James, Korver lead Cavs’ charge to top NY Knicks
NEW YORK: LeBron James had 23 points and 12 assists, Kyle Korver scored 19 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to spark a huge comeback, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New York Knicks 104-101 on Monday night. James also had a technical foul after a first-quarter altercation with Frank Ntilikina and Enes Kanter, which seemed to charge up the Knicks as they built what became a 23-point lead late in the third quarter. But the Cavaliers made nine 3-pointers in the fourth after hitting just seven through three quarters, charging back for their eighth straight victory at Madison Square Garden. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 28 points and 10 rebounds, and Kanter added 20 points and 16 boards. But Kristaps Porzingis shot only 7 for 21 while scoring 20 points as the Knicks blew their chance to beat the Cavs for the second time this season. New York led by 15 after three but the Cavs surrounded James with plenty of perimeter shooting and the Knicks couldn’t contain them. Cleveland tied it on Channing Frye’s 3 with 2:15 to go before James made it 100-97 on another 3 with 1:23 left.
TIMBERWOLVES 109, JAZZ 98 Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Jimmy Butler added 21 points and 10 assists to help Minnesota get past Utah. Jeff Teague scored 22 points for the Timberwolves, and Taj Gibson had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Minnesota (8-5) snapped a two-game skid after shooting 52.1 percent (37 of 71) from the
field. Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points to lead the Jazz (6-8), who lost for the fourth time in their last five home games. Utah fell behind 33-14 heading into the second quarter.
WARRIORS 110, MAGIC 100 Kevin Durant had 21 points, a season-high eight assists and seven rebounds, Shaun Livingston scored a season-best 16 points in place of injured Stephen Curry, and Golden State pulled away in the second half to beat Orlando for its seventh straight win. Draymond Green had a season-high 20 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals as the Warriors completed a 4-0 homestand. Nikola Vucevic scored 20 points, Evan Fournier had 16 and Aaron Gordon added 10 points and 10 rebounds in the Magic’s fourth defeat over six games. Livingston also had six assists on a night when the Warriors were without Curry as the two-time MVP nursed a bruised right thigh.
76ERS 109, CLIPPERS 105
Joel Embiid scored 32 points, Robert Covington added 31 and Philadelphia handed Los Angeles its sixth consecutive loss. Ben Simmons had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers. Embiid grabbed a game-high 16 boards. Lou Williams led Los Angeles (5-8) with 31 points off the bench, and Blake Griffin had 29. The Clippers started the season 4-0 but have lost eight of nine. Philadelphia trailed 101-100 when Covington hit his fifth 3-pointer to give the Sixers (7-6) the lead for good with 33 seconds remaining. The 76ers outrebounded the Clippers 51-34 to snap a two-game skid.
TRAIL BLAZERS 99, NUGGETS 82 CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points apiece as Portland beat Denver to stop a two-game skid. The Trail Blazers built an 86-66 lead early in the fourth quarter and cruised the rest of the way. Damian Lillard had 15 points and seven assists, and the Blazers led by
as many as 23. Paul Millsap led the Nuggets with 18 points, including a season-high five 3-pointers. The win was a boost for the Blazers, who were coming off consecutive close losses at home to Memphis and Brooklyn. The Nuggets were coming off a 5-1 homestand but shot just 35 percent as their three-game winning streak was snapped. Denver was without starter Gary Harris because of right shoulder soreness.
PELICANS 106, HAWKS 105 Darius Miller hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, when he scored 14 of his 21 points, and New Orleans overcame a sloppy performance to beat struggling Atlanta. DeMarcus Cousins had 22 points and 16 rebounds, and Anthony Davis added 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Pelicans, who have won five of six. E’Twaun Moore tied a career high with 24 points for New Orleans. Kent Bazemore scored 22 points for the Hawks, who led by 14 before fading to lose their fourth straight. Bazemore also missed a critical free throw with 37.1 seconds left. Atlanta still had a chance to take a late lead, but Dennis Schroder’s errant pass toward Tyler Cavanaugh sailed out of bounds with 3.2 seconds to go.
BUCKS 110, GRIZZLIES 103 Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points and nine rebounds to lead Milwaukee over Memphis. Khris Middleton and John Henson had 17 points apiece as the Bucks won their third straight. Tyreke Evans scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for the Grizzlies, and Dillon Brooks added 19 points. Evans scored nine consecutive points to pull Memphis into an 84-all tie early in the fourth quarter.
LAKERS 100, SUNS 93
Jordan Clarkson scored a season-high 25 points and Los Angeles pulled away late to beat Phoenix. Devin Booker had 36 points, his second consecutive game of at least 35, for the Suns. Brook Lopez and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 15 apiece for the Lakers, who snapped a three-game losing streak and won in Phoenix for the second time this season. Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, coming off his first career triple-double on Saturday night, did not play in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers pulled out the victory. He had seven points on 3-of-10 shooting, five rebounds, five assists and four turnovers in 28 minutes.—AP