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NBA

Cavaliers fire Lucas and promote Smart

CLEVELAND -- John Lucas was fired Monday as coach of the Cavaliers, who have the league's worst record and have shown few signs of development this season.

The 49-year-old Lucas, who was in his second season with the Cavs and had another year left on his contract, was replaced by assistant Keith Smart.

The Cavs are 8-34 and just returned from a 1-5 West Coast trip. Cleveland blew second-half leads in several of those games, and the players on the league's youngest team were not showing the kind of progress general manager Jim Paxson wanted.

Paxson said the trip was the culmination of problems he had seen over the past month.

"I felt that the development was not where it should be, both from an individual and team standpoint," he said.

Paxson said he met with Lucas on Monday morning. Assistant Jerry Eaves also was fired, while another assistant, Ron Ekker, was retained.

It is the first NBA coaching job for Smart, who is in his third season in the Cavs organization.

Lucas is the third coach fired by the Cavs since 1999. Mike Fratello and Randy Wittman were let go when they were unable to resurrect a franchise that has not gotten past the Eastern Conference final in its 33-year history.

Lucas had a 37-87 record in 11/2 seasons with the Cavs, his third stint as an NBA coach. He spent two years with the 76ers and two with the Spurs.

Lucas played 14 seasons in the NBA after being the No. 1 overall pick in the 1976 draft by the Rockets. He played for six teams before finishing his career with the Rockets in 1990.

STERN FIRM ON SUSPENSION: Commissioner David Stern defended the seven-game suspension of the Trail Blazers' Rasheed Wallace, saying the league won't tolerate threats against officials.

"You can't have somebody menacing an official on their way out of the building and threatening to do violence to him," Stern said.

Wallace was suspended Saturday for a confrontation with referee Tim Donaghy on the Rose Garden loading dock in Portland after the Blazers' 100-92 victory over Memphis last week. Wallace had a season-high 38 points on 16-of-20 shooting in the game. But Donaghy whistled Wallace with a technical in the third quarter.

Monday's games

WIZARDS 89, NUGGETS 74: Michael Jordan had 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead visiting Washington.

Jordan shot just 5-for-14 from the floor in the first three quarters, but made four jump shots, a driving layup and a finger roll during a decisive 15-4 run. He shot 11-for-22 in the game.

While Jordan struggled, the Wizards counted on Larry Hughes for their offense. Hughes scored 20 and sparked a 21-6 third-quarter run that helped Washington overcome a sluggish first half in which it had just 39 points.

KNICKS 72, HEAT 65: New York's Latrell Sprewell outscored Miami in the first quarter in a game that matched the league record for fewest combined points in a first half with 57.

Sprewell had 14 of his 24 points in the first quarter as New York took an 18-12 lead. Miami eventually went ahead by eight, but the Heat managed only 11 points in the fourth and lost on the road for the seventh straight time.

BULLS 115, HAWKS 102: Jalen Rose had every reason to smile -- Chicago ended a 19-game road losing streak.

"It's a big-time burden being lifted," he said. "We're in decent shape if we can find a way to play better on the road."

Rose matched a season high with 37 points and Marcus Fizer added 24 to help end the drought.

PISTONS 88, PACERS 78: Ben Wallace scored a season-high 14 and had 15 rebounds for host Detroit.

After trailing much of the game, Detroit went on a 9-0 run to take an 82-73 lead with 1:29 left. The Pistons pulled within 11/2 games of the Central-leading Pacers, who had won six of seven.

HORNETS 114, SUNS 102: David Wesley scored 28, hitting five 3-pointers, to lead host New Orleans.

Wesley's fifth 3-pointer gave New Orleans its largest lead (89-72) early in the fourth. He entered averaging more than 21 points his past seven games.

Jamaal Magloire scored a season-high 22, including several dunks, and had nine rebounds for New Orleans, which has won two straight after losing five in a row.

TIMBERWOLVES 89, RAPTORS 81: Kevin Garnett had 19 points and 15 rebounds and host Minnesota held on despite a late 16-5 run by Toronto.

Point guard Troy Hudson returned after missing three games with an ankle injury to score 16 in 27 minutes off the bench for the Timberwolves.

Hudson, who sprained his ankle Jan. 13 against Denver, hit a 3-pointer to spark a 15-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters that put the Wolves ahead for good.

SPURS 87, ROCKETS 82: Tim Duncan scored 32 and converted a tiebreaking three-point play in the final minute for host San Antonio.

The Rockets erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth despite point guard Steve Francis and center Yao Ming spending the quarter on the bench.

Francis, coming off a career-high 44 points in Houston's win over the Lakers on Friday, was 1-of-12 from the floor and finished with four points in 31 minutes.

TRAIL BLAZERS 99, GRIZZLIES 87: Bonzi Wells scored 14 and had nine rebounds, and Jeff McInnis added 15 points off the bench for visiting Portland.

Portland, playing its second game without leading scorer and rebounder Rasheed Wallace (suspension), had six players in double figures, including three reserves.

KINGS 102, WARRIORS 80: Peja Stojakovic scored 11 of his 16 in the third and Sacramento beat host Golden State for the 13th straight time and 29th in the past 35. Vlade Divac added 16 points and 11 rebounds and Chris Webber had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Kings. CELTICS 100, 76ERS 99: Paul Pierce scored 40 and Antoine Walker added 33, including the winning 3-pointer in the final minute, for visiting Boston.

Boston, which trailed by 20 at halftime, has won four in a row.

Allen Iverson had 29 points, and Eric Snow added 17 for the Sixers, who have lost eight of 10.

JAZZ 106, NETS 103 (OT): Karl Malone forced overtime on a basket with less than a second remaining and had four of his 24 points in the extra period for host Utah in a foul-filled, physical game.

Utah's John Stockton added a season-high 25 points, including eight in overtime, and went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 20.2 seconds to seal the Jazz's fourth straight win.

There were 63 personal fouls called in the game, which lasted nearly three hours.

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