Heat open playoffs with win over Charlotte

LeBron James scored 27 points, Dwyane Wade added 23, and the Miami Heat rode two big runs - one late in the first half, the other down the stretch - to beat the visiting Charlotte Bobcats, 99-88, in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday. Al Jefferson will be getting plenty of treatment until then. Kemba Walker scored 20 points for the Bobcats, who started fast behind Jefferson - but he strained his left plantar fascia after a misstep in the first quarter and got a pair of injections just to continue playing. He still finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds but left the arena in a walking boot.

Spurs 90, Mavericks 85 - Tim Duncan overcame a brief injury scare to score 27 points for San Antonio, which held visiting Dallas to one field goal in the final seven minutes to win Game 1 of their first-round series.

Duncan, wearing a brace on his left knee, walked gingerly off the court with 3 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter after banging knees with Monta Ellis. He returned a minute later and played big.

Referee Joey Crawford screamed twice at a pair of scoring officials during a timeout, telling them at one point to do their jobs. Crawford, who once ejected Duncan for laughing from the bench during a game against the Mavericks, was booed regularly by the fans.

Wizards 102, Bulls 93 - Nene dominated with 24 points, Trevor Ariza scored 18, and host Washington rallied from 13 down to beat Chicago in their playoff opener. John Wall scored 16 in his postseason debut.

Thunder 100, Grizzlies 86 - Kevin Durant scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter Saturday night to help host Oklahoma City defeat Memphis in the opening game of their series.

Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who nearly squandered a 25-point lead.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he looks forward to sideline reporter Craig Sager's return, and "I promise I'll be nice."

TNT's Sager is missing the NBA playoffs as he undergoes treatment for leukemia. So his son, Craig Jr., filled in for Sunday's game against Dallas.

Popovich is famous for his terse answers to in-game questions from Sager and other sideline reporters. Sager even joked about it in a statement Friday confirming his diagnosis: "Too bad, I had some probing questions for Pop."

This time, Popovich was verbose by his standards in discussing the Spurs' play. He gave Sager a hand-written letter to deliver to his father.

- Associated Press