Kevin Love had 17 points and 18 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their embarrassing performance against Golden State with a 91-78 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.
LeBron James also had 17 points and neither forward played in the fourth quarter, a welcome rest with a home game against the Los Angeles Clippersyesterday.
More importantly for the Cavs, it was a welcome performance after they were crushed 132-98 on Monday in the NBA Finals rematch.
Photo: AP
PISTONS 123, ROCKETS 114
In Houston, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Marcus Morris each scored 22 points as Detroit beat Houston, despite Andre Drummond setting an NBA record by missing 23 free throws.
Drummond set a career high and franchise record by attempting 36 free throws on a night he was intentionally fouled 21 times. The previous record for most misses was 22, set by Wilt Chamberlain on Dec. 1, 1967.
The Hack-A-Shaq tactic allowed the Rockets to take the lead in the third quarter when they did it 12 straight times, but it did not help them close the gap in the fourth when Drummond went out for good with five-and-a-half minutes left after seven hacks in the quarter and Detroit leading 107-94.
James Harden had his first triple-double of the season and seventh of his career with 33 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and 14 assists in the loss.
Drummond finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
WARRIORS 125, BULLS 94
In Chicago, Stephen Curry scored 25 points as Golden State made it look easy again in beating Chicago.
Curry tied a season high with 11 assists and grabbed seven rebounds.
Klay Thompson added 20 points. Harrison Barnes scored 19, and the defending champions simply outclassed Chicago after embarrassing LeBron James and the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Monday night. The Warriors built a big lead in the first quarter and never were threatened after that, improving their league-best road record to 20-4.
Derrick Rose scored 29 and Jimmy Butler added 23 points.
THUNDER 109, HORNETS 95
In Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant scored 26 points to help Oklahoma City beat Charlotte for their sixth straight win.
Russell Westbrook collected 16 points, 15 assists, eight rebounds and five steals in 27 minutes before sitting out the fourth quarter because the Thunder were in control.
Steven Adams had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who have won 21 of their past 25 games. Kyle Singler added a season-high 11 points.
Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, who scored 52 points Monday in a win over Utah, led the Hornets with 21 points.
Jeremy Lin scored 16 points.
KINGS 112, LAKERS 93
In Los Angeles, DeMarcus Cousins had 36 points and 16 rebounds, while Rajon Rondo added 11 points and 17 assists in the Kings’ sixth consecutive victory over the Lakers.
Rudy Gay scored 16 points for the Kings, who have won three straight and six of nine. Cousins continued his tear through 2016 with another brutally effective performance, scoring at least 29 points for the eighth time in the Kings’ nine games this month.
Kobe Bryant scored just two of his 15 points after halftime and Brandon Bass had a season-high 18 for the Lakers, who have lost four straight and eight of nine to drop to 9-35.
HAWKS 104, TRAIL BLAZERS 98
In Portland, Oregon, Paul Millsap had 23 points and nine rebounds, leading Atlanta to their third straight win.
Kent Bazemore also had 23 points for the Hawks, who have won four straight against the Blazers.
C.J. McCollum had 28 points for Portland, who trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, but came all the way to grab an 84-79 lead after Meyers Leonard’s three-pointer with 8:10 left.
Kyle Korver wrestled back the lead for the Hawks with his first three-pointer of the game, before Millsap’s three-pointer and Al Horford’s jumper stretched Atlanta’s lead to 98-92 with 1:53 left. Portland could not catch up.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Knicks 118, Jazz 111, OT
‧ Mavs 106, Timberwolves 94
‧ Wizards 106, Heat 87
‧ Raptors 115, Celtics 109
‧ 76ers 96, Magic 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