The Cleveland Cavaliers built up a head of steam to take a 29-point fourth-quarter lead and then held off the Detroit Pistons in their Eastern Conference play-off game.
LeBron James led Cleveland to a 94-82 victory with 29 points and 13 rebounds as the Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead in their play-off series.
"We played great basketball for three quarters," James said.
"In the fourth quarter we got a little content and we can't do that in the play-offs. We can't allow ourselves to not close games out."
The Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers also recorded victories on Tuesday.
The Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 119-109 to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference series. Kobe Bryant had 26 points and Pau Gasol 22 for Los Angeles. Deron Williams scored 35 for Utah, who host game three today.
Portland edged the Houston Rockets 107-103 as Brandon Ray scored 42 points and LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 and 12 rebounds. Aaron Brooks led Houston with 23 points and Von Wafer added 21. Yao Ming was held to 11.
The Trail Blazers' win levelled the Western Conference series at 1-1 before it moves to Houston tomorrow.
Cleveland's led 79-50 after the opening seconds of the fourth quarter before a 27-5 run brought the Pistons within seven points with 3:51 to play.
James then slotted two free throws to launch an 8-0 streak to secure the victory. Despite the way the Cavaliers finished, James said he was disappointed with the team's fourth quarter.
"We did not play with the aggression we have been playing with," he said. "I was very disappointed with our team."
Mo Williams scored 21 points and Delonte West added 20 for Cleveland, who travel to Detroit for game three tomorrow.
Detroit's scoring was more balanced. Richard Hamilton led with 17, Rodney Stuckey added 14 and Will Bynum had 13.
James did not play the first 4:45 of the fourth quarter, but the Cavaliers needed him to close out the Pistons as Bynum scored 11 points and made three assists in the first five minutes.
"Our mindset is still positive," Hamilton said. "They did what they were supposed to do. This isn't anything new, we know what it takes to win."
* Reuters
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
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Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
Factfile on Garbine Muguruza:
Name: Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
World ranking: 15 (will rise to 5 on Monday)
Date of birth: October 8, 1993
Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela
Place of residence: Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 6ft (1.82m)
Career singles titles: 4
Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2016, Wimbledon 2017)
Career prize money: $13,928,719
Hidden killer
Sepsis arises when the body tries to fight an infection but damages its own tissue and organs in the process.
The World Health Organisation estimates it affects about 30 million people each year and that about six million die.
Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
Asia Cup 2018 final
Who: India v Bangladesh
When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium
Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD
Tonight's Chat on The National
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