Riley’s Heat Gets Burned by James

LeBron James scored 41 points and Donyell Marshall added a season-high 25 to help the Cavaliers hold off Miami, 115-107, Saturday night in Cleveland, handing Coach Pat Riley his first loss since taking over the Heat on Monday.

The Cavaliers led by as many as 22 late in the third quarter. But Miami pulled to within eight points, 95-87, with 8 minutes 9 seconds left on strong inside play from Alonzo Mourning and Antoine Walker.

Then James took over, scoring Cleveland’s next 13 points as the Cavaliers made it 108-98 with 3:29 to go.

The Heat had won four in a row, including three with Riley after Stan Van Gundy resigned Monday. Shaquille O’Neal got into foul trouble early and tied a season-low with 10 points.

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San Antonio 90, Sacramento 89 -- Michael Finley hit a 20-foot jumper with 2.5 seconds left to give the Spurs a win at home over Sacramento.

Tony Parker had 25 points and 12 assists for the Spurs, and Tim Duncan added 24 points and had 14 rebounds. Finley had 16 points. Shareef Abdur-Rahim led the Kings with 25 points.

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Indiana 102, New York 96 -- Jermaine O’Neal scored 31 points, including the go-ahead basket with 1:56 left as the Pacers won in New York, handing the Knicks their season-high sixth straight loss. Stephon Marbury scored 25 points for the Knicks.

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Detroit 103, Charlotte 78 -- Chauncey Billups had 21 points and 12 assists and the Pistons routed the Bobcats in Charlotte, N.C., to improve to an NBA-leading 18-3 -- the best 21-game mark in franchise history.

Richard Hamilton had 15 points and Ben Wallace 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Pistons. Primoz Brezec had 17 points for the Bobcats.

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Memphis 91, Phoenix 87 -- Mike Miller had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Pau Gasol also scored 14 to help the Grizzlies break a three-game losing streak with a victory in Memphis over the Suns.

Eddie House led the Suns with 21 points. Steve Nash had 19, including 10 in the fourth.

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Utah 88, Milwaukee 80 -- Mehmet Okur had 14 points and 14 rebounds in the Jazz’s road victory over the Bucks.

Michael Redd led the Bucks with 19 points.

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Chicago 118, Boston 86 -- Michael Sweetney had 24 points and seven rebounds and Chris Duhon added 22 points and eight assists to lead the Bulls at home over the Celtics.

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Ron Artest said last weekend that he wants to be traded from Indiana. But Mark Stevens, Artest’s agent, told the Associated Press that Artest hopes he can remain a Pacer.

“We’re waiting to hear from [Pacers president] Donnie Walsh, the gentleman and scholar that he is, and hope this can be resolved to where there won’t have to be a trade,” Stevens said.

Artest was involved in a brawl with Detroit fans in November 2004 and was suspended for 73 games and the playoffs. Walsh said his trade request was “the last straw of a lot of issues.”