Love returns, Irving exits with sore knee
LOS ANGELES: Kevin Love returned from knee surgery, but Kyrie Irving made an early exit with knee problems of his own as the Cleveland Cavaliers toppled the Utah Jazz 91-83 on Thursday.
The Cavaliers can thank their lucky stars they still have a healthy four-time
NBA MVP
LeBron
James, who was more than happy to pick up the slack.
As soon as Irving realised h i s wonky left knee was acting up again he went to James and asked “have you got this?”
James, of course said “Yes“, and responded by pumping in 17 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter.
Love, who hadn’t played since Feb 11 and underwent knee surgery three days later, scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 20 minutes.
Irving scored 21 points, but he did not play in the fourth quarter because of left knee tightness.
Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert also left in the third quarter due to a left arm injury.
Elsewhere, Nikola Jokic had a triple double with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists as the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 129-114.
In Oakland, Klay Thompson tallied 21 of his game-high 29 points in the first quarter as the Golden State Warriors routed the Orlando Magic 122-92.
Stephen Curry added 25 points as the Warriors improved to 5414 on the season. They shot 57.5 per cent while recording a season-series sweep of Orlando and an eighth straight win overall against the Magic.
In New York, the Brooklyn Nets won for just the fifth time on the road this season, knocking off the New York Knicks 121-110. AFP