Lamar Odom scored a season-high 28 points and Kobe Bryant added 19 as the streak-breaking Los Angeles Lakers handed the Cleveland Cavaliers its first loss at home this season at 101-91 on Sunday.
The Cavaliers came in 23-0 at Quicken Loans Arena, but were stopped by the Lakers, who ended Boston’s 19-game winning streak on Christmas Day and halted a 12-game run by the Celtics earlier this week.
James finished with 16 points on just 5-of-20 shooting for Cleveland, which hadn’t lost at home since Game 5 against Washington in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
PHOTO: AP
Pau Gasol added 18 points with 12 rebounds for Los Angeles. The Lakers’ trip started rocky with center Andruw Bynum injuring his knee against the Grizzlies, but it couldn’t have ended any better.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 22 to lead Cleveland. Mo Williams, whose All-Star snub had infuriated the Cavs, scored 19 and James finished with 12 assists and eight rebounds. It was James’ first game since his apparent historic triple-double at Madison Square Garden was downgraded when the league took away one of his 10 rebounds.
SPURS 105, CELTICS 99
At Boston, Roger Mason pulled up and leaned into a 3-pointer with 20.4 seconds left and Tim Duncan scored 23 points with 13 rebounds to lead San Antonio past Boston.
Kevin Garnett scored 26 points with 12 rebounds and Paul Pierce had 19 and eight.
TRAIL BLAZERS 109, KNICKS 108
At Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy scored at the final buzzer to give Portland a victory over New York.
Travis Outlaw made a jumper with 31.9 seconds left to pull Portland within one at 108-107 and Al Harrington missed a layup on the other end for New York. The Trail Blazers called a timeout with 4.3 seconds left before Roy took an inbound pass from Rudy Fernandez and drove for the winning layup.
Roy finished with 19 points and eight assists, while Outlaw led the Blazers with 23 points. Greg Oden had 17 points and 12 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season. He also added a career-high six blocked shots.
MAGIC 101, NETS 84
At Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard had 30 points and 16 rebounds to lift the Magic to a victory over New Jersey, which played without Vince Carter.
Mickael Pietrus added 17 points and Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 for the Magic.
Carter missed the game with a hyperextended right elbow.
HEAT 96, BOBCATS 92
At Miami, Dwyane Wade shook off flu-like symptoms to score 22 points and regain the NBA scoring lead, while rookie Mario Chalmers scored 16 and added a career-best 13 assists to help Miami hold off Charlotte.
Daequan Cook added 16 points and Udonis Haslem scored 14 for Miami, which shot a season-best 56 percent and won for the second time in its last six games.
D.J. Augustin scored 27 points for Charlotte, Juwan Howard added 14, while Boris Diaw and Emeka Okafor each scored 10.
WIZARDS 119, PACERS 117
At Washington, Caron Butler scored 15 straight points, including a game-winning 18-foot shot at the buzzer as Washington beat Indiana.
Butler, who missed the previous two games with the flu, scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and 35 overall as Washington overcame a 110-103 deficit with 5:08 left.
Danny Granger led Indiana with 29 points, while T.J. Ford added 23 and Troy Murphy had 18 and 10 rebounds.
HORNETS 101, TIMBERWOLVES 97
At New Orleans, Sean Marks dunked with 7.8 seconds left to cap a career-high 18-point effort as a short-handed New Orleans overcame the ejection of David West.
Rasual Butler scored 23 and Devin Brown 14 for New Orleans, which won its second straight while handing Minnesota its third-straight loss.
West was ejected late in the second for a flagrant on Mike Miller.
THUNDER 116, KINGS 113
At Oklahoma, Kevin Durant scored 39 points as Oklahoma City held off Sacramento after blowing a 19-point second-quarter lead.
Jeff Green and Nick Collison each scored 15 points and Nenad Krstic had 14 for Oklahoma City, which pulled out the win despite missing four of five free throws in the finals seconds. The Thunder have a two-game winning streak for just the third time this season.
Beno Udrich scored 29 points, and John Salmons and Kevin Martin each had 23 for the Kings.
In other games it was:
• Suns 107, Pistons 97
• Warriors 116, Jazz 96
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB