PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- LeBron James scored 12 points in the first quarter to give Cleveland an early lead, then the Boston reserves took over and led the NBA champions to a 96-94 exhibition victory over the Cavaliers on Friday night.
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Leon Powe's game-winning free throws with 13.6 seconds left came exactly as Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie was lining a sacrifice fly to right in the AL playoffs against Tampa Bay to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Fans begged Celtics coach Doc Rivers to call a timeout, so they could watch more of the baseball game on the scoreboard.
It was 94-all when Tarence Kinsey missed a jumper with 15 seconds left, and Lorenzen Wright fouled Powe going for the rebound. Powe's two free throws gave Boston a 96-94 lead. The Cavs missed two shots in the closing seconds.
The Celtics are making the rounds in New England this exhibition season, visiting Amherst, Mass., on Wednesday before dropping down to Rhode Island and then up to New Hampshire. The Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence was mostly full even though the game was up against the opener of the AL Championship Series.
Rivers took a second during the fourth quarter to check on the baseball score. Updates were also played on the arena scoreboard.
James played just eight minutes in Cleveland's exhibition debut on Tuesday, a 104-84 loss to Toronto. He finished with 15 points, two rebounds and an assist.
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown is trying to limit the minutes of his star, who was a key member of the U.S. team that won the Olympic gold medal. Full story
Knicks 110, 76ers 104
PHILADELPHIA -- David Lee had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead the New York Knicks to a 110-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Chris Duhon added 19 points and Zach Randolph had 18 to lead six Knicks players in double figures.
Elton Brand led the 76ers with 24 points, Andre Iguodala added 16 and Andre Miller had 12 points and 12 assists.
After struggling in his first preseason game, Brand was dominant in the first quarter, scoring 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting to give Philadelphia a 38-22 lead at the end of the quarter.
Trail Blazers 102, Hawks 80
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Shavlik Randolph was 9-for-9 from the field and scored 19 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 102-80 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Portland rookie Greg Oden, the first pick in the 2007 draft who didn't play last season after having knee surgery, finished with 11 points and five rebounds. He picked up his fourth foul with 2:30 left in the third quarter and did not play the rest of the way.
Randolph scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to help the Trail Blazers (2-1) pull away.
Rookie Jerryd Bayless, a first-round pick out of Arizona, scored seven of his 15 points in the final quarter to give the Trail Blazers five players in double figures. LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy each added 14 points.
Mavericks 105, Bucks 79
LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Jason Terry scored 15 points, including a 40-foot 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, in the Dallas Mavericks' 105-79 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Mavericks showed how much of a gap there is between a perennial playoff team and a work in progress like the Bucks, who have a new coach, new general manager and 13 new players on the 19-man roster.
Dallas, with owner Mark Cuban in attendance, led by five after the first quarter, then opened a 47-27 halftime lead on Terry's buzzer-beater. Terry was 6-for-8 from the field.
Dirk Nowitzki added 11 points in 18 minutes for Dallas (3-0). Jerry Stackhouse also scored 11 points for the Mavs, who led by as many as 25 in the third quarter.
Pacers 102, Bulls 95
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Rookie Brandon Rush scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls.
T.J. Ford scored 18 points for the Pacers (1-1), who bounced back from a 105-71 loss to New Orleans on Wednesday for their first preseason victory.
Tyrus Thomas had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Aaron Gray added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls (0-2).
Chicago rookie Derrick Rose had 13 points and six assists. He made a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left to cut Indiana's lead to 95-92, but Ford responded with a three-point play at the other end with 31 seconds left to put the Pacers in control for good.
Pistons 73, Wizards 62
WASHINGTON -- Rasheed Wallace scored 12 points to lead the Detroit Pistons to a victory over the Washington Wizards.
Wallace had nine points in the first quarter and added a 3-pointer in the third as the Pistons, who never trailed, outscored the Wizards 19-11 to take a 57-47 lead entering the fourth. They extended their lead to 71-53 with four minutes to play.
Chauncey Billups had 10 points, Kwame Brown added nine and Richard Hamilton had eight for Detroit (3-0, which is undefeated under new coach Michael Curry.
Caron Butler, Etan Thomas, Dominic McGuire and JaVale McGee all had eight points for the Wizards (1-2), who missed 30 of 40 shot in the second half.
Hornets 89, Spurs 84
SAN ANTONIO -- Reserve Mike James scored 18 points while Tyson Chandler added 14 on 7-for-9 shooting and the New Orleans Hornets beat the San Antonio Spurs.
The Hornets (3-0) are off to their best preseason start since they went 4-0 in Charlotte in 1990.
New Orleans trailed by two at halftime but it outscored the Spurs (1-1) 12-2 to start the second half and took control of the game.
The Hornets had the Spurs outmanned by playing starters Chandler, David West, Chris Paul, Peja Stojakovic and Mo Peterson against a Spurs lineup with rookies Darryl Watkins, George Hill and Malik Hairston along with veteran reserves Matt Bonner and Roger Mason.
Kings 94, Thunder 85
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Rookie Bobby Brown scored 22 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Oklahoma City Thunder.
An undrafted point guard who played 11 games last year in Germany, Brown was instrumental in Sacramento holding on to its fourth-quarter lead. Brown scored 12 points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers.
Spencer Hawes had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Kings (1-1), while John Salmons had 16 points and Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia both had eight. Shelden Williams added seven points and 11 rebounds.
Jeff Green led Oklahoma, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, with 19 points, including eight in the fourth quarter when the Thunder pulled within one point. Damien Wilkins had 14 points, Desmond Mason scored 10 and Johan Petro added eight points and 10 rebounds.
Grizzlies 92, Bobcats 79
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Rudy Gay scored 17 points, and Hakim Warrick added 14 points and eight rebounds Friday night as Memphis won its first game of the preseason with a victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
Reserve Quinton Ross added 13 points for Memphis (1-2), while rookie O.J. Mayo finished with 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting. Mike Conley added 10 points.
Jason Richardson led the Bobcats with 14 points, while Gerald Wallace finished with 13. Andre Brown had 12 points and nine rebounds for Charlotte (0-2).
Memphis led by as many as 17 points early in the second half and was still up by 15 early in the fourth quarter. But Memphis stopped running its offense, settling for jump shots and playing one-on-one and that allowed the Bobcats to pull within 85-79 with just over four minutes left.
