If indeed LeBron James decides to leave Cleveland, fans in Chicago would certainly hail The King. They certainly let out enough cheers along with those oohs and aahs as he soared around the United Center on Friday night.James became the youngest player to score 15,000 career points, breaking Kobe Bryant’s mark by more than two years, and the Cavaliers pulled away to beat the Bulls 92-85 for their 12th win in 13 games.Breaking that record, James said, was “very humbling” and the result of all the time he spends honing his game.James scored 13 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, giving him 15,026 in his career, and had 11 rebounds. He scored seven in a row late in the game as Cleveland increased its lead to 10, sending the Bulls to their 10th straight loss.James reached the milestone at 25 years, 79 days, and he did it in his 540th game. Bryant was 27 years, 136 days and playing his 657th game,when he did it for the Los Angeles Lakers.The question is: Whose uniform will he be wearing when he reaches them? James, who can opt out of his contract after the season, would be the top attraction in a star-studded free-agent class if he decides to leave, and the Bulls will have the salary-cap room to offer a maximum deal.James praised the Chicago fans, saying, “To respect the way I play the game when they’ve seen the greatest basketball player of all time, with tonight it’s real humbling.” Would James want to keep playing here? “I’m here,” he said. “They can see me until I catch the plane.” Mo Williams added 18 points for the Cavaliers, who continued to roll without the injured Shaquille O’Neal. They’re 10-1 with their big man recovering from a thumb injury.The Bulls hung close without the injured Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah, but matched their longest losing streak since November 2001 despite strong efforts by rookies Taj Gibson (20 points, 13 rebounds) and James Johnson (16 points).James, who reached the 15,000-point mark in the opening minutes, put away the Bulls in the closing minutes.He checked back into the game with just over seven minutes left and Chicago up 75-74 and immediately delivered a two-handed alley-oop dunk, hanging on the rim. The loss simply added to the misery for the Bulls.Deng could miss two to three more weeks because of a strained right calf, putting his status for the rest of the season in question. Rose has now missed four straight because of a sprained left wrist he sustained in a collision with Orlando’s Dwight Howard. He is a gametime decision for Saturday at Philadelphia, as is center Joakim Noah, who has missed the past 10 games with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.The injuries came at a bad time for the Bulls, who just wrapped up a stretch of nine straight against contenders, yet they hung in against the team with the league’s best record.James soared in for a hard right-handed dunk on a break about 4:40 into the game and hit two free throws about 40 seconds later, giving him 15,001 career points. Otherwise, he was rather quiet until the fourth.

GLENDALE—Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano each hit two-run homers, leading the Cubs to an 8-4 win over then White Sox on Friday.The Cubs and White Sox completed their spring training series against each other, with the Cubs taking three of the four.Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot was 2 for 3, upping his spring average to .536. Marlon Byrd and Xavier Nady hit solo home runs for the Cubs, and Kosuke Fukudome had an RBI triple and scored in the first.Gordon Beckham drove in a run with a double for the White Sox in the third inning, the second baseman’s fourth double of spring training. A.J. Pierzynski added three hits for the Sox, but key relievers Scott Linebrink and J.J. Putz each gave up a home run.

LOS ANGELES—Tomas Kopecky scored twice in a 3:20 span in the third period, and Antti Niemi made 17 saves for his fifth career shutout in the Blackhawks 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Kopecky’s second multigoal game of his career helped the Blackhawks avoid losing four consecutive games for the first time this season. Troy Brouwer opened the scoring in the second period. It was only the second time the Kings have been shut out this season. Jonathan Quick stopped 34 shots, including a breakaway by Patrick Sharp 41 seconds into the third. Despite losing one of their defensemen to an injury in each of the previous three games, the Blackhawks overcame the absence of Kim Johnsson, Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook and outshot the Kings 24-93-8 through the first 35 minutes. Jordan Hendry made a nice play to break up a 2-on-1 rush by the Kings after Wayne Simmonds got a return pass from Michal Handzus a few feet from the crease with about 12 minutes left in the second period. Hendry also started the play that led to Brouwer’s goal at 11:36 of the period, forcing a turnover in the neutral zone by Kings captain Dustin Brown. The puck eventually got to Patrick Kane, who was thwarted at the right of the crease by Quick. But Quick couldn’t control the rebound, and Brouwer jammed it home after Rob Scuderi made a desperate attempt to swipe the puck out of danger as it lay in the crease.Brouwer’s 20th goal gave the Blackhawks at least five players with 20 or more in consecutive seasons since 1990-91, when they accomplished the feat for the third straight year. Kane’s 52nd assist eclipsed the career-high total he had two seasons ago, when he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. Kopecky made it 2-0 at 2:48 of the third, beating Quick to the glove side with a seemingly harmless wrist shot from outside the left circle.Kopecky added his sixth of the season on a short wrist shot from the slot at 6:08, after defenseman Jack Johnson tried to clear the puck in front of the net and put it right onto Kopecky’s stick.

