Mike Miller

Three years go, Inquirer reporter Michael Vitez wrote about Matt Miller, an aspiring young triathlete who survived a cycling crash that, but for an extraordinary stroke of luck, would have killed him. Vitez gives a full account of Matt's accident and his struggle to recover in a newly published book, "The Road Back: A Journey of Grace and Grit. " This excerpt describes the visit Matt and his parents, Mike and Nancy, made 5½ weeks after the accident to see Mark Harris, the doctor who saved Matt's life.

LEBRON JAMES scored 33 points, Chris Bosh added 30 and the Miami Heat used a historic third-quarter turnaround to erase a big deficit and beat visiting San Antonio last night, 120-98. Miami outscored San Antonio 39-12 in the third quarter, the second-largest differential for any quarter in Heat history, and the second-worst differential for a period in Spurs history. The Heat trailed 52-35 late in the second quarter. Miami outscored San Antonio after halftime, 71-35. Mike Miller made his season debut and shot 6-for-6 on three-pointers.

For three quarters, he was ordinary. Then, when it mattered most, LeBron James was unstoppable. James scored 39 points, including 24 in the fourth quarter, to help the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers rally for a 93-90 victory over the Toronto Raptors yesterday. "In the fourth quarter, he was amazing," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "He just took the game over and put us on his back. What a tremendous, tremendous performance. " James, who made eight of 10 field goal attempts in the fourth, said tuning out distractions helped his concentration.

After a preseason in which Miami routinely faced huge deficits, then endured a 42-point loss to Chicago on opening night, Heat coach Pat Riley wondered whether his team was on the cusp of a crisis. Shaquille O'Neal doesn't think that's the case. O'Neal had 21 points and nine rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 17 points and the Miami Heat shook off the effects of a humbling opening-night rout to defeat the visiting New Jersey Nets, 91-85, last night. "Bad things that happen to us," O'Neal said, "will only make us stronger.

Alonzo Mourning once was larger than life, the Miami Heat's biggest star. Now, even he acknowledges those days are gone. Yet Mourning also steadfastly believes he can still play at a championship-caliber level. And now, at last, he's back with Miami and ready to resume his past quest - delivering the Heat's first NBA title. The seven-time All-Star center signed a contract yesterday to rejoin Miami, the team with whom he spent eight previous seasons - a stint twice interrupted by kidney disease.

LeBron James kept his cool when his teammates lost theirs. James scored 37 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 21 to lead host Cleveland past Dallas yesterday, 100-80, despite the ejection of two players. The Cavaliers, who led by 20 points in the second quarter, looked as if they would implode late in the third quarter when Robert Traylor and Drew Gooden were tossed for arguing Traylor's foul on Jerry Stackhouse. Traylor threw his arm band into the crowd, and Gooden followed by whipping his head band into the seats.

The Memphis Grizzlies entered last night's game against the 76ers ranked first in the NBA in three-point percentage at 39.0 percent, and with two players - Mike Miller and Shane Battier - among the league leaders. That was a potential problem for the Sixers, who have allowed more three-pointers (325) and three-point attempts (933) than anyone else in the league, although their 34.8 percent mark is a respectable 10th in the NBA. Sixers coach Jim O'Brien said the best way to deal with three-point shooting is to make sure his defense gets up on whoever has the ball and strongly defend the pick-and-roll.

It was difficult to figure out what contributed most to the continuation of the 76ers' road frustration last night. Maybe it was the debut of new Memphis coach Mike Fratello that gave the Grizzlies a positive spark. Maybe it was the dominating inside play of 7-foot Pau Gasol. Maybe it was the clutch shooting of Mike Miller in the fourth quarter. Whatever it was, the Sixers went down to their sixth straight road defeat, losing, 94-86, to the Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum and giving Fratello the win in his first game on an NBA sideline since 1999.

Damon Jones offered an apology before the game. He wasn't sorry for anything he did during it. Jones, who was ejected for the first time in his career in Cleveland's previous game, made three three-pointers in the fourth quarter and two free throws in the final seconds, helping the Cavaliers hold off the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, 97-94, last night. Drew Gooden scored a season-high 22 points with 15 rebounds and LeBron James kicked in 15 points and nine assists for the Cavs, who nearly blew a 20-point lead in the second half before making big shots and big plays down the stretch to improve the Eastern Conference's best record to 8-3. On Saturday, Jones was tossed from Cleveland's loss in Washington for arguing with officials.

Maybe that paintball outing from the previous day helped the 76ers last night against the Memphis Grizzlies. Maybe they can use their 89-86 overtime victory as a turning point in their season. Oops. That's what the Sixers said last week, when they prevailed in triple overtime against the Boston Celtics. They followed that dramatic win with two of their more putrid performances of the season and figured Thursday's paintball party would bring them together. Perhaps the Sixers were more together last night as they gave one of their best defensive efforts of the season.

