In brief: Allen carries Celtics past Heat again

NBA: Ray Allen hit his first seven 3-point tries and finished with 35 points, Paul Pierce added 25 and the Boston Celtics led wire to wire in a 112-107 win over Miami on Thursday night, handing the Heat their second straight home loss.

Rajon Rondo had 16 assists and Kevin Garnett added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, which led by as many as 20 and beat the Heat for the 13th time in the last 14 regular-season meetings.

LeBron James finished with 35 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Heat, while Dwyane Wade was held to eight points on 2-for-12 shooting.

• Anthony, Nuggets trip up previously undefeated Lakers: At Denver, Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and 13 rebounds to rally the Denver Nuggets past Los Angeles 118-112, handing the Lakers their first loss of the season.

Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 34 points and Pau Gasol had 17 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, who were trying to win their first nine games for the first time since the 1997-98 season.

Nene had 18 points and Ty Lawson scored 17 for the Nuggets, who snapped a two-game skid.

NHL: Marcel Goc scored in the fourth round of a shootout to give the Nashville Predators a 3-2 victory over the host St. Louis Blues, snapping a five-game losing streak.

Cal O’Reilly also scored in the shootout for the Predators. O’Reilly and J.P. Dumont connected in regulation and Pekka Rinne stopped 21 shots.

The Blues got a shootout goal from Matt D’Agostini and regulation goals from D’Agostini and David Backes.

• Boyle’s big game takes Sharks past Isles: Dan Boyle scored the tying goal on a second-period power play and added the shootout winner in the San Jose Sharks’ 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders in San Jose, Calif.

Antero Niittymaki made 24 saves to help the Sharks record a point for the fifth straight home game. Dwayne Roloson stopped 37 shots and P.J. Parenteau scored for the Islanders.

• Anisimov scores in OT to give Rangers win: Artem Anisimov scored his second goal of the game 1:32 into overtime to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in New York. Ruslan Fedotenko had a goal and assist, and Martin Biron made 29 saves for the Rangers. Tyler Ennis and Mike Grier scored for Buffalo.

• Price backstops Habs to win over Bruins: Rookie defenseman P.K. Subban scored his first NHL regular-season goal, and Carey Price stopped 34 shots to lead the visiting Montreal Canadiens to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez also scored for Montreal.

• L ightning’s Lecavalier breaks hand in loss: Tampa Bay captain Vincent Lecavalier broke his right hand in the first period of the Lightning’s 6-3 loss to the host Washington Capitals and will be sidelined from three to four weeks. The break occurred in the upper portion of the hand, near the knuckle of the index finger.

Ex-MSU player says Newton wanted cash

Miscellany: A former Mississippi State player who worked with agents said Cecil Newton told him it would take anywhere from $100,000 to $180,000 for his son, Cam, to sign a scholarship with Mississippi State.

Kenny Rogers told ESPN radio in Dallas that when he and Cecil Newton met with two MSU coaches at a hotel in Starkville, Miss., last Nov. 27, one of the coaches said, “No, no I don’t want to hear that,” when Cecil Newton asked about the payment for Cam Newton to attend Mississippi State.

Cecil Newton has denied any wrongdoing and said if Rogers solicited money, he did it on his own.

• Roddick, Ferrer qualify for ATP Finals: Andy Roddick and David Ferrer claimed the last spots for the ATP World Tour Finals after Gael Monfils ended Fernando Verdasco’s hopes with a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 7-5 win at the Paris Masters tennis tournament in Paris.

The eight players making the ATP’s year-end tournament in London are top-ranked Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych, Ferrer and Roddick.

• Todman helps Connecticut beat Pittsburgh: Jordan Todman ran for 222 yards, including 4 on a key fourth-down conversion, and Connecticut beat Pittsburgh 30-28 in East Hartford, Conn., to bring the Panthers (5-4, 3-1) back to the pack in the Big East.

Stroud edges Fowler for lead at Disney

Golf: Chris Stroud shot a 10-under 62 in the first round of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic and leads Rowland Thatcher by three strokes in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Rickie Fowler (66) was four shots off the pace, tied with Jerry Kelly, Cameron Percy, Tim Herron and Brenden Pappas. Rory Sabbatini and Tom Lehman both shot 67s to join a group of six players at 5-under, five shots back.

• Woods struggles in second round in Australia: Tiger Woods struggled in the wind and on the greens today for a 1-over 72, leaving him nine shots behind Adam Bland at the Australian Masters in Melbourne, Australia.

Bland was playing in the same end of the draw, and thrived with a 4-under 67 to take a two-shot lead over Andre Stolz. Sergio Garcia had his best score of the year at 65 and was six shots behind.

• Kerr leads Lorena Ochoa Invitational: Cristie Kerr shot a tournament-record 8-under 64 to take a three-stroke lead over Stacy Lewis in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Ai Miyazato, Paula Creamer, Na Yeon Choi and Hull shot 68s, and Hee Young Park and In-Kyung Kim had 69s.