NOTES—Kings longtime play-by-play man Bob Miller returned to the TV booth for the first time since March 4 after being sidelined by shingles. The Hall of Famer has missed only 21 games in his 37 seasons with the club. … The Blackhawks came with an average of 9.5 more shots on net than its opponents, leading the league with 34.2 per game and allowing a league-low 24.7. They outshot Los Angeles 37-17. … The Kings had just three shots on net in the second period. They had only two against the Blackhawks in the third period Nov. 9 at the United Center…. The Blackhawks, coming off a 4-2 loss at Anaheim on Wednesday night, are 12-1-3 in the second game of back-to-back sets. … Sharp, who had 13 goals in just 15 previous games against Los Angeles, had all four of his shots stopped by Quick. … The Blackhawks won the season series 3-1.

ANAHEIM—For the second straight game, the Blackhawks lost a key member of their defense because of a vicious check against the boards behind the net.To add insult to injury, Anaheim’s Saku Koivu scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period — just seconds after a blind-side cross-check by Corey Perry against defenseman Brent Sopel that easily could have been called interference. As a result, the Ducks won 4-2 Wednesday and handed the Blackhawks their third straight loss — preventing them from tying idle San Jose for the Western Conference lead.The play started when Lubomir Visnovsky’s shot from just inside the blue line was deflected high in the air, and Sopel was cross-checked to the ice by Perry as they waited for the puck to come down. Perry then got the puck to Koivu, whose 20-foot wrister beat Corey Crawford with 5:36 remaining.Anaheim defenseman and former Hawk James Wisniewski knocked Brent Seabrook out of the game less than two minutes into the second period. Wisniewski began his NHL career with the Blackhawks before getting traded to the Ducks in March 2009.He drove his ex-teammate into the glass behind the Hawk net with a vicious shot to the jaw, causing Seabrook’s head to strike the glass with enough force that it left him with a dazed expression a couple of seconds before he crumpled to the ice.Wisniewski’s hit was payback for Seabrook’s aggressive check on Perry seconds earlier in almost the same spot on the ice.Todd Marchant had a short-handed goal and Bobby Ryan scored twice on his 23rd birthday, including an empty-netter in the final minute. Jonas Hiller made 38 saves for the Ducks, who won the season series 3-1 and are 16-4-2 in their last 22 meetings with the Hawks.The Central Division-leading Blackhawks began a three-game road trip without three-time All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell, out with a fractured collar bone and broken rib after he was checked into the boards from behind by Washington’s Alex Ovechkin. So this latest incident only made them angrier.Campbell’s consecutive-game streak ended at 388, the second-longest among current defensemen. The last time the 10-year veteran missed a game was Oct. 28, 2005 with the Buffalo Sabres and is expected to be sidelined about seven to eight weeks.Ovechkin received a 5-minute boarding penalty and his third game misconduct of the season, along with a subsequent two-game suspension. The Blackhawks are hoping Wisniewski gets suspended as well.Seabrook and Marian Hossa scored for the Blackhawks, and Crawford made 32 saves after getting called up from Rockford of the AHL on an emergency basis.

NOTES—Ryan joined Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya as the only players in Ducks history with 30 or more goals in consecutive seasons…..Two seasons ago, Crawford beat the Ducks 3-0 at Chicago for his first NHL shutout. It came in his second career start — and his first in more than two years…..Hossa’s goal was his 21st this season and 12th in 19 career games against Anaheim.

