while getting fouled with 4.1 seconds left -- and as "M-V-P" chants rained down he gave Miami its biggest lead to that point, making the free throw that put the Heat up 73-64 entering the fourth. NOTES: Jeff Van Gundy worked the game for ABC, sitting three chairs away from former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy, working for ESPN Radio. ... Bosh had no rebounds in the first half, then seven in the third quarter. ... A fan clad in Knicks garb caught a T-shirt thrown into the stands by a Heat dancer during the fourth quarter. He threw it back onto the court. ... Hardaway Jr. is 2 for 22 in two games in Miami this season. Air Jordan 11 Sale NZ .com) - It appears both the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls will reach the playoffs, but the two squads are coming off losing efforts. Jordan 11 For Sale NZ .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. http://www.cheapairjordan11nz.com/. -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over. Cheap Jordan 11 NZ . - Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has nothing but good problems right now. Air Jordan 11 NZ . Cox started the season with San Francisco, but was released by the team on Nov. 12 before being signed by Seattle, where he appeared in two games and tallied three tackles before being released on Dec.SEATTLE -- Kendrys Morales knocked in three runs and Kyle Gibson pitched six shutout innings to lead the Minnesota Twins to an 8-1 rout of the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night. Chris Colabello hit a two-run double, Brian Dozier scored twice and the Twins put up eight runs in the first four innings to chase an ineffective Roenis Elias (7-8). The rookie lasted a career-low 3 1-3 innings, yielding seven runs -- six earned -- and seven hits with three walks. Gibson (8-7) allowed multiple baserunners in three innings and only retired the side in order once. But he worked around seven hits and a walk, rebounding from a rough outing against the Yankees. It was the seventh time this season that Gibson did not permit a run. Caleb Thielbar, Jared Burton and Matt Guerrier finished up for Gibson, who gave up six runs (five earned) and six hits in two innings of a 6-5 loss to New York last Friday. After scoring once in the first, the Twins broke the game open with a four-run second. Minnesota added three more in the fourth to end Elias night. Robinson Cano drove in Seattles run in the seventh with a double down the left-field line that scored Brad Miller. The Mariners had 12 hits but stranded 12 and went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Seattle entered hitless in its last 22 at-bats with runners in scoring position. With the Mariners planning to use a relievver to start Thursdays game, manager Lloyd McClendon had little choice but to let Elias attempt to pitch out of his own mess in the second.dddddddddddd The result was, the first five Twins reached base safely. By the time Eduardo Nunez popped out, Colabello had already driven in a pair with a double, and Sam Fuld had an RBI single. Morales added another run with a sacrifice fly before Elias got out of the inning. Thanks in part to a two-run error by first baseman Logan Morrison, Elias wasnt able to escape the fourth, forcing the Mariners to rely on three relievers to close out the game. NOTES: Minnesota RHP Kris Johnson will be recalled from Triple-A Rochester to start Friday in Colorado. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said the team will announce a corresponding move Thursday night or Friday morning. ... Gardenhire said SS Danny Santana (bone bruise in his left knee) will not join the team before the All-Star break and will go on a rehab assignment before being activated from the disabled list. ... The Mariners have reset their weekend rotation after RHP Taijuan Walker was sent to Triple-A Tacoma. RHP Felix Hernandez will start Friday against AL West-leading Oakland and will be followed by RHP Hisashi Iwakuma and RHP Chris Young. ... RHP Tom Wilhelmsen, normally a reliever, will start Thursdays series finale against Twins RHP Yohan Pino. ' ' '