LeBron James on Wednesday shrugged off five absent players and an ill coach with a virtuoso performance, rallying the Cleveland Cavaliers at home over Eastern Conference leaders Toronto 132-129.
The three-time NBA champion and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player scored 35 points, passed out 17 assists and had seven rebounds with no turnovers, making the most assists in any NBA game by a player without losing the ball.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, to be perfectly honest with you — 17 assists, 35 points and no turnovers. It’s just amazing,” said Cavaliers associate coach Larry Drew, who was filling in as Tyronn Lue fights health issues. “What he does night in and night out, how he sustains it, it’s mind-boggling.”
The Cavaliers, who made four deals to revamp the roster, remain a threat in the East at 42-29, well back of the Raptors’ record of 53-19, but able to spot them a 79-64 halftime lead before rallying to win.
“We’re working our tails off to keep this ship above water, to keep it running tight with all the changes and all the injuries,” James said. “We just dug deep, came back in the third quarter offensively and defensively. Everybody on the court contributed to this victory.”
None did more than James, whose final assist was a pass to Kevin Love to set up a three-pointer from the corner for a 128-124 Cleveland lead.
It was only Love’s second game back after missing 21 contests with a broken left hand, but he managed 23 points and 12 rebounds.
George Hill added 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting for the Cavaliers.
Kyle Lowry led Toronto with 24 points, while DeMar DeRozan added 21.
Elsewhere, Charlotte’s Dwight Howard scored 32 points and grabbed 30 rebounds — the first 30-30 performance since 2010 and only the second in 36 years — to lead the Hornets to a 111-105 triumph at Brooklyn.
Howard was the first 30-30 player since Love had 31 points and 31 rebounds for Minnesota in a 2010 victory over New York.
“Congrats to @DwightHoward the new Mr. 30/30. Hell of a night!!!” Love said on Twitter after Cleveland’s victory.
The most recent 30-30 before Love was by Moses Malone in 1982.
At 32, Howard became the oldest player with a 30-30 night since Wilt Chamberlain at age 35.
The Nets squandered a 23-point lead in losing.
Dario Saric, J.J. Redick, Robert Covington and reserve Marco Belinelli each scored 15 points to power Philadelphia over visiting Memphis 119-105.
The 76ers’ fourth win in a row also featured 14 points from Joel Embiid, plus 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds by Australian playmaker Ben Simmons.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 27 points to power the San Antonio Spurs over visiting Washington 98-90, marking the 18th consecutive time Washington have lost at San Antonio — the last win coming in 1999.
The victory ensured the Spurs would extend their NBA record of consecutive winning seasons to 21.
DeAndre Jordan had 25 points and 22 rebounds to power the Los Angeles Clippers over Milwaukee 127-120, with the Bucks seeing Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo exit after 17 minutes with an ankle injury.
Anthony Davis scored 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead New Orleans over visiting Indiana 96-92, while Paul Millsap scored 22 points to lead Denver over hosts Chicago 135-102.
Miami reserve Kelly Olynyk scored 22 points and had a career-best 10 assists to help spark the hosts over New York 119-98.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS