Heat blow out NBA-leading San Antonio
NBA: Chris Bosh scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 29 and the Miami Heat avenged their worst loss of the season by rolling past the NBA-leading San Antonio Spurs 110-80 Monday night in Miami.
LeBron James finished with 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Heat, who have won three straight and moved within two games of Eastern Conference front- runners Boston and Chicago.
Miami lost 125-95 in San Antonio on March 4, the midpoint of a five-game slide that now seems all but forgotten after wins over the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies and now the Spurs.
• Lakers roll over Magic: Pau Gasol scored 23 points, Kobe Bryant added 16 while playing on a sprained left ankle, and the Lakers roared tr their 10th win in 11 games, 97-84 over the Orlando Magic in Los Angeles.
Dwight Howard had 22 points, 15 rebounds and nine turnovers – four more than the entire Lakers squad – for the Magic.
• Nets ride season-long win streak: Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Deron Williams added 16 and made the clinching 3-pointer, and the New Jersey Nets extended their longest winning streak in three years to five games with an 88-79 victory over the Boston Celtics in Newark, N.J.
Hossa keys Chicago’s drubbing of Sharks
NHL: Marian Hossa scored two power-play goals less than 3 minutes apart to ignite a five-goal outburst by Chicago in the second period, and the Blackhawks rolled to a 6-3 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each had a goal and an assist in the second for Chicago.
• New rules for treating concussions: Commissioner Gary Bettman announced new steps for treating concussions following the first session of this week’s general managers’ meetings in Boca Raton, Fla. GMs are looking at ways to combat a rise in head injuries.
Under the new protocol, any player showing concussion symptoms must be examined by a doctor in the locker room. Until now, an examination on the bench by a trainer was the minimum requirement.
Graduation rates see growing race gap
Men’s basketball: A study released shows growing disparity between graduation rates for white and black players at schools in the men’s NCAA tournament.
An annual report by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport found a 2 percent overall graduation rate increase to 66 percent for Division I players, but showed the rates for white players is increasing at a higher rate.
The gap has grown from 22 percent in 2009 to a current level of 32 percent. White players show a 91 percent graduation rate, which is up 7 percent. Black players have a graduation rate at 59 percent, up 3 percent from last year’s study. This is the third straight year the gap has increased.
Musher on pace for Iditarod record
Miscellany: With teams in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race entering the final stretch for Nome, Alaska, musher John Baker is on pace to break the race record.
Race judge Jake Berkowitz says if Baker can keep the pace, he will shatter Martin Buser’s 2002 record of covering the 1,150-mile race in eight days, 22 hours and 46 minutes.
Baker was the first musher out of the Elim checkpoint on Monday morning. The only other musher reported to leave Elim, Hans Gatt, was about two hours behind Baker.