DALLAS—The Dallas Mavericks got back to their winning ways and avoided the first-quarter struggles that have bothered them lately. They also were thrilled to get Jason Terry back just two weeks after surgery to repair a broken bone in his face.With Jason Kidd taking the final period off, backup J.J. Barea was part of a defensive collapse that let the Bulls turn this near-rout back into a tight game. Then Barea recovered, scoring 10 straight points to help the Mavericks pull out a 113-106 victory Wednesday night.Caron Butler scored 27 points, and Dirk Nowitzki had 26 as the Mavericks won for the 14th time in 15 games. They’d tied the NBA’s longest winning streak this season with 13 straight, then ended it with a thud — a 34-point loss to New York on Saturday night.After three days without a game, Dallas came out clicking. The Mavs were up by 12 after the first quarter and by 20 at halftime. They were hitting nearly 70 percent well into the third quarter.Then the Bulls scored on 11 of their first 12 possessions in the fourth quarter. They were down only 98-90 when Barea hit a jumper, two 3-pointers and a layup to give Dallas some breathing room, leading by 15 with 3:36 left.The Bulls, wearing green uniforms for St. Patrick’s Day, lost its ninth straight.Although the Bulls got Kirk Hinrich back from a one-game suspension, they were still without point guard Derrick Rose (sprained left wrist), swingman Luol Deng (right calf strain) and big man Joakim Noah (left foot plantar fasciitis).They seemed to be going through the motions much of the night, earning just 10 free throws through three quarters. They got to the line 13 times in the final period and made things interesting again after Barea’s surge, but it was too little, too late.Dallas native Acie Law scored a season-high 22 points for Chicago. Five other players scored in double figures, and two more scored nine points. But the Bulls were done in by a defense that allowed at least 100 points for the 12th straight game.Barea finished with 15 points and Roddy Beaubois scored 11, picking up the slack for Kidd. Kidd was 0 for 5 and ended a streak of 30 straight games with a 3-pointer, which had been second-best in the NBA. He was 0 for 4 from behind the arc.Hinrich missed the previous game because of contact with a ref. He might need to be on his best behavior from now on — he got called for a technical foul with 2:05 left.

NOTES—Kidd appeared to have upped his 3-point streak by swishing a 40-footer at the end of the third quarter. Alas, replays show he let go too late….Dallas has won 19 of its last 22 games against the Bulls…..Rose missed his third straight game, Deng his fourth straight and Noah his 16th overall.

STONY BROOK—Illinois felt the sting of being left out of the NCAA tournament.Then, the Fighting Illini were forced to hit the road to start the NIT despite being a top seed in their bracket because Cirque du Soleil was playing at Assembly Hall.Despite all that, Illinois still was able to beat eighth-seeded Stony Brook 76-66 in front of a loud sellout crowd of 4,423 at Stony Brook Arena on Wednesday night.Mike Davis led Illinois (20-14) with 17 points, and Demetri McCamey barely missed a triple-double with 16 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. D.J. Richardson also contributed 16 points and Mike Tisdale added 15 for the Fighting Illini, who had been knocked out in the Big Ten semifinals.Next up in the second round is fourth-seeded Kent State on Monday at Assembly Hall. Illinois is two victories away from the NIT’s version of the Final Four at Madison Square Garden.Bryan Dougher made five 3-pointers on the way to a 21-point effort for the Seawolves (22-10). The America East regular-season champs were playing the first postseason game in their 11-year Division I tenure.It was the first time the Seawolves had hosted a Big Ten team, and it was only their third home game against a BCS conference team. It was also their first game on national television.Stony Brook Arena, which has been scheduled for renovation, was used to accommodate more fans. The team had played its home games in the same complex, but at Pritchard Gymnasium, which holds 1,680 fans. But the bigger arena was rocking for this game.After McCamey hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to give the Fighting Illini a 38-36 lead, the All-Big Ten first-team guard drilled another 3 to start the second half and launch a 10-2 run. Tisdale and Richardson also made 3s in the burst, helping Illinois open a 48-38 advantage.The Seawolves cut it to 48-43 and later trimmed a 12-point deficit to 59-54 with seven minutes left, but they never got closer than that five-point margin.Illinois, which had fallen behind 7-0 at the start of the game, went 8 of 8 from the line in the final minute to clinch it.Stony Brook got hurt by the Fighting Illini on the boards, getting outrebounded 38-25.

