Cleveland star LeBron James on Saturday scored 32 points — and became the youngest player to score 28,000 points in an NBA career — as the Cavaliers downed the New York Knicks 111-104 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
James, 32, took his career points tally to 28,020, good for eighth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
He reached the milestone with a step-back jumper that gave the Cavaliers a 45-31 lead with 6 minutes, 49 seconds left in the second quarter.
He also handed out 10 assists, and with two more will pass Lenny Wilkens (7,211) for 13th on the career list.
NBA champions the Cavaliers were without guard Kyrie Irving, who sat out with soreness in his right quadriceps. Deandre Liggins started in his place, scoring five points without an assist.
Kevin Love returned to the Cavs lineup after missing two games with back spasms. He contributed 23 points and 15 rebounds as Cleveland took their Eastern Conference-leading record to 34-15.
The Knicks fell to 22-30. They have not won two straight games since Dec. 20-22 last year.
Brandon James paced New York with 23 points and 10 assists.
Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, the subject of persistent trade rumors, scored 17 points, but connected on just six of 21 from the floor.
Love, whose name keeps cropping up as a player the Knicks might want for Anthony, said he was trying to ignore the trade talk.
“I don’t really think about it,” he said. “I do look at my phone, but it’s not like that really crosses my mind — or that’s not what’s top of my mind at all.”
The Knicks were without point guard Derrick Rose, sidelined for a fourth straight game by a sprained left ankle, while starting center Joakim Noah departed early with a sore left hamstring.
New York showed signs of life late, scoring six straight points to trim Cleveland’s lead to 106-101 with 59 seconds remaining.
However, James found Love for an uncontested three-pointer as the Cavs pulled away again.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS