LeBron’s Cavs buried by Orlando ‘avalanche’

LEBRON James and the Cleveland Cavaliers crashed to yet another humiliating defeat against ainst the Orlando Magic on Tuesday day as James Harden scored his 15,000th career point t to extend Houston’s winning ing streak to five games.

In Orlando, James scored ed 25 points but it was not ot enough to prevent the Cavs avs from slumping to a 116-98 98 loss in a roller coaster game.

Cleveland looked to be e in the mood for an emphatic win in after piling on a massive 43 points oints in the first quarter and powering ering to 67-51 at half-time.

But Orlando dominated d the second half, outscoring g the Cavaliers 65-31 in the e final two quarters to complete a crushing v ictor y before t heir home fans. A grim night nigh for Cleveland also saw coach Tyronn Tyro Lue leave courtside mid midway through t he second q quarter with an undisclosed i illness. Lue did not reappea reappear and reportedly watche watched the remainder of th the game from the locker room.

O r l a n d o w e r e sparked by 34 points fr from Jonathon Simmons mons, on a night when all o f O Orl a ndo’s s t a r t e r s crack cracked double digits. Cav Cavs star James pinpoin pointed a disastrous third quar quarter – when Orlando pour poured on 41 points – for the lo loss.

“Th “They hit some big-time shots in the third quarter,” James said. “The snowball turned into an avalanche in the third. A 41-point quarter is hard to come back from.”

James said Lue’s illness had also affected the team. “Unfortunately he’s sick and that’s all we heard,” James said. “He’s the captain of our ship so it’s a tough blow.”

Back i n Clevela nd (at 8a m t h i s morning Cambodian time), the Cavs face t he Minnesota Timber wolves, who have a lready beaten t hem t his season.

“We’ve got a g reat oppor t u n it y tomorrow against a team that beat us up prett y good before,” Ja mes sa id. “We look for ward to t he cha l lenge. We’ve got to come out and sustain the challenge.”

In New York, meanwhile, Rockets star Harden brought up 15,000 career points on as Houston swept to a 123113 win over the Brooklyn Nets to maintain pressure on Golden State at the top of the Western Conference.

Harden finished with 36 points as the Rockets bagged a fifth straight victory to improve to 39-13, two wins back from the Warriors.

Chris Paul had 25 points, with Clint Capela adding 18 and Gerald Green contributing 16 points from the bench. Harden was bombarded with chants “M-V-P!” during the game.

Golden State, meanwhile, were thumped 125-105 by Oklahoma City Thunder. Paul George and Russell Westbrook combined to dismantle the Warriors defence. George finished with 38 points while Westbrook added 34.

Kevin Durant led the scoring for the Warriors with 33 points against his former team.

Draymond Green was ejected for the third time this season after lobbing the ball at an official.