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
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but