Kevin Love scored 20 points in his first game against Minnesota, while Kyrie Irving added 29 as the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away in the second half for a 125-104 victory over the Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
Love’s reunion with the team he spent six frustrating seasons with before a summer blockbuster trade was overshadowed by an injury to Cleveland center Anderson Varejao, who had to be helped off the floor in the third quarter.
Varejao was unable to put any weight on his left leg as he was assisted to the locker room.
LeBron James added 24 points for the Cavs, now 12-3 since opening 5-7.
Rookie Andrew Wiggins scored 27 against the team that drafted him for the Timberwolves, who dropped their sixth straight and have lost 12 of 13.
LAKERS 115, WARRIORS 105
In Los Angeles, Carlos Boozer scored 18 points in his new role off the bench as Los Angeles shocked league-leading Golden State without Kobe Bryant.
The NBA’s No. 3 career scorer sat out for the first time this season to rest his tired legs, a decision made by coach Byron Scott.
The 36-year-old shooting guard, averaging 35.5 minutes through the first 27 games of his 19th NBA season and shooting just 37.2 percent, was three-for-15 in a one-point loss to Oklahoma City on Friday last week and eight-for-30 with nine turnovers in a seven-point defeat against Sacramento on Sunday.
Stephen Curry had 22 points and six assists for the Warriors, who lost for only the fourth time in their first 27 games.
TRAIL BLAZERS 115, THUNDER 111, OT
In Oklahoma City, Damian Lillard scored 40 points, making a tying three-pointer with three seconds left in regulation as Portland rallied from a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat Oklahoma City.
Lillard’s 40-point outing was his second in Portland’s last four games, following a 43-point outburst against San Antonio tomorrow.
He also had 11 assists.
Lillard went eight of 12 from three-point range, including one with 2:07 left in overtime to put Portland up 111-106. Lillard had seven points in the extra period.
Russell Westbrook scored a season-high 40 points, and added 10 rebounds and six assists for Oklahoma City before fouling out with 1:39 left in overtime.
Oklahoma City played for a third straight game without NBA MVP Kevin Durant, who has a sprained right ankle.
BULLS 99, WIZARDS 91
In Washington, Derrick Rose scored 25 points and Pau Gasol had 18 as Chicago won their fourth straight.
After Washington scored 12 straight — 10 by John Wall — to take an 87-86 lead with 3:44 remaining, Chicago steadied and scored eight straight, six by Rose, to lead 94-87 with 1:48 to play.
Wall led the Wizards with 18 points.
The Bulls outrebounded Washington 52-41.
It was the first meeting of the teams this season.
Washington defeated Chicago in the first round of last year’s playoffs, 4-1.
HAWKS 107, CLIPPERS 104
In Atlanta, Georgia, DeMarre Carroll scored a career-high 25 points as Atlanta came back from a 13-point deficit to defeat Los Angeles for their fifth consecutive victory.
Al Horford had 20 points for Southeast Division-leading Atlanta, who have won 14 of 15.
Blake Griffin had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers.
Chris Paul scored 19 points.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ 76ers 91, Heat 87
‧ Suns 124, Mavericks 115
‧ Nets 102, Nuggets 96
‧ Magic 100, Celtics 95
‧ Pacers 96, Pelicans 84
‧ Hornets 108, Bucks 101
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she sustained an abrasion on her left hip and that something “stabbed” her when she crashed during her second run of an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing. Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point, I just
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LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
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