LeBron James was back in the Cleveland Cavaliers' starting lineup Sunday against the Washington Wizards after missing a game for the first time this season because of a sprained left ankle.
"I felt pretty good, so I'm going to give it a little run," James said before tipoff. "I don't plan on playing my usual 42 minutes a night, of course. (But) I don't want to sit out the rest of the games."
The Cavaliers already clinched the No. 4 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs, so coach Mike Brown planned to limit the minutes played by James and some other starters in their last three regular-season games.
RILEY TO MISS GAME: Miami Heat coach Pat Riley will not accompany his team to Atlanta today, heading instead to upstate New York to visit his ailing mother.
Mary Riley, 96, still lives in the Schenectady, N.Y., area where Riley grew up. The team announced Riley's departure about an hour after Sunday's game; Riley did not mention the situation in his press conference following Miami's 117-93 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
The team does not know if Riley will coach the team against the Hawks on Tuesday night. Following the Atlanta game, the Heat will fly to Boston — a much shorter trip from the Schenectady area — and end the regular season on Wednesday.
PIERCE SIDELINED: All-Star Paul Pierce missed Boston's game against the New Jersey Nets on Sunday night because of bursitis in his left elbow.
Pierce, sixth in the NBA with 26.8 points per game, scored 22 in the Nets' 79-74 win over the Celtics in Boston on Friday night.
Rookie Gerald Green started in Pierce's place.
The Celtics (32-47) have been eliminated from playoff contention, while the Nets will be the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.