NBA 2014-15: Cleveland Cavaliers’ hot streak continues in big win against Toronto Raptors
LEBRON James posted season-best numbers on a quiet day for the NBA’s Australian contingent. Get your full wrap of all today’s action here.
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LEBRON James posted season-best numbers on a quiet day for the NBA’s Australian contingent. Get your full wrap of all today’s action here.
HOW THE AUSSIES FARED
Aron Baynes had a quiet night as his star-studded Spurs had a hard-fought win against Memphis.
Baynes was only called upon for 12 minutes — managing four points, five rebounds and two blocks — in the 107-101 win as Tim Duncan did the majority of the work in the paint.
Joe Ingles and Dante Exum both played around 20 minutes but scored just three points each in Utah’s five-point loss against Orlando.
Exum chose not to shoot despite being wide open a number of times, and drew big cheers from the home crowd when he finally netted his first points, a three-pointer that got his team within four points of the lead early in the final quarter.
Ingles found other ways to have an impact, dishing out four assists and snaring a steal.
CAVALIERS 105 — RAPTORS 91
LeBron James had 24 points and a season-best 13 assists and Kevin Love added 15 points and 13 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their sixth straight game by beating the Toronto Raptors 105-91.
Tristan Thompson set season highs with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving scored 15 for the Cavaliers, who are unbeaten since a 110-93 home loss to Toronto on November 22.
Amir Johnson scored a season-high 27 points and Kyle Lowry had 22 as Toronto lost for the third time in five games.
Irving, who scored a season-high 37 points in Thursday’s win at New York, had just two points in the first half but connected on six of 12 field goal attempts in the second half.
Toronto trailed 76-64 to begin the fourth quarter, but back-to-back three-pointers by Terrence Ross and Lowry made it 89-83 with 5:43 left.
After a Cleveland time-out, James pushed the lead back to eight with a jumper. Amir Johnson made two free throws but Thompson answered with a pair from the line, then finished an alley-oop dunk off a pass from James to put the Cavaliers up 95-85 with 4:08 left.
A reverse layup by James Johnson and a dunk by Amir Johnson cut it to 97-91 at 1:53, but Thompson sealed his season-high point total with a pair from the line, then added a hook shot with 1:08 left, restoring Cleveland’s 10-point cushion.
HORNETS 103 — KNICKS 102
Kemba Walker drove for a left-handed layup as time expired to lift Charlotte to a 103-102 win over the New York Knicks, snapping the Hornets’ 10-game losing streak.
Gerald Henderson scored a season-high 22 points and Al Jefferson had another double-double for the Hornets, who nearly squandered a 20-point lead for the third time this season.
The Knicks stormed back from 20 down late in the third quarter behind 32 points from Carmelo Anthony to take the lead with less than a minute left. But Anthony missed a short jumper and the Hornets grabbed the rebound with four seconds remaining.
After a time-out, Walker received a half-court inbounds pass around the top of the key, faked to the right and found a crease down the left side of the lane. He put the ball off the glass for the winner, sending the Knicks to their seventh straight loss.
THUNDER 103 — 76ERS 91
Oklahoma City Thunder registered their first win with stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in the line-up together, joining the growing list of teams to have thumped the Philadelphia 76ers.
Westbrook had 27 points to lead the Thunder, who improved their record to 6-13.
Durant, the NBA’s reigning MVP, had 10 points while playing in his second game after missing the first 17 with a fractured right foot. After scoring 27 points on nine-for-18 shooting in his return to the court in a 112-104 loss at New Orleans, Durant was in danger of not reaching double-figures in scoring for the first time since 2009 before scoring on a layup with 2:41 remaining.
Westbrook, playing in his third game after returning from a broken hand, made eight of 14 shots.
The Thunder broke the game open with a 13-3 run to start the second half, capped by Serge Ibaka’s three-pointer that made it 70-50 with 8:17 left in the third quarter.
Philadelphia got as close as seven points after Luc Mbah a Moute’s layup with 3:12 left, but the Thunder scored eight straight to go in front 101-86 with 1:37 left and put the game out of reach.
Westbrook looked great in the first half when he scored 14 points to help Oklahoma City take a 57-47 lead at the break.
Durant opened the scoring, draining a three-pointer 21 seconds into the game. But he missed his three other shots in the first half and finished with five points in 15 minutes.
SPURS 107 — GRIZZLIES 101
Tim Duncan notched his first triple-double since 2010 on Friday as NBA champions San Antonio beat Memphis 107-101 to end the Grizzlies’ 22-game regular-season home winning streak.
Duncan scored 14 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and handed out 10 assists for the Spurs, who have now beaten the Grizzlies nine straight times.
Duncan, 38, now owns eight career triple-doubles — four in the regular season and four in the playoffs. He became the second-oldest player, behind 40-year-old Karl Malone in 2003, to post a triple-double.
His feat, and San Antonio’s 14 three-pointers, helped the Spurs overcome the third-quarter departure of Tony Parker with what the team called a mild hamstring strain.
The Spurs jumped out to a 13-2 lead and never trailed.
Manu Ginobili contributed 17 points and seven assists and Danny Green added 16 points for San Antonio, who have won nine of their last 10 games.
Spanish centre Marc Gasol, who was a game-time decision with a right knee bruise, posted 28 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for Memphis.
Mike Conley added 23 points and 10 assists for the Grizzlies, who have lost two straight after seeing their five-game winning streak snapped by Houston on Wednesday.
CELTICS 113 — LAKERS 96
The Boston Celtics led for all bar two minutes of their clash with the Los Angeles Lakers as they romped to a 17-point win.
Tyler Zeller had season highs of 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who went ahead for good just two minutes into the game in the 113-96 win.
