The Cleveland Cavaliers overcame the absence of LeBron James to earn a 97-95 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.
With James sidelined for the second game in a row due to an injured ankle, the Cavaliers sunk eight consecutive free throws as time wound down to hold off the charging Spurs.
“This is a resilient team,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “We have a lot of capable players. The thing you look for is you want to make sure guys keep trusting one another. That trust factor was a big thing.”
Cleveland’s Delonte West scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, and Mo Williams added 17 and eight assists to help the NBA’s top team improve to 50-15.
Manu Ginobili had a game-high 38 points, including seven three-pointers, but the Spurs, who were missing point guard Tony Parker due to a hand injury, squandered a five-point lead with around six minutes to go.
After Williams made free throws to put the Cavs on top 95-92 with nine seconds to play, Roger Mason missed a potential game-tying three-pointer for San Antonio (36-25).
In addition to playing without James, the league’s reigning MVP, Cleveland were also without Shaquille O’Neal (thumb) and lost Antawn Jamison to a knee injury in the third quarter.
San Antonio had won four in a row coming into the game, despite Parker sustaining his injury on Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
George Hill, taking Parker’s place in the starting lineup, scored 23 for the Spurs, who led by three points at half-time and by six early in the fourth.
GRIZZLIES 107, NETS 101
At Memphis, Tennessee, Mike Conley and Rudy Gay had 21 points each, and Spaniard Marc Gasol added 19 points and 13 rebounds as Memphis withstood a second-half rally to defeat New Jersey and snap an eight-game home losing streak.
Memphis got help from DeMarre Carroll and Sam Young, who scored 10 points each, ending the Nets’ three-game road winning streak.
Courtney Lee scored a career-high 30 points to lead New Jersey, while Devin Harris added 28. Reserve Terrence Williams finished with 14, and Brook Lopez scored 10 points.
MAVERICKS 125, TIMBERWOLVES 112
Shawn Marion had a season-high 29 points and 14 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks stretched the league’s longest active winning streak to 12 straight games with a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points and Caron Butler had 23 for Dallas, which has flourished since acquiring Butler and Brendan Haywood from the Washington Wizards at the trade deadline.
In other NBA games it was:
• Knicks 99, Hawks 98
• Hornets 135, Warriors 131
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