Most of the basketball world booed when the Cleveland Cavaliers rested their three best players on Saturday. Turns out the Big Three needed every bit of that conserved energy a day later to hold off the last-placed Los Angeles Lakers.
Kyrie Irving scored 46 points and LeBron James added 34 as the Cavaliers had to rally from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to edge the Lakers 125-120 on Sunday.
Kevin Love had 21 points and 15 rebounds as the Cavaliers survived a surprising challenge from 20-win opponents to clinch a playoff spot.
Photo: AFP
With a 43-point fourth quarter, Cleveland made sure the Lakers did not put an unsightly dent in their hopes of securing the top overall seed in the Eastern Conference.
“We were out of sync a little bit, but they shot the ball extremely well,” James said. “We just had to figure out a way to weather the storm ... [The Lakers] played well. They don’t look like a team that’s won only 20 games.”
James, Love and Irving all sat out the defending champions’ blowout loss to the Clippers earlier in the weekend, angering fans and the national TV audience.
James, the budding entertainment mogul with a game show on NBC, joked with Denzel Washington and other celebrities while he played, but still made sure the Cavaliers got their work done.
“[The Lakers] played well against us, but I know our team and the way we are,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “Sometimes you have to understand it is not a show, but a competition. When we get to LA and play teams like this, we consider it a show instead of a competition. When you get down early, it hurts your confidence, and now you’ve got to fight and try to win your game.”
D’Angelo Russell scored a career-high 40 points on his return to the starting lineup for the Lakers, who have lost five straight and 13 of 14. Russell hit seven three-pointers and had six assists while committing just one turnover in 41 minutes.
“He’s a special guy,” James said. “He’s a special player. Russell was extremely hot tonight and those guys fed off him.”
Jordan Clarkson added 19 points for the Lakers, while rookie Brandon Ingram had 18.
All five Lakers starters scored in double figures for the first time since Christmas.
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