LeBron James only stayed on the floor as long as needed this time.
James, accused of quitting on his team too early in his previous game, scored 19 points with a season-high 12 assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Chicago Bulls 113-94 on Thursday.
Drew Gooden added 20 points in three quarters, Anderson Varejao had a career-high 15 and Sasha Pavlovic 16 points in a season-high 25 minutes for the Cavaliers, whose bench went 21-of-30 from the field and helped Cleveland bounce back from an overtime loss on Tuesday to the Atlanta Hawks.
PHOTO: AFP
Following that game, James took some heat for walking off the court while there was still about 10 seconds left on the clock. The Cavaliers were down by nine points at that point, but that didn't seem to matter to critics who felt James should have played hard until the final horn.
Against the Bulls, James took a leisurely walk to Cleveland's bench with 5:12 left. By then, the Cavs had built a 24-point lead and coach Mike Brown decided to give rookie Shannon Brown some playing time.
Mavericks 119, Suns 112
At Phoenix, Dirk Nowitzki scored 35 points, Jason Terry had 30 and Jerry Stackhouse added 23 to help the Mavericks beat the Suns in a rematch of last season's Western Conference finals.
Leandro Barbosa scored 30 points, Shawn Marion had 21 and Steve Nash added 20 for Phoenix, which fell to 1-5, the Suns' worst start since they dropped 13 in a row to open the 1996-97 season.
This was the first meeting of the clubs since last summer's Western Conference finals, won by Dallas in six games. And it was played at the same frantic pace, with six lead changes and three ties in the final quarter. But this time the teams were motivated by desperation rather than a trip to the NBA Finals.
The Suns and Mavs entered the game with a combined 1-8 record, and both teams were last in their divisions.
Warriors 121, Hornets 116
At Oakland, California, Baron Davis had 36 points and nine assists against his former club and Golden State knocked off the NBA's last unbeaten team with a victory over New Orleans.
Monta Ellis scored 21 points and Davis hit five of the Warriors' nine free throws in the final 37 seconds of the game as Golden State scored easily and often against the Hornets' usually impressive defense.
Troy Murphy added 20 points for the Warriors, who avenged a 97-93 loss in Oklahoma City two days earlier -- the Hornets' fourth straight win to open the season.
Chris Paul had a career-high 34 points and 10 assists in another dominant game, but the Hornets couldn't extend the best start in the franchise's 19-year history.
David West scored 21 points and Peja Stojakovic had 18 at the start of a three-game road stretch for the Hornets, who won their home openers in both New Orleans and Oklahoma City.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
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