CLEVELAND--LeBron James sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer Wednesday, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to 98-95 victory and a 3-2 first-round series lead over the Indiana Pacers.
  James scored 44 points, hitting 14 of 24 field-goal attempts and all 15 free throws. He contributed 10 rebounds, eight assists and a huge blocked shot on the Pacers' final possession just before his game-winner.
  Kyle Korver hit 5 of 9 3-point attempts en route to 19 points for the Cavaliers, who shot 41.3 percent from the floor. Kevin Love contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs.
  Cleveland would advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a win in Game 6 at Indianapolis on Friday night.
  Domantas Sabonis led the Pacers with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The offensive struggles of Indiana's leading regular-season scorer, Victor Oladipo, continued as he put up 12 points on 2-of-15 shooting. Oladipo is 12 of 50 from the field in the past three games.
  Thaddeus Young scored 16 on 8-of-9 shooting for the Pacers. Lance Stephenson had 12 points off the bench for Indiana, which shot 47.9 percent from the floor. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 11 points, and Oladipo pulled down 12 rebounds.
  The Cavaliers hit their first 21 free throws before finally missing late in the third quarter. Cleveland finished 26 of 27 from the foul line. Indiana was 21 of 27 from the foul line.
  Cleveland outscored Indiana 32-17 in the third quarter to turn a seven-point halftime deficit into an 81-73 lead. The Pacers were 5 of 16 from the field while committing seven turnovers in the third.
  The Pacers used a 6-0 run to tie it at 95-all with 14-foot jumper by Sabonis with 33.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. James then turned the ball over with 26.3 seconds left, but James blocked Oladipo's shot at the rim with three seconds left. Despite Oladipo's 2-for-9 shooting performance, the Pacers hit 21 of 38 shots (55.3 percent) to lead 56-49 at halftime.
  Cleveland played without George Hill (back spasms) for the second consecutive game.

PHILADELPHIA--JJ Redick scored 27 points to lift the Philadelphia 76ers past the visiting Miami Heat 104-91 to clinch the teams' first-round playoff series in five games Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Redick scored 20 or more points in consecutive playoff games for the first time in his career as the Sixers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2012.
Joel Embiid scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Ben Simmons had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Marco Belinelli chipped in with 11 points and Robert Covington had 10.
Kelly Olynyk led the Heat with 18 points, Tyler Johnson added 16 and Goran Dragic had 15. Justise Winslow scored 12 points and Dwyane Wade had 11.

NEW YORKA--Rookie first baseman Tyler Austin launched a three-run home run in the third inning to give the Yankees a three-run lead, and then made a sliding, over-the-shoulder catch in foul territory to preserve the lead in the top of the seventh inning during a 7-4 win over the visiting Twins on Wednesday night.

MUNICH, Germany--Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane warned on Tuesday Bayern Munich are better than they were last season when the Spaniards beat them en route to the Champions League title.

Bayern, five-time European Cup winners, host 12-time champions Real in a mouth-watering semi-final first leg on Wednesday.
The Spaniards have won back-to-back titles but the treble-chasing Bavarians are in sensational form ever since manager Jupp Heynckes took over from Carlo Ancelotti in October. Bayern have already secured the Bundesliga title and have reached the German Cup final as well.