Three years go, Inquirer reporter Michael Vitez wrote about Matt Miller, an aspiring young triathlete who survived a cycling crash that, but for an extraordinary stroke of luck, would have killed him. Vitez gives a full account of Matt's accident and his struggle to recover in a newly published book, "The Road Back: A Journey of Grace and Grit. " This excerpt describes the visit Matt and his parents, Mike and Nancy, made 5½ weeks after the accident to see Mark Harris, the doctor who saved Matt's life.

DWYANE WADE'S role as captain of the Miami Heat comes with certain privileges. For example, he can occasionally shake off calls from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. Wade and LeBron James each scored 22 points, Mike Miller added 14 off the bench, and the Heat rode the strength of a brilliant 18-minute run midway through the game to beat the visiting New Orleans Hornets, 109-95, last night. The Hornets finished with only 25 rebounds, the lowest total in the NBA this season. James had 11 rebounds - more than any two Hornets - and eight assists for Miami, which had six players in double figures and outscored New Orleans 54-23 from the midpoint of the second quarter through the end of the third.

LEBRON JAMES scored 33 points, Chris Bosh added 30 and the Miami Heat used a historic third-quarter turnaround to erase a big deficit and beat visiting San Antonio last night, 120-98. Miami outscored San Antonio 39-12 in the third quarter, the second-largest differential for any quarter in Heat history, and the second-worst differential for a period in Spurs history. The Heat trailed 52-35 late in the second quarter. Miami outscored San Antonio after halftime, 71-35. Mike Miller made his season debut and shot 6-for-6 on three-pointers.

DALLAS - Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and the Dallas Mavericks are going back to the NBA Finals. Nowitzki swished a go-ahead three-pointer with 1 minute, 14 seconds left and Shawn Marion followed with a three-point play off a steal, the pivotal plays in yet another fourth-quarter comeback, this one sending the Mavericks to a 100-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night that closed out the Western Conference finals in five games....

For three quarters, he was ordinary. Then, when it mattered most, LeBron James was unstoppable. James scored 39 points, including 24 in the fourth quarter, to help the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers rally for a 93-90 victory over the Toronto Raptors yesterday. "In the fourth quarter, he was amazing," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "He just took the game over and put us on his back. What a tremendous, tremendous performance. " James, who made eight of 10 field goal attempts in the fourth, said tuning out distractions helped his concentration.

Damon Jones offered an apology before the game. He wasn't sorry for anything he did during it. Jones, who was ejected for the first time in his career in Cleveland's previous game, made three three-pointers in the fourth quarter and two free throws in the final seconds, helping the Cavaliers hold off the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, 97-94, last night. Drew Gooden scored a season-high 22 points with 15 rebounds and LeBron James kicked in 15 points and nine assists for the Cavs, who nearly blew a 20-point lead in the second half before making big shots and big plays down the stretch to improve the Eastern Conference's best record to 8-3. On Saturday, Jones was tossed from Cleveland's loss in Washington for arguing with officials.

After a preseason in which Miami routinely faced huge deficits, then endured a 42-point loss to Chicago on opening night, Heat coach Pat Riley wondered whether his team was on the cusp of a crisis. Shaquille O'Neal doesn't think that's the case. O'Neal had 21 points and nine rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 17 points and the Miami Heat shook off the effects of a humbling opening-night rout to defeat the visiting New Jersey Nets, 91-85, last night. "Bad things that happen to us," O'Neal said, "will only make us stronger.

The 76ers have suffered the late-game blahs recently, but they rid themselves of that problem yesterday in an unusual manner - without the help of Allen Iverson. Even though Iverson missed the second half because of a sprained right ankle, the Sixers exorcised their late-game demons with a 94-91 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum. Chris Webber missed a triple-double by a whisker with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists while playing 44 minutes and 54 seconds, including all 24 minutes of the second half.

Maybe that paintball outing from the previous day helped the 76ers last night against the Memphis Grizzlies. Maybe they can use their 89-86 overtime victory as a turning point in their season. Oops. That's what the Sixers said last week, when they prevailed in triple overtime against the Boston Celtics. They followed that dramatic win with two of their more putrid performances of the season and figured Thursday's paintball party would bring them together. Perhaps the Sixers were more together last night as they gave one of their best defensive efforts of the season.

Phoenix (1) vs. Memphis (8) Regular-season records: Suns, 62-20; Grizzlies, 45-37. Season series: Tied, 2-2. Head coaches: For Phoenix, Mike D'Antoni, 0-0 postseason; for Memphis, Mike Fratello, 20-34 postseason. Suns' strength: Offense. Amare Stoudemire, who plays forward and center, was the only NBA player in the top 10 this season in scoring (26.0 ppg.) and field-goal percentage (.559). Assist champ Steve Nash (11.5 apg., 15.5 ppg.) leads an offense that averaged an NBA-best 110.5 ppg. The rest of the potent starting lineup: Shawn Marion (19.6 ppg., 11.4 rpg.)