In the NBA, Carmelo Anthony scored 13 of his 34 points in the third quarter and hit the game-clinching free throws with 2.9 seconds left in New York's 89-85 victory over Detroit. The Knicks outscored the Pistons 32-17 in the third period and handed Detroit its season-high fifth straight loss.
The Indiana Pacers improved to an NBA-best 28-6 while keeping their 1 ½-game lead over Miami in the Eastern Conference. Roy Hibbert scored 22 points and Danny Granger matched his season high with 13 to help the Pacers beat Toronto 86-79. The Heat kept pace as LeBron James scored 32 points and Dwyane Wade added 22 in Miami's 107-88 comeback win against New Orleans.
Boston fell to Denver 129-98. Cleveland beat Philadelphia 111-93. It was Washington over Charlotte 97-83. Golden State topped Milwaukee 101-80. Chicago had a 92-87 win over Phoenix.
The San Antonio Spurs moved into a first-place tie with Oklahoma City in the NBA's Western Conference after defeating Memphis 110-108 in overtime. Dallas beat the Lakers 110-97. Utah took Oklahoma City 112-101 and it was Sacramento over Portland 123-119.
In college basketball, No. 2 Syracuse defeated Virginia Tech 72-52. Fifth-ranked Michigan St. beat. No. 3 Ohio St. 72-68 and it was No. 9 Iowa St. over seventh-ranked Baylor 87-72.
Checking news on the ice, the NY Islanders knocked off Toronto 5-3. New Jersey fell to Philadelphia 3-2 in overtime. Anaheim beat Boston 5-2. Nashville beat San Jose 3-2. Tampa Bay doubled up Winnipeg 4-2. Phoenix shut out Calgary 6-0. St. Louis beat Edmonton 5-2. Pittsburgh won 5-4 against Vancouver in a shootout. Minnesota defeated Los Angeles 2-1 in a shootout. Carolina's game at Buffalo was postponed due to a snowstorm in Western New York.
Finally, Russia has begun implementing stringent security measures in Sochi, one month before the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Among the measures being implemented is a ban on all vehicles from the area except for those registered in Sochi or with special Olympics passes.
Two suicide bombings last week killed 34 people and injured scores of others in the city of Volgograd, which is about 400 miles away from Sochi.
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