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KINGSTON—Akeem Richmond scored 14 of his 16 points during a big first-half run as Rhode Island defeated Northwestern 76-64 on Wednesday night in an NIT opener.The Rams (24-9) will play host to a second-round game against Nevada, which beat Wichita State.Rhode Island lost a bid to the NCAA tournament by losing six of its previous 10 games, and was determined to end its season on a winning note. Juice Thompson led the Wildcats (20-14) with 24 points, while Northwestern’s leading scorer, John Shurna, was held to 15 — 3.3 below his season average.Northwestern led 22-20 when Richmond scored 14 consecutive points for Rhode Island in a span of 3:07 which helped give the Rams a 34-28 lead. Richmond connected on all four of his 3-pointers during the run.Rhode Island’s Orion Outerbridge converted a three-point play with 1:04 left in the half to give the Rams a 37-30 lead at intermission.Richmond acknowledged that he relished the chance to play against a zone — Northwestern alternated between a 1-3-1 and a matchup — instead of man-to-man defense.Shurna averaged 18.3 points and shot 46.4 percent before the NIT, but coach Jim Baron alternated five players on him within the context of his team’s man-to-man defense. The closest NU could get in the second half was 41-39, but Rhode Island went on an 8-0 run to break the game open.

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DAYTON—Chris Johnson scored 13 points and Dayton used a 19-1 second-half run to pull away and beat Illinois State 63-42 in the opening round of the NIT on Wednesday night.Chris Wright grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Dayton (21-12) to a 42-27 advantage on the boards. The Flyers will play at Cincinnati in the second round.Dayton was coming off a conference tournament loss to Xavier that was typical of many of its losses this season. The Flyers squandered a 15-point lead in the second half, but this time the formula of a deep bench, relentless man-to-man defense and rebounding worked. The Flyers held the Redbirds to 33.3 percent shooting. Osiris Eldridge, the Missouri Valley Conference’s leading scorer, shot only 4 for 15 but led the Redbirds (22-11) with 12 points. Dayton saw its 13-point lead cut to 42-37 with 10:27 to play, but Johnson started the Flyers’ huge run with a 3-pointer. Four minutes later, Marcus Johnson hit a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper on back-to-back trips to put the Flyers up 54-38 with 6:07 left. Dayton scored the next seven points before Eldridge hit a 3-pointer to end a nearly eight minute field-goal drought for Illinois State.

GLENDALE—Andruw Jones hit his first spring home run and added four RBI against his former team, and the White Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Wednesday.White Sox starter Jake Peavy pitched five innings, giving up a run on three hits.Jones crushed a three-run home run to left field in the fifth inning off Ramon Troncoso. He also had an RBI double in the third off Russ Ortiz.James Loney delivered the only run off Peavy, a solo home run in the second inning, his first of the spring. It was Loney’s first game since returning from a goodwill series in Taiwan.Manny Ramirez, who went 0 for 2 with a walk, was also playing in his first game since returning from Taiwan.Loney’s home run is the only run Peavy has given up in eight innings this spring.Ortiz, in the battle for the No. 5 slot in the Dodgers’ rotation, gave up two runs on six hits in four innings. The veteran right-hander opened the spring with seven scoreless innings before the White Sox scored twice in the third.Ortiz was trying to keep pace with namesake Ramon Ortiz, who already has pitched nine scoreless innings for the Dodgers this spring.The Dodgers’ Carlos Monasterios, a Rule 5 pickup from the Phillies, pitched three scoreless innings in relief to also remain in the fifth-starter battle.White Sox relievers Matt Thornton, Tony Pena, Scott Linebrink and Carlos Torres held the Dodgers scoreless over the final four innings, giving up a combined three hits.White Sox catcher Ramon Castro received a glancing blow off the top of his helmet by an Ortiz pitch in the fourth inning and left the game. He was sent to a local hospital for a CT scan that came back negative.

NOTES—White Sox relievers Bobby Jenks and J.J. Putz both pitched in simulated games. … The White Sox released RHP Daniel Cabrera (21.00 ERA in three appearances) who pitched previously with Baltimore, Washington and Arizona. They also released OF Jason Botts and optioned top minor-league prospect Dayan Viciedo.

