LeBron James scored 23 points, Kevin Love had 24 and the Cleveland Cavaliers pushed their winning streak to 12 games on Thursday night with an easy 105-94 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, who also lost their composure.
The Cavs built a 32-point lead in the third quarter, allowing James and Love to sit out the fourth and rest. With their longest winning streak since a franchise-best 13-gamer in 2010, the Cavs moved into first place in the Central Division. Cleveland was seven games behind Chicago when the streak began with a victory over the Lakers on Jan. 15.
The Clippers were whistled for five technical fouls, including four in a contentious third quarter when they lost their California cool and forward Matt Barnes was ejected.
Blake Griffin scored 16 points for Los Angeles, whose subs made the score respectable in the fourth.
MAVERICKS 101, KINGS 78
In Sacramento, California, Monta Ellis had 21 points and six assists to lead Dallas, minus Dirk Nowitzki and Rajon Rondo, over struggling Sacramento.
The Mavericks broke open a tie game in the second quarter when they made nine straight shots, including four three-pointers, in a three-and-a-half-minute span as they outscored the Kings 22-6.
Dallas had a 37-20 edge in the second to take a 60-43 halftime lead.
HORNETS 94, WIZARDS 87
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Gerald Henderson scored 27 points and Charlotte defeated Washington for the second time this week.
Henderson was 10 of 15 from the field as the Hornets beat the Wizards for the fifth straight time. Charlotte won at Washington on Monday night, 92-88.
The Wizards have dropped five in a row overall.
Brian Roberts had 12 points and provided a huge spark late in the third quarter after Charlotte fell behind by 11. Lance Stephenson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jason Maxiell added 11 points apiece for the Hornets (22-27).
Paul Pierce scored 19 for the Wizards. John Wall had 15 points and 13 assists.
Charlotte picked up its defense in the fourth quarter, holding the Wizards to five-of-19 shooting.
Wizards guard Bradley Beal left in the first half with an injury to his right big toe and did not return. He had one point in 11 minutes.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Trail Blazers 108, Suns 87
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite