Bulls put end to Heat’s long winning streak
NBA: The Miami Heat’s 27-game winning streak was snapped Wednesday night by the Chicago Bulls, 101-97, when a furious comeback by LeBron James and his teammates fell short in Chicago.
The Heat finished six games short of the record held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.
Luol Deng scored 28 points, Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 17 rebounds, and the Bulls brought the Heat’s pursuit of the record to a screeching halt despite another big game from James.
Miami’s superstar did all he could to keep the run going, scoring 32 points in a physical final few minutes that saw the MVP even collect a flagrant foul.
The Heat hadn’t lost since the Pacers beat them in Indianapolis on Feb. 1. But after grinding out some close wins lately, including a rally from 27 down in Cleveland, they simply came up short down the stretch in this one.
• Knicks increase win streak: J.R. Smith scored 35 points, his second straight 30-point game, and the New York Knicks withstood a furious rally to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 108-101 in New York.
Carmelo Anthony added 22 points and Iman Shumpert had 16 as the Knicks, who saw a 30-point second-half lead cut to four with 33 seconds left, tied a season high with their sixth straight win.
• Thunder rout Wizards: Russell Westbrook scored 21 points, Kevin Durant added 20 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Washington Wizards 103-80 in Oklahoma City.
• Lakers own Timberwolves: Kobe Bryant had 31 points and seven assists and Dwight Howard had 25 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 120-117 victory over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
The Lakers’ 22nd straight win over the Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing streak.
• Griffin, Paul spark Clippers: Blake Griffin scored 19 points, Chris Paul added 16 points and nine assists, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the New Orleans Hornets 105-91 in New Orleans.
The win moved the Clippers a half-game in front of the Nuggets for third place in the Western Conference.
• Celtics edge Cavaliers: Jeff Green scored 21 points and hit the winning layup at the buzzer, and the Boston Celtics snapped a five-game losing streak with a 93-92 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland.
Brandon Bass scored 22 points for the seventh-place Celtics.
• Trail Blazers drubbed: Brook Lopez scored 28 and Reggie Evans grabbed 26 rebounds and scored 22 to power the Brooklyn Nets to a 111-93 win over the host Portland Trail Blazers.
Flames captain Iginla headed to Penguins
NHL: The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames.
The Flames announced the deal after their victory over Colorado, sending their longtime captain to the Eastern Conference-leading Penguins in exchange for college prospects Kenneth Agostino and Ben Hanowski and a first-round pick this year.
Iginla, 35, is in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent July 1.
• Canadiens slip past Bruins: Andrei Markov tied it with 8.2 seconds left in regulation, and Brendan Gallagher scored the only shootout goal to give the Montreal Canadiens a 6-5 victory over the Boston Bruins in Boston.
• Wild beat Coyotes in OT: Mikko Koivu scored at 2:43 of overtime to give Minnesota a 4-3 comeback victory over Phoenix in St. Paul, Minn., extending the Wild’s winning streak to seven and the Coyotes’ skid to seven.
Santa Clara will play for CBI championship
College basketball: Kevin Foster scored 33 points to lead Santa Clara (24-11) to an 81-69 victory over Wright State (23-13) in the College Basketball Invitational semifinals in Fairborn, Ohio.
Foster scored 21 points in the second half to help Santa Clara advance to the best-of-three championship series against George Mason (21-14), a 62-52 winner over Western Michigan (22-13) in Fairfax, Va.
• Saint Mary’s advances: Danielle Mauldin scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to guide Saint Mary’s (23-10) to a 59-55 win over BYU (23-11) in the third round of the Women’s NIT in Provo, Utah.
Sharapova advances to Sony Open semis
Tennis: Four-time runner-up Maria Sharapova has overcome an uneven performance at the Sony Open to reach the semifinals by beating Sara Errani 7-5, 7-5 in Key Biscayne, Fla.
Third-seeded Sharapova will play No. 22 Jelena Jankovic, who beat No. 15 Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3.