SPURS HOLD ROCKETS DOWN
San Antonio holds highflying Houston to seasonlow 83 points
LaMarcus Aldridge had 23 points and 14 rebounds and Rudy Gay added 21 points as the San Antonio Spurs held Houston to its lowest-scoring game of the season, beating the Rockets 100-83 on Sunday.
The Spurs remained fourth in the Western Conference after preventing a season sweep by the Rockets. Houston owns the NBA’s best record.
San Antonio outscored Houston 19-8 to open the fourth quarter in taking a 94-74 lead with 5 minutes remaining. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni opted to take his starters out two minutes later.
The Rockets were without injured Chris Paul and the Spurs were without Kawhi Leonard, who has played in only nine games this season.
James Harden scored 25 points for Houston on 8-of-19 shooting. He also had eight assists, but battled foul trouble before exiting with five fouls. Eric Gordon added 18 points for the Rockets.
CAVALIERS 98, MAVERICKS 87
In Cleveland, LeBron James struggled before extending his record double-digit scoring streak to 868 games and Cleveland had a rough time with Dallas before putting away the lottery-bound Mavericks.
James, who broke Michael Jordan’s NBA mark for consecutive games with at least 10 points on Friday night, didn’t reach 10 until 7:59 remained. He finished just 5 of 21 from the field but made a pair of 3-pointers as the Cavs finally pulled away with a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter.
James had 16 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, his 17th triple-double this season and No. 72 of his career. /
We’ve been through some ups and downs this season, but we’re picking up at the right time. There is no better time than this. This is when teams make or break themselves.
RUDY GAY