MEMPHIS—The Bulls, what’s left of them — are slipping further away from the last Eastern Conference playoff spot.Undermanned because of injuries and a suspension, the Bulls dropped their eighth straight, as O.J. Mayo scored 24 points in the Memphis Grizzlies 104-97 victory Tuesday night.Mayo connected on 8 of 12 shots from the field, including going 4 for 5 from 3-point range. Six Grizzlies finished in double figures.Mike Conley had 19 points and 10 assists, while Zach Randolph added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Rudy Gay had 12 points, and Marcus Williams and Hasheem Thabeet finished with 10 apiece. Thabeet grabbed nine rebounds.The loss dropped the Bulls 1½ games behind the idle Toronto Raptors for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. The Bulls committed 19 turnovers, some down the stretch as they tried to overcome Memphis with a fourth-quarter rally.Flip Murray scored 25 points for the Bulls, while Hakim Warrick came off the bench for 22, including 10 in the fourth as the Bulls made a run. Acie Law finished with a season-high 18 points, while Jannero Pargo had 12. Brad Miller had 10 points and 11 rebounds.The Bulls used some unusual lineups because their top four scorers did not play. Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah were out with injuries, while guard Kirk Hinrich was serving a one-game suspension for bumping a ref in last Friday’s loss to Miami.Memphis led by as many as 25 in the third, but had to hold on after missing 10 of its first 12 shots in the fourth quarter.Despite the injuries, the Bulls came out with a burst. Memphis appeared complacent as if it didn’t think it would have trouble with a bunch of reserves. Law made four of his first five shots, and that, coupled with seven early Memphis turnovers, helped the Bulls grab an early double-digit lead.The lead held until the midway point of the second quarter, when 17 unanswered points by Memphis erased the Bulls’ advantage and helped the Grizzlies carry a 55-44 lead into halftime. Mayo had 17 for Memphis, while Conley scored 12.The Bulls, who shot 55 percent in the first quarter, managed only 5 of 18 in the second period as Memphis outscored the visitors 30-18.The Grizzlies continued to stretch the advantage at the opening of the second half, eventually reaching 20 before Del Negro called timeout. It didn’t help much, as Memphis would lead by as many as 25 before holding an 85-67 lead after the third period.The Bulls cut it to 94-90 on Pargo’s three-point play with 3:39 remaining. Back-to-back baskets by Randolph gave Memphis a 98-90 lead and the Grizzlies held on.The ending continued a recent trend for Memphis. For the third time in the past four home games, the Grizzlies built a lead of at least 20 points, but had to hang on at the end.

NOTES—The Bulls have lost five straight in Memphis. The last time the Bulls won a road game in the series was 96-88 on Dec. 15, 2004, about a month after President Barack Obama was elected — as the new U.S. senator from Illinois. … The Bulls haven’t won since they beat Portland 115-111 in overtime on Feb. 26. Two losses during the skid were to Memphis. …Marc Gasol sat out with a strained neck muscle, the first game he has missed in his career. He played in the first 149. … The Bulls have allowed at least 100 points in 11 consecutive games. The last time the Bulls allowed 100-plus points in that long a string was 1986 — Michael Jordan’s second year in the league, and two years before Rose was even born. …The Bulls only regular starter was rookie guard Taj Gibson (2 points). The Bulls were missing 59.6 points.

GLENDALE—Aaron Cook allowed six runs and six hits in three innings and the White Sox got a 6-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.The Sox had two three-run innings in winning for the first time at Camelback Ranch this Spring. Alex Rios’ first-inning triple drove in two, and Mark Kotsay and Juan Pierre had three hits and an RBI.Rios left the game after three innings with pain in his left quadriceps, but manager Ozzie Guillen said it isn’t serious.Outfielder Carlos Quentin was hit twice with pitches and was removed for a pinch runner in the fourth, but is expected to play Wednesday.Rockies infielder Omar Quintanilla injured his left knee and left the game after three innings.The White Sox bullpen was strong in relief of starter Freddy Garcia. Randy Williams, Daniel Hudson, Sergio Santos and Greg Aquino, all competing for final roster spots, held the Rockies scoreless on two hits over six innings.

NOTES—White Sox outfielder Jared Mitchell is expected to miss the 2010 season after surgery this morning to repair a torn tendon inside his left ankle. Mitchell will be immobilized for four to six weeks before beginning rehabilitation. Mitchell, a top prospect and former first-round draft pick, was injured making a catch against the wall on March 12. …Jake Peavy downplayed a rumor that he was in a major car accident earlier this week, saying he was only tapped from behind while stopped at a red light. … The White Sox optioned pitchers Freddy Dolsi, Lucas Harrell, Jhonny Nunez, Brian Omogrosso and Clevelan Santeliz to Triple-A Charlotte, outrighted pitcher Brandon Hynick to Charlotte, optioned pitcher Santo Luis to Double-A Birmingham and reassigned catcher to Cole Armstrong to minor-league camp. Dolsi, formerly with the Detroit Tigers, has appeared in 48 major league games.