Miami nips Cavs after rally
Associated Press
MIAMI
Ray Allen took a pass from LeBron James and made a 3-pointer with 18.2 seconds left, and the Miami Heat rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final 1:52 to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-108 on Saturday night.
James finished with 30 points for the Heat, who remained perfect at home despite leading for only 2 minutes, 29 seconds. Chris Bosh scored 23 points, Dwyane Wade added 18 and Allen finished with 17 — 15 in the fourth quarter — for the Heat, who lost Shane Battier in the third quarter to a sprained right knee.
Cleveland had a good look at the lead, but Wade blocked Jeremy Pargo’s jumper with 3 seconds left, and Allen added one free throw to stretch the lead to two. Cleveland controlled the rebound with 0.6 seconds left, but never got anything near the rim.
The Heat were down 108-101 with 1:58 left, then scored the final nine points.
Of the nine Cleveland players who logged minutes, everyone but Tyler Zeller scored at least 10 points. Pargo and Dion Waiters each scored 16 for Cleveland, which got 15 from Omri Casspi, 13 from Tristan Thompson, 12 from Alonzo Gee, 11 from Gibson, a 10-point, 15-rebound night from Anderson Varejao, and 10 more points from CJ Miles.
Cleveland controlled virtually the entire game, and led by eight midway through the fourth. James and Allen made consecutive 3-pointers to start a Heat flurry, and a free throw by Wade with 3:09 left tied it at 101-all.
But Varejao tipped in a rebound on the next Cleveland trip, Waiters hit two free throws after a clear-path foul against Mario Chalmers, and the Cavs seemed to have all but sealed it on a 3-pointer by Gibson for a 108-101 edge.