Miami — LeBron James scored 24 of his 35 points in the second half as the Miami Heat used a late 14-0 run to pull away and beat the Boston Celtics 102-91 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series yesterday.
Dwyane Wade added 28 points and Chris Bosh finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which leads the best-of-seven series 2-0.
Boston tied the game at 80 on a pair of free throws by Paul Pierce with 7:10 left. The Celtics missed their next six shots and Miami pulled away, taking command of both the game and the series — which doesn’t resume in Boston until Saturday night.
Rajon Rondo had 20 points and 12 assists for Boston, which got 16 points from Kevin Garnett and 13 from Pierce. Boston has rallied from an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-seven series only once.
Jeff Green scored 11 and Delonte West added 10 for the Celtics, but Ray Allen was limited to seven points on 2-for-7 shooting.
Thunder 111, Grizzlies 102
At Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 26 points and James Harden led an outburst by Oklahoma City’s bench with 21 as the Thunder evened their series with Memphis at one game each.
After scoring just 16 points in a Game 1 loss, the Thunder’s bench tripled that amount and put Oklahoma City firmly in control with an 18-6 run to start the fourth quarter.
Russell Westbrook scored 24 and his backup, Eric Maynor, added 15 for the Thunder.
Mike Conley scored 24 for Memphis, which cut a 21-point, fourth-quarter deficit to six in the final minutes. /ap