Caves coach fumes after late foul costs them

Brown  watched  his  star  player score  47  points  and  do  everything but win  the  game Tuesday  night  at Indiana.

One problem: James' foul with 0.2 seconds left gave Indiana’s Danny Granger a chance to win it from the free throw line. Granger sank the first, and then missed the second intentionally to seal an improbable 96-95 victory that left Brown and his players fuming about the call.

"I don't care if I get fined. It is what it is. I saw the two plays, just a bad call determined the outcome of that game," Brown said. "If they want to fine me for telling the truth, fine me. This isn't me. I never do this."

The usually composed Brown couldn't help himself after a wild finish.

While James spoke in a more moderate tone, he, too, was upset with the call. He  tugged at his headband and walked around on the floor while Granger  was  shooting  free  throws, and  when  the  game  ended,  James quickly  left  the  floor  and  walked with disgust to the locker room.

"I think Mike Brown gave it his all,” James said.  "He basically said what he felt. For it to end that way, it's definitely tough on us."

Indiana, which ended a nine game losing streak to the Cavaliers, saw it differently.

A few moments earlier, Cleveland had tried an alleyoop play to James off an inbounds pass - the same play Indiana used to win it.

While James never caught the ball, Granger drew the foul with 0.4 seconds to go, and James made both free throws to tie the score at 95.

"They were very, very consistent calls on the last two plays," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said.

For James, it ruined a night in which he turned Conseco Field house into his own personal showcase.

He  connected  on  15  of  21  shots, 13  of  14  free  throws, made  4  of  73-pointers,  and  had  seven  rebounds and  four  assists. He  repeatedly  had the  crowd on  its  feet with high-flying dunks, nifty no-look passes, one spectacular  block  and  an  array  of head  fakes,  crossover  dribbles  and acrobatic moves.

Yet somehow, perhaps with a little help from the offcials, the shorthanded Pacers absorbed the body blows and survived.

Troy Murphy scored 18 to lead Indiana, while Granger, playing on a sore right knee, added 16. Indiana played  without  Marquis  Daniels, Mike Dunleavy  and  Jeff  Foster  but got  some key  late plays  from back-ups  like Travis Diener and Brandon Rush.

Cleveland  lost  its  second  straight game  for  the  first  time  this  season and went home in disbelief.

"That last call, on the run, is the worst call that I have ever been a part of," Brown said.  "I cannot imagine another worse call than that.  It was an awful call and for him to take away a basketball game from a team with .4 seconds on the clock is irresponsible."

Lakers 105, Thunder 98

At  Los  Angeles,  Kobe  Bryant scored  34  points  and  became  the youngest  player  in NBA  history  to reach  23,000.  Bryant  made  a  free throw  with  5:13  left  in  the  second quarter  to  reach 23,000 at 30 years, 171 days old. He joined 20 others in league history who’ve reached the mark.

Pau  Gasol  had  22  points  and  14 rebounds, and Lamar Odom had 12 points  and  a  season-high 18 boards for  the Lakers,  just back from a 6-0 trip.

Kevin  Durant  finished  with  31 points,  his  fifth  30-point  game  in  a row, and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Warriors 144, Knicks 127

At Oakland, Calif., Stephen Jackson had a season-high 35 points, 10 assists and  six  rebounds, and  Jamal Crawford  added  21  points  against his  former  team. Kelenna Azubuike had 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Warriors obliterated their previous Season-high for points with almost no defensive opposition from the Knicks, who lost their fifth straight.

Al Harrington  had  24  points  and nine  rebounds  amid  constant  boos from the Oakland fans who embraced him  just  two years ago. Harrington, who invited the boos with repeated waves of his hand, was traded to the Knicks on Nov. 21 for Crawford.

Spurs 108, Nets 93

At East Rutherford, N.J., Tim Duncan had 27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and the Spurs beat the Nets for the 13th straight time.

Matt Bonner scored 13 of his 22 points in the opening 5 minutes of the third quarter in helping the Spurs win for the 15th time in 19 games since the start of 2009. Tony Parker added 20 points and Bruce Bowen came off the bench in the third quarter to help cool off a hot Vince Carter, who led the Nets with 25 points.

Devin Harris  added 21 points  for New  Jersey,  which  lost  its  second straight  game  after  winning  a  sea-son-high four straight.

Nuggets 99, Heat 82

At  Miami,  Chauncey  Billups scored  13  of  his  23  points  in  the fourth  quarter,  Carmelo  Anthony finished with 19 points and nine rebounds,  and  the Nuggets  swept  the series with Miami for the fourth consecutive year. Kenyon Martin had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Dwyane Wade scored 33 points on 12-of-22 shooting for Miami, which has lost five of its last seven.

Hawks 111, Wizards 90

At Atlanta, Joe Johnson scored 22 points and the Hawks shook off an embarrassing home defeat to the Clippers.

The  Wizards  missed  their  first seven shots and never seriously challenged  the Hawks, who  clearly had something  to  prove  after  a  121-97 loss to Clippers over the weekend.

Raptors 110, Timberwolves 102

At Minneapolis, Jason Kapono, the two-time defending 3-point contest champion, scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and Jermaine O’Neal had 22 points and eight rebounds for Toronto.

Joey  Graham  scored  24  for  the Raptors, who  rallied  from 13 down in  the  third  quarter  in  their  third straight  game  without All-Star  forward Chris Bosh.

Randy Foye had a career-high 33 points and eight rebounds for the Wolves, who played the first game without center Al Jefferson.

Mavericks 118, Kings 100

At Dallas,  Josh Howard  and Antoine Wright  both  had  23  points, Dirk Nowitzki had 21  and  J.J. Barea  had  10  as  the  primary full-in  for sixth-man  standout  Jason Terry, out with a broken left hand.

The Kings (11-42) became the first NBA team guaranteed to have a losing season.

Bulls 107, Pistons 102

At Chicago, Ben Gordon converted a go-ahead four-point play to help rally the Bulls.

Playing  their  first  home  game since Jan. 23,  the Bulls  trailed 100-90  with  about  3  1/2  minutes  left. But with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen watching, they showed some of their old mettle and finished on a 17-2 run.