Los Angeles  - Paul Pierce stepped up, and the Boston Celtics tightened up the Eastern Conference race.

Pierce scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half, and the Celtics bounced the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 105-94 on Friday night in a battle of the East's elite.

"For us to get this win is huge," Pierce said, "because we're both playing for first-place in the Eastern Conference and for home-court advantage."

`Dunkyard,' an inter college basketball tournament organised by the Bharati Vidyapeeth's Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development Pune (IMED) will be held in their campus from March 5.

Los Angeles  - The Cleveland Cavaliers, looking to beef up their front court for the playoff push, will sign recently-released veteran forward Joe Smith on Wednesday.

"After careful consideration of his options, Joe has decided that the Cavs are the best fit," Smith's agent, Dan Fegan, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Smith was released by the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the 14-year veteran must wait to clear waivers before signing what is believed to be a one-year contract.

It's been three long years since he walked down the Indian Gymkhana basketball court here in Matunga. That's long enough to have forgotten the feeling of TeraFlex under your feet, the smell of the sultry coastal air, noise of a frenzied crowd chanting your name and much more. For Sozhasingarayer Robinson, India's basketball sensation, it was déjà vu the moment he stepped in to play his first match at the Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament on Tuesday.

Foul play costs St Mary's School

It was a clash of the titans when JN Petit took on St Mary's in the 4th Vasantrao Limaye Memorial under-13 Basketball Championship, at the Dastur court here on Tuesday.

Though the teams were well matched on the paper, and in their skills, it was debutants JN Petit who had the last laugh as they huffed and puffed before prevailing 49-42 to enter into the semi-finals of the Championship.

As an 11-year-old, Geethu Anna Jose tagged alongside her sister as the two made their way to the athletics centre at Mt Carmel High School in Kottayam, Kerala every evening. Geethu watched her sister sweat it out on the track and field. Predictably, it wasn't long before she gave in to the temptation of wearing some athletic gear herself, trying to emulate her older sibling.

However, what wasn't predictable then was that five years later, Geethu would represent her country in a sport that hardly resembles athletics — basketball. Geethu, 23, today is India's women's captain. She has even played for Ringwood Hawks, an Australian professional basketball league team.