Kings nip Cavaliers
Carter's season-high 24 leads Kings past Cavaliers
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Vince Carter scored a seasonhigh 24 points, and the Sacramento Kings handed the Cleveland Cavaliers their second straight loss with a 10995 victory on Wednesday night (Thursday, Phl time).
Carter had missed the previous three games due to a rib injury and coach's decision. The 40-year-old former dunk king gave the Cleveland all kinds of problems in his return, shooting 10-of-12 in 30 minutes.
Willie Cauley-Stein had 17 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento, and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 points and eight assists. Zach Randolph had 14 points and seven boards.
Cleveland was coming off a 9992 loss at Golden State on Christmas Day (December 26, Phl time), stopping the Cavaliers' 26-game streak with 100 points or more. Cleveland had not dropped consecutive games since a fourgame slide from October 25-November 1 (October 26-November 2, Phl time).
LeBron James had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists for the Cavs, and Kevin Love scored 23 points.
WARRIORS 126,
JAZZ 101
Kevin Durant scored 21 points, Draymond Green flirted with his second straight triple-double and the Golden State Warriors used another big third quarter to zoom past the Utah Jazz.
The game was the first between the teams since the Warriors’ four-game playoff sweep in the Western Conference semifinals last spring, winning each game by double digits.
The Warriors, whose plus-198 scoring margin in the third quarter leads the NBA, used their favorite period to break open a game they led 48-47 at halftime.
A 9-0 run punctuated by Durant’s two dunks pushed the lead to 77-63, and the Warriors outscored the Jazz 226 over the final five minutes of the period for a 90-69 lead.
THUNDER 124, RAPTORS 107
Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Toronto Raptors.
Paul George scored 33 points going 7-of-10 from three-point range and Carmelo Anthony and Steven Adams had 18 points each for Oklahoma City, which has won six straight and is 12-3 in December.
The Thunder won despite being on the wrong end of a 23-2 run in the first half, during which the Raptors built a 12-point lead.
C.J. Miles led the Raptors with 20 points, while Jonas Valanciunas added 16 and DeMar DeRozan had 15.
TIMBERWOLVES 128,
NUGGETS 125
Jimmy Butler scored 12 of Minnesota’s 14 points in overtime and finished with a season-high 39 to lift the Timberwolves to a victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Andrew Wiggins made five three-pointers and scored 21 points for Minnesota, which won its fifth straight. Taj Gibson added 20 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 13 rebounds.