LeBron Drops 61 on Charlotte – NBA Roundup

UNDATED (AP) — Until Monday, LeBron James had never scored more than 51 points in a game during his four seasons with the Miami Heat. He topped that - and then some - in leading the Heat to a 124-107 win over Charlotte.

James torched the Bobcats for 61 points, breaking his previous career high of 56 set with Cleveland against Toronto almost nine years ago. He made 22 of his 33 shots, including his first eight 3-point attempts.

James also broke Glen Rice's franchise record of 56 points set in April 1995.

Chris Bosh scored 15 for the Heat, who rolled to their eighth straight win while Dwyane (dwayn) Wade was given the night off.

Miami improved to 43-14, 1 1/2 games behind East-leading Indiana with two games in hand.

In other NBA action:

— Wesley Johnson slammed home an alley-oop dunk with 6.9 seconds left to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 107-106 win over Portland, ending the Trail Blazers' five-game winning streak. Pau Gasol (pow gah-SAHL') led the Lakers with 22 points and Jodie Meeks added 21.

— Tayshaun Prince scored a season-high 21 points and Memphis reeled off a 17-2 run in the third quarter of a 110-104 victory at Washington. Zach Randolph had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who ended the Wizards' six-game winning streak and climbed within one game of the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth.

— The Nets are at .500 for the first time since Nov. 5 after Deron Williams scored 20 points and Joe Johnson had 19 in a 96-80 rout of the Chicago Bulls in Brooklyn. The Bulls committed 28 turnovers and lost for just the second time in 11 games.

— Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves have completed a 4-1 road trip with a 132-128 win at Detroit. Love scored 33 points and tied a season high with 19 rebounds in his NBA-high 50th double double of the season.

— It's now a seven-game losing streak for the Knicks after Andre Drummond had 17 points and a career-high 26 rebounds in Detroit's 96-85 victory against New York. Backups Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum each scored 16 points as the Pistons ended a four-game slide.

— Milwaukee blew out Utah 114-88 as Ersan Ilyasova (her-SAHN' eel-yah-SOH'-vah) poured in 31 points. The Bucks took control by outscoring the Jazz 40-19 in the third period.

— DeMarcus Cousins contributed 23 points and 12 rebounds to Sacramento's 96-89 verdict over New Orleans. Isaiah Thomas had 22 points in the victory.

NEW YORK (AP) — A person with knowledge of the situation says the Brooklyn Nets will sign Jason Collins to a second 10-day contract. After that, the Nets would have to sign him for the rest of the season if they wanted to keep him. Collins signed his original deal on Feb. 23, becoming the NBA's first openly gay player, and it expires Tuesday.