James sets Heat mark with 61

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MIAMI — LeBron James scored a career-high 61 points, breaking Glen Rice’s franchise record, and the Miami Heat defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 124-107 on Monday night.

James made 22 of 33 shots from the field, including his first eight 3-point attempts. His career best had been 56 points, on March 20, 2005, for Cleveland against Toronto.

Rice scored 56 to set the Heat record on April 15, 1995, against Orlando.

James had 24 points at halftime, then added 25 in the third quarter. The record-breaker came with 5:46 left, when James spun through three defenders for a layup that fell as he tumbled to the court.

Al Jefferson had 38 points and 19 rebounds for the Bobcats, his huge night merely an afterthought.

Nets 96, Bulls 80

NEW YORK — Jason Collins played the final minutes of a winning home debut with the Brooklyn Nets, who cooled off the Chicago Bulls.

Finally playing at home more than a week after returning to the NBA as the league’s first openly gay player, Collins checked in to a standing ovation with 2:41 remaining, committed a foul just five seconds later and missed his only shot as the Nets won their third straight.

Deron Williams scored 20 points and Joe Johnson had 19 for the Nets (29-29), who got back to .500 for the first time since they were 2-2 after beating Utah on Nov. 5.

D.J. Augustin scored 16 points off the bench for the sloppy Bulls, who turned it over 28 times, leading to 30 Nets points, and had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Pistons 96, Knicks 85

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Andre Drummond had 17 points and a career-high 26 rebounds, helping the Detroit Pistons surge to beat the New York Knicks.

Carmelo Anthony scored 10 of his 28 points in a first quarter in which the Knicks led by as much as 14 and were ahead 28-20 when it ended.

Detroit reserves Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum each scored 16 points.

Amare Stoudemire had 22 points for the Knicks despite barely playing in the fourth quarter.

Grizzlies 110, Wizards 104

WASHINGTON — Tayshaun Prince scored a season-high 21 points, and the Memphis Grizzlies withstood a late rally Monday night to snap the Washington Wizards’ winning streak at six.