CAVS FINALLY WIN AFTER FIRING COACH
Cleveland Cavaliers rout Hawks for first win in seven games
Rodney Hood scored a season-high 26 points, Cedi Osman added 20 and Cleveland ended its six-game losing streak to start the season, beating the Atlanta Hawks 136-114 on Tuesday night in the Cavaliers’ first game since coach Tyronn Lue was fired.
The Cavs came in as the NBA’s only winless team, and Lue paid the price for club’s slow start.
But with Larry Drew serving as Cleveland’s “acting” coach while he tries to get the team to restructure his contract, the Cavs played a complete game — Cleveland had seven players in double figures — and avoided their first 0-7 start since 1995-96.
George Hill and rookie Collin Sexton scored 17 apiece, and Tristan Thompson had 13 rebounds for Cleveland.
Rookie Trae Young scored 24 and Alex Len 22 for the Hawks. Young scored a season-high 35 against the Cavs on Oct. 21, wrecking their home opener.
RAPTORS 129, 76ERS 112
In Toronto, Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, Pascal Siakam had 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and Toronto bounced back from its first loss of the season by routing Philadelphia 129112, handing the 76ers their 12th consecutive defeat north of the border.
Kyle Lowry had 20 points and 13 assists, extending his streak of double-digit assist games to a career-best six. Jonas Valanciunas scored a season-high 23 points and Serge Ibaka had 16 as the Raptors improved to 6-0 at home.
Joel Embiid scored 31 points, Robert Covington had 15 and JJ Redick scored 13 as the 76ers lost for the first time in three games. Philadelphia is 0-4 on the road.
Ben Simmons narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, but also committed 11 turnovers. /
I really didn’t know what was going to happen tonight. I just wanted these guys to try and put the first six games behind them as quickly as they could and be ready to turn the chapter with a new season. They came out and took the challenge. LARRY DREW,
Cavs acting head coach