CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- LeBron James stripped the ball at midcourt, raced the length of the floor and lifted off for a powerful one-handed dunk. Bobcats owner Michael Jordan, seated on the Charlotte bench, could only look on helplessly. James was taking over and the Miami Heat, well, they were starting to look like the Miami Heat of the past two seasons. Unlike the first two games of the series, James made sure this game wouldnt be close. James had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and the Heat easily defeated the Bobcats 98-85 Saturday night to take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference first round. Dwyane Wade added 17 points for the Heat, who can close out the best-of-seven series Monday night. "We were locked in on what needs to be done and our keys to win this game," James said. James went 10 of 18 from the field and pushed his record to 18-0 against the Bobcats since joining the Heat in 2010. Miami has won 19 straight overall against Charlotte. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his players took a "professional approach" following a 101-97 win Game 2 that came down the wire, dedicating themselves to fixing their mistakes rather than being satisfied with the win. Now he said the challenge is closing out the Bobcats. "You dont want a series to go longer than it needs to," Spoelstra said. Al Jefferson finished with 20 points -- 15 in the first quarter -- for the Bobcats, who are still searching for the first post-season win in franchise history. After trailing most of the first half, the Heat took control in the final four minutes of the second quarter. Mario Chalmers gave Miami a 42-40 lead on a 3-pointer, Norris Cole hit a 5-foot bank shot and then another 3 from the left wing helping the Heat close the half on a 16-4 run. Miami made 8 of their first 11 3-pointers. The half, which had started with so much energy and promise for the Bobcats, ended with a colossal mistake by guard Gerald Henderson. With the clock winding down, he turned the ball over in the backcourt with 2 seconds left and then fouled James while the Miami forward was attempting a 3-pointer. James made the Bobcats pay by sinking three free throws with 0.2 left on the clock to give the Heat a 58-46 advantage at the break. "We butchered the last three-and-a-half minutes of the first half," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. Said James: "I put it on my shoulders tonight to close out the quarter the right way. And I think that resulted in the way we started the third quarter." The second half was all Miami. James, who was booed loudly almost every time he touched the ball, hit a key 3-pointer and had the breakaway dunk off a steal from Josh McRoberts in the third quarter to help push the lead to 26 midway through the third. The Bobcats never mounted a series challenge after that point. James has never lost a first-round series with his teams in Cleveland and Miami going a combined 8-0. There was some intrigue entering the game. James was outspoken on Friday after taking an elbow to the throat from McRoberts in Game 2, although no flagrant foul was called on the floor. The two made contact early in the first quarter when James drove baseline and McRoberts attempted to take a charge, but officials called a blocking foul. James made the shot but missed the ensuing free throw. McRoberts walked away after the foul clapping his hands, refusing to get upset by a call that could have easily gone the other way. Slowing down Jefferson was crucial for the Heat. He hit 7 of 9 shots to start the game helped Charlotte take a 27-23 lead after the first quarter. By the middle of the second quarter, Bobcats fans, wearing all white, began chanting "M-V-P M-V-P" as Jefferson shot free throws. But Charlottes enthusiasm was short-lived as James and the Heat began flexing its muscles. Jefferson was held to just five points in the final three quarters in large part due to Chris Bosh. "They just got up in the passing lanes and made it hard for us to get Al the ball," Clifford said. "Youve got to give them credit. Their defence was terrific." The Heat also turned up the pressure on point guard Kemba Walker, trapping him out near half court. The Heat forced 14 turnovers. NOTES: The soldout crowd of 19,633 was the largest ever to see a Bobcats game at Time Warner Cable Arena. ... Bobcats owner Michael Jordan took in the game from the end of the bench. ... James has scored at least 20 points in all three playoff games ... The Heat are 19-7 in the playoffs over the past two seasons . Heather, the first Gaiter to win the award, set a Canadian Inter-university Sport record with 3,132 passing yards in eight league games, an average of 391.5 yards per game. That beat the mark of 3,047 set only one week earlier by Westerns Will Finch, a Hec Crighton finalist. . The 18-time champions, who havent won the title since 1990, moved two points behind Arsenal after the leaders were stunned 6-3 at Manchester City on Saturday. Defending champion Manchester United trails Arsenal by 10 points after winning 3-0 at Aston Villa to avoid a third successive league loss.
http://www.chinajerseyspaypal.com/.com) - Joe Pavelski scored twice to lead the San Jose Sharks in a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers to split a home-and-home set. .Brazil midfielder Ricardo Goulart scored the winner in the 50th minute to give the defending champion a four-point advantage in the standings over second-place Sao Paulo, which beat rival Palmeiras 2-0. . -- DeMarcus Cousins had 29 points, nine rebounds and six steals to lead the Sacramento Kings to their third straight preseason win, a 107-90 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Top-seeded Tommy Haas came back to defeat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to advance to the Brazil Open semifinals on Friday. Haas broke Zeballos serve twice in a row in the decisive set to close the match and take a step closer to his second final of the year. The 12th-ranked German lost to Marin Cilic in the final in Croatia earlier this month. Haas will next play Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who reached his first ATP semifinal with an upset 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina. "Lorenzi has been around for a long time so this is a goal Im sure he has been waiting to achieve for a lifetime," Haas said. "He has nothing to lose and is going to try to go one more and get to his first ATP tour final. He is a dangerous player. Im going to have to try to play some of my best tennis." The 114th-ranked Lorenzi broke Monacos serve to go up 4-3 in the final set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 34 minutes at the Ibirapuera Arena. The 32-year-old Italian squandered a match point before losing the second set, but was in control in the third to pick up the win in the ATP 250 tournament in South Ammericas biggest city.dddddddddddd Lorenzi served 12 aces en route to his first pro semifinal after five career quarterfinal losses. "Im very happy to finally breakthrough to the semifinals," Lorenzi said. "Ive had a lot of opportunities before but was never able to come up with the victory at this stage. For sure this is one of my greatest weeks on the tour." The 43rd-ranked Monaco was trying to win his 200th clay-court match. He is the fifth-highest winner on the surface, behind Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro. Monaco had a set point in the first set but couldnt capitalize on it. "It was a very close match, he had his chances in the first set and I had mine in the second, it was very difficult," Lorenzi said. In another quarterfinal Friday, Federico Delbonis of Argentina easily beat Alberto Montanes of Spain 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour. He will play either home-crowd favourite Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil or Martin Klizan of Slovakia. Defending champion Rafael Nadal is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He chose to play at the first edition of the Rio Open, which he won last week. ' ' '
