LeBron James scored 26 points before sitting out the fourth quarter as the Cleveland Cavaliers quickly took a charged-up New York crowd out of the game in a 119-101 victory over the Knicks on Tuesday.
Delonte West added 16 points and Wally Szczerbiak had 15 for the Cavaliers, who rang up their highest point total of the season and put seven players in double figures, showing they may have more help than ever for James, the NBA’s leading scorer.
Fans hoping someday to see James play in New York got to learn how good his Cleveland team is right now. The Cavaliers turned it into a blowout while James was enjoying his first rest to start the second quarter, and improved the NBA’s third-best record to 11-3.
PHOTO: AP
Quentin Richardson scored 22 points and newcomer Tim Thomas had 16 for the Knicks, who lost for the fourth time in five games and fell to 7-7.
SUNS 99, THUNDER 98
At Oklahoma City, Matt Barnes hit a three-pointer from the left wing with 25.7 seconds left to complete Phoenix’s fourth-quarter rally and spoil Scott Brooks’ home debut as Oklahoma City head coach.
PHOTO: AP
The Thunder led throughout the second half and had been up by as much as 16 late in the third quarter before Steve Nash rallied the Suns with a 13-0 run.
Barnes’ three-pointer gave Phoenix its first lead of the second half.
The Thunder had two final chances to win, but Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both missed shots on their final possession.
Amare Stoudemire finished with 22 points, Nash had 20 points and 15 assists and Barnes scored 16.
Durant led Oklahoma City with 29 points and Chris Wilcox scored a season-high 18.
WIZARDS 124, WARRIORS 100
At Washington, Ed Tapscott’s coaching debut with Washington was much more successful than Jamal Crawford’s playing debut with Golden State.
Coaching his first game of any sort since a spot on the bench in his daughter’s youth league in 1993, Tapscott juggled a few things and guided the Wizards to a blowout, breaking a five-game losing streak and avoiding the worst 12-game start in franchise history.
Caron Butler scored a season-high 35 points, Andray Blatche had season highs with 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Antawn Jamison added 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Wizards improved to 2-10 with their best scoring output of the season. Their 124 points topped any number achieved in the first 11 games under Eddie Jordan, who was fired on Monday and replaced by Tapscott, who had been the team’s director of player development.
Corey Maggette scored 17 to lead the Warriors, who have lost three straight.
MAVERICKS 109, PACERS 106
At Dallas, Jason Terry scored 29 points and combined with Jason Kidd to key a fourth-quarter run that rallied Dallas past Indiana for its fifth straight victory.
Dirk Nowitzki added 24 points and 12 rebounds and Antoine Wright scored a career-high 24 for the Mavericks. Terry and Kidd combined for all of Dallas’ points in an 18-8 spurt that helped the Mavs erase a 13-point second-half deficit.
Kidd finished with 11 points and 13 assists as the Mavericks won their second consecutive home game after dropping their first four.
Danny Granger’s 22 points and Troy Murphy’s 21 with 14 rebounds led the Pacers. Brandon Rush added 18 points off the bench for Indiana, which has lost five of six.
LAKERS 120, NETS 93
At Los Angeles, Pau Gasol had 26 points and eight rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter as Los Angeles overcame a poor shooting performance by Kobe Bryant to rout New Jersey and improve the NBA’s best record to 12-1.
Bryant had difficulty most of the game with Vince Carter’s defense, going 5-for-17 from the field in 28 minutes and finishing with 12 points in the Lakers’ fifth straight victory.
Devin Harris had 21 points for the Nets, who shot only 34.5 percent and were 3-for-19 in the fourth quarter. Carter scored 14 points before sitting out the final 6:51.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
RSS