In a match-up between the National Basketball Association's two best teams, the Miami Heat defeated the Phoenix Suns 125-115 to clinch the Southeast Division title for the first time in five years.
Guard Dwayne Wade scored 35 points and Shaquille O'Neal added 25, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to lead Miami to its 16th straight home win and its first division title since 2000. The victory puts the Eastern Conference leaders ahead of the Suns for the best record in the NBA with 53 wins against 17 losses. Phoenix leads the Western Conference with 51 wins and 17 losses.
A bomb threat caused a 90-minute delay to the start of a contest between the defending champion Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers. The teams were meeting in Detroit for the first time since November's raucous brawl between players and fans. An unidentified caller said a bomb was in the visiting Pacers' locker room, but a search found no explosives. Indiana went on to route the Pistons 94-81, snapping Detroit's 12-game home winning streak. Detroit is in second place in the Eastern Conference. Indiana is seventh.
NBA leading scorer Allen Iverson of Philadelphia hit a 4.5-meter jump shot with less than three seconds to go to give the 76ers a 103-101 win over the visiting Toronto Raptors. Iverson had 36 points for the night, and teammate Chris Webber added 32 as the Sixers try to hold on to their playoff hopes. They are currently in eighth place in the East, with only the top eight teams making the post-season.
In another exciting contest, Golden State's Derek Fisher made a three-point shot to beat the buzzer in overtime as his Warriors edged the Milwaukee Bucks 118-117.
Other NBA winners Friday were the Bulls, Rockets, Spurs, Clippers and SuperSonics.
The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 94-86, the Houston Rockets crushed the New Orleans Hornets 81-68, and the San Antonio Spurs routed the Atlanta Hawks 111-95. The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Washington Wizards 98-94, and the Seattle SuperSonics knocked off the New York Knicks 109-101 in overtime behind Ray Allen's season-high 40 points.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.