LeBron James set aside first-half foul trouble to finish with 28 points in only 25 minutes on Friday night, while Kyrie Irving scored 25 points to help the surging Cleveland Cavaliers overwhelm the Washington Wizards 127-89.
Cleveland led by as many as 22 points before halftime and as many as 40 after to win for the 15th time in their past 17 games.
The 38-point margin was Washington’s largest loss of the season.
The Cavaliers also produced the most points by a Washington opponent in a first quarter (35) and first half (65).
About the only glaring mistake the Cavs made was Kevin Love’s flubbed attempt at a driving, two-handed dunk — the basketball hit the front of the rim.
All-Star point guard John Wall had 18 points and nine assists for Washington.
RAPTORS 105, HAWKS 80
In Atlanta, Georgia, Lou Williams made seven of 10 three-pointers and scored 26 points as Toronto routed Atlanta in a matchup of the Eastern Conference’s top teams.
DeMar DeRozan added 21 points for Toronto.
The Raptors outscored the Hawks 28-13 in the third quarter to open a 23-point lead.
Williams had four of Toronto’s 15 steals and the Raptors blocked nine shots.
Atlanta still have a 5.5 game lead over Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings, but the Raptors won the season series 3-1. No other team has two wins over the Hawks.
The Hawks have lost four of seven games following a record 19-game winning streak.
Friday’s other results:
‧ Heat 111, Knicks, 87
‧ Warriors 110, Spurs 99
‧ Kings 109, Celtics 101
‧ Bucks 89, Nuggets 81
‧ Pistons 100, Bulls 91
‧ Pacers 106, 76ers 95
‧ Mavericks 111, Rockets 100
‧ Timberwolves 111, Suns 109
‧ Magic 95, Pelicans 84
‧ Jazz 92, Trail Blazers 76
‧ Nets 114, Lakers 105
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
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