The Lakers had cut a 92-78 deficit to 92-83 with 7:49 remaining on a three-point play by Nick Young.
But a basket by Avery Bradley began a 13-point Celtics run that put them ahead 105-83 with 3:54 left. They led by at least 17 the rest of the way.
Kobe Bryant scored 22 points but made only nine of 21 shots as the Lakers lost their second straight game after winning two in a row.
Boston won its second straight after losing their previous five as Jeff Green scored 19 points and Jared Sullinger had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
WIZARDS 119 — NUGGETS 89
The Washington Wizards are officially off to their best start in 40 years.
The Wizards now own the second best record in the Eastern Conference thanks to their biggest win of the season, a 119-89 thrashing of the Denver Nuggets.
Kris Humphries scored 20 points, Rasual Butler and Kevin Seraphin each had 16 and six Wizards finished in double figures in the 30-point rout.
Wilson Chandler, who scored 10 straight Denver points in a two-minute span in the third quarter, led the Nuggets with 20 points, but his team dropped to 9-10 after slumping to its lowest score of the season.
The Wizards’ 13-5 record particularly impressed Paul Pierce, who has played in 11 playoff teams and one that won the NBA championship.
“You see a lot of similarities to teams that have made long playoff runs and teams that made it to the finals,” Pierce said.
Pierce played on some great Boston Celtics teams, and in his first year with the Wizards thinks his new team can get much better.
“We know it’s early in the season,” Pierce said. “But we like where we’re at right now.”
HAWKS 98 — NETS 75
DeMarre Carroll scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half and Paul Millsap had 17 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Brooklyn Nets 98-75 for their fifth straight victory.
Brook Lopez had 20 points and Joe Johnson added 12 for the Nets, who had won two in a row, including a tough victory over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs.
Both teams struggled with their shooting in the first quarter and and Brooklyn held an 18-16 edge at the start of the second. But it was the Hawks who were able to shake off their sluggish start.
After Kevin Garnett’s layup with 8:08 remaining in the second, the Hawks tightened up their defence and forced the Nets to miss nine straight shots while going on a 14-0 run.
Mike Scott started the spurt with a three-pointer and Carroll’s second three capped the run to extend Atlanta’s lead to 37-22 with four minutes left in the half. Lopez ended Brooklyn’s scoring drought with a three-point play.
Carroll outscored the Nets 14-13 in the second quarter after they missed 13 of their first 14 shots. Brooklyn went five of 19 in the period.
MAGIC 98 — JAZZ 93
The Orlando Magic sent Utah to its eighth loss in a row, with Tobias Harris scoring 22 points and Victor Oladipo 20 to hold off a late Jazz surge..
Harris made a three-pointer from the corner and then converted a three-point play on a drive to give the Magic an 88-78 lead with 4:04 to play.
Drives and jumpers from Harris and Oladipo kept the Jazz at bay and gave the Magic just their second win in their last eight games.
Kyle O’Quinn scored 13 points, Ben Gordon had 12, and Channing Frye added 11 points for the Magic, who will close their six-game road swing at Sacramento on Saturday with a chance to go 3-3 on the trip.
Derrick Favors led the Jazz with 21 points, 13 rebounds and a season-high five blocked shots. Enes Kanter had 16 points and Rodney Hood scored 15, but defence was again the problem for the reeling Jazz.
BUCKS 109 — HEAT 85
Kendall Marshall poured in a trio of big three-pointers in the final quarter as the Milwaukee Bucks had a huge win over NBA finalists Miami.
Marshall came off the bench and scored a season-high 20 points as the Bucks cruised to a 109-85 result.
The Bucks’ bench was the key to snapping the team’s three-game losing streak as it outscored the Heat’s bench 41-15, with Marshall receiving plenty of assistance from Khris Middleton with 14 points, Jerryd Bayless’ 12 and Jared Dudley’s eight.
Milwaukee starters Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo each had 14 points and Brandon Knight added 13.
Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 28 points and Chris Bosh added 21 points as Miami opened their five-game road trip with a third straight loss.
SUNS 118 — MAVERICKS 106
Goran Dragic had 28 points and a season-high 13 assists to help the Phoenix Suns end Dallas’ five-game winning streak.
Markieff Morris chipped in 22 points for the Suns and Eric Bledsoe had 19as they ran out to an 18-point lead in the first quarter and held on after Dallas pulled within five in the fourth.
Monta Ellis scored 33 points for the Mavericks, who couldn’t match their best winning streak of the season after going 4-0 on an Eastern Conference road swing.
The Suns looked fresh coming off two days of rest as they started a stretch of four games in five nights. They shot 70 per cent in the first quarter and set a season high for points in a half, leading 69-57 at the break.
Phoenix shot 56 per cent for the game and won for the 26th straight time when shooting at least 50 per cent. The streak dates to the start of the 2013-14 season.
ROCKETS 114 — TIMBERWOLVES 112
James Harden can thank his Houston teammates for a two-point win against Minnesota after the Rockets star scored 38 points but fouled out with 1:20 left to play and watched as a 13-point lead evaporated to send the game into overtime.
Houston’s Nick Johnson scored on a driving layup with 0.8 seconds to secure a Rockets victory, 114-112.
Harden made 11 of 17 shots and also had six assists, while Jason Terry, the veteran who has been so valuable to the Rockets with Dwight Howard out, hit a three-pointer and then two free throws in overtime to finish with 19 points.
Thaddeus Young had 19 points for the Timberwolves, the last two coming with 15.9 seconds to go in overtime to tie the game at 112.
But Johnson got loose on the final possession and bulled to the rim to hit a tough layup that gave the Rockets their sixth win in seven games.
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