LeBron James and the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday absorbed their most lopsided loss of the season when they were routed by the Toronto Raptors 133-99.
The Cavaliers have dropped six of eight dating to a Christmas Day loss at defending champions the Golden State Warriors.
James scored 26 points in this loss, while Isaiah Thomas missed his first 11 shots.
Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA Today
After losing to Minnesota 127-99 on Monday night, the Cavaliers fell by an even bigger margin. Toronto’s 133 points were the most by any Cleveland opponent this season and marked the third straight game that Cleveland have allowed at least 127.
Fred VanVleet scored a career-high 22 points, while Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and a season-high 18 rebounds as the Raptors overcame the absences of two starters.
C.J. Miles scored 16 points, while Pascal Siakam and Norm Powell each had 14 and DeMar DeRozan 13 for the Raptors, who were without point guard Kyle Lowry (bruised tailbone) and forward Serge Ibaka (suspension).
CELTICS 114, 76ERS 103
In London, Kyrie Irving had 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds as Boston overcame a 22-point deficit to beat Philadelphia in the eighth NBA game played in England.
Jaylen Brown added 21 points, while Marcus Morris had 19 points and eight rebounds to help the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics extend their winning streak to seven games.
J.J. Redick had 22 points and hit five three-pointers for Philadelphia, but the 76ers were unable to take advantage of their fast start as the Celtics’ NBA-best defense tightened at the O2 Arena.
Joel Embiid had 16 points and fellow All-Star hopeful Ben Simmons added 15 for the 76ers.
LAKERS 93, SPURS 81
In Los Angeles, Brandon Ingram scored 26 points and Lonzo Ball added 18 as Los Angeles beat shorthanded San Antonio for their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Larry Nance Jr had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who blew an early 19-point lead before running away in the fourth quarter.
Ball contributed 10 rebounds and six assists as Los Angeles snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Spurs at Staples Center since April 2013, the last time the Lakers made the playoffs.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half for the Spurs, who committed 21 turnovers while playing without injured starters Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and Danny Green.
CLIPPERS 121, KINGS 115
In Sacramento, California, Tyrone Wallace intercepted a pass at mid-court and drove in for a dunk with 10.9 seconds left, moments after what looked like a costly turnover by Lou Williams, as Los Angeles held off Sacramento after blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.
The Clippers, who lost DeAndre Jordan to a sprained left ankle in the second quarter, won their third straight over the Kings this season and their 11th in a row at Sacramento.
Williams recorded 30 points and six assists, one night after scoring a career-high 50 points against defending champions the Golden State Warriors.
Blake Griffin had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in his return to the Clippers after missing two games with a concussion, while Montrezl Harrell scored a season-best 25 — including 16 in the second quarter, when Los Angeles put up 43 points.
The Clippers led 106-92 early in the fourth before the Kings rallied to go ahead 113-112 on Bogdan Bogdanovich’s layup with 2 minutes, 10 seconds remaining.
Griffin followed with a three-pointer and Williams later scored on a short jumper.
Bogdanovich scored 22 points and George Hill added 21, but he missed two free throws over the final 70 seconds.
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