Wade asks to come off bench for Cavs
SAN ANTONIO — LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points and Dejounte Murray had 16 points and
15 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs held on to
beat the Toronto Raptors, 101-97 for their third straight win in as
many starts.
San Antonio was without Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker and Toronto was without Jonas Valanciunas and their absences were noticeable in the flow of each team's offense.
The Spurs had a season-high 20 turnovers. They were averaging 11 turnovers in their first two games, but had four in the opening four minutes.
Toronto took advantage, keeping the game close despite being outrebounded 56-33.
San Antonio went on a 12-2 run after the game was tied at 85 with five minutes remaining in a physical matchup between the perennial playoff teams.
DeMar DeRozan had 28 points and Serge Ibaka had 13 as the Raptors lost their first game of the season.
GRIZZLIES, WIZARDS
ALSO GO 3-0
In Houston, Mike Conley hit two 3-pointers in a pivotal 13-0 Memphis run in the fourth quarter to help the Grizzlies rally past the host Rockets, 98-90. Spaniard Marc Gasol led Memphis (3-0) with 26 points while Conley added 17.
On the other hand, Bradley Beal scored 20 points and John Wall added 19 and 12 rebounds to power Washington to a 109-104 victory at Denver. Wall's two free throws with seven seconds remaining sealed the triumph for the 3-0 Wizards.
SIMMONS STAMPS CLASS
Australia's Ben Simmons set himself beyond such NBA immortals as Michael Jordan and Lebron James with a triple double in only his fourth league contest for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 21-year-old from Melbourne, last year's NBA Draft top pick who missed all of last season with a right foot injury, scored 21 points, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and passed out a game-high 10 assists for the Sixers in a 97-86 triumph at Detroit.
Simmons became the first NBA player in 50 years to manage a triple double -- double-digit game production in three statistical categories -- within his first four league starts.
And he's only the third NBA player to manage the achievement, joining Art "Hambone" Williams of the 1967-68 San Diego Rockets and Oscar Robertson of the 1960 Cincinnati
Royals.
WARRIORS ROMPAT
DALLAS
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry scored a game-high 29 points while Kevin Durant added 25 points and Klay Thompson had 21 as the defending champion Golden State Warriors improved to 2-2 with a 133103 rout at winless Dallas (0-4).
Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and Khris Middleton added 20 to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over visiting Charlotte 103-94. The Greek has cracked 30 points in every game for the 3-1 Bucks.
With 147 points over the first four games of the season for the Bucks, Antetokounmpo broke the club's four-game seasonopening scoring mark of 146 points by Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from 1972.
At Miami, Josh Richardson scored 21 points and Wayne Ellington netted 19 of his 20 points in the second quarter to lead the Miami Heat over Atlanta 104-93.
CLEVELAND — When he signed with the Cavaliers, Dwyane Wade promised his ego wouldn't get in the way.
It wasn't just talk. Struggling through three games in his first season with Cleveland, Wade approached Cavs coach Tyronn Lue and asked to be taken out of the starting lineup because he thought it would help the team.
"I just decided, earlier than later, just to get to the unit where I'd be more comfortable in and can probably be better with this team in that lineup," Wade said after Monday's practice (Tuesday Phl time). "Why wait? Three games in, why wait? Wanted to get in there with those guys."
With Wade headed to the bench and Cleveland's second unit, J.R. Smith will return to the starting lineup after being bumped to a backup role.
Wade, who signed a one-year, veteran's minimum contract with Cleveland in September, is averaging just 5.7 points and shooting 28 percent. That's not Wade, and he quickly realized that he would better serve the Cavs as a reserve.
After Cleveland was hammered 114-93 on Saturday night (Sunday Phl time) by Orlando, which snapped a 17-game losing streak to the Cavs, Wade approached Lue with his idea to revamp the lineups.
"We talked about it before we got here, (that) it'd be a better fit with him coming off the bench," Lue said. "I know he'd been a starter his whole career, so we wanted to try to start him and give him that nod. He came to me and said, 'You know what coach? What you said was right. I'd be able to be featured more in the second unit and be able to handle the ball more, so let's make that move and make that adjustment.'
"That's what professionals do. No ego. He saw it was best for the team for him to come off the bench. It was his call and here we are."
The Cavs are going through some early, expected growing pains as Lue tries to blend new players into the team's systems. Wade felt taking on a different role would accelerate the process.