Cavs near Raptors sweep, Spurs topple Rockets
LOS ANGELES: LeBron James scored 35 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 115-94 Friday to take a 3-0 stranglehold lead in their second-round NBA playoff series.
James also tallied eight rebounds and seven assists as Cleveland will seek to clinch the series with a win in Game 4 on Sunday in Toronto.
“When we’re getting stops, we’re a dangerous team,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “It was an all-round good game for us rebounding, offensively and defensively, so we just have to keep that up.”
Elsewhere, LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points as the San Antonio Spurs used a barrage of late three pointers to overcome James Harden’s 43-point performance to beat the Houston Rockets 103-92 in their playoff series.
The Raptors played without star point guard Kyle Lowry who sprained his ankle in Wednesday's loss in Cleveland.
Toronto led by three points at halftime but the Cavaliers kept pressing in the third and seized command in the fourth.
James was instrumental in the comeback, scoring 13 points in the final quarter.
Lowry took part in the warm-up and was listed as active for the game, but Cory Joseph started in his place. Lowry sat on the bench for the whole game.
Kevin Love delivered 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, and Kyrie Irving also scored 16 while Kyle Korver had 14 points. Tristan Thompson added nine points and 12 rebounds.
DeMar DeRozan rebounded from a poor performance in game two to lead Toronto with 37 points.
“I liked our fight, I loved the way our guys competed,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “There was no back down.”
Casey was unusually optimistic considering his team was looking at this game as an important opportunity to play their way back into the series.
Their playoff exit appears to be nearing as they have no answer for James, who scored 39 points in Game 2 on Wednesday to move past Kareem AbdulJabbar into second place on the all-time playoff scoring list.
“We couldn’t get anything to fall for us and they turned it on offensively and ran away with it,” said DeRozan.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points and eight rebounds, with Norman Powell chipping in with 13 points and Serge Ibaka adding 12 for Toronto.
In Houston, Aldridge was especially dangerous from in the paint in Game 3 as the Spurs took a 2-1 lead in the second-round Western Conference series.
He shot 12-of-20 from the field, a much better performance than the four points he scored in Houston’s one-sided win in Game 1.
“This was his best game, obviously,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Aldridge. “He felt good tonight. He was loose as far as his physical nature, his legs and everything. He wasn’t too stiff. And it showed. He moved up and down the court well, he was able to push off on the block, he felt good shooting the ball.”
“In addition to busting his butt on (defense) and trying to hit the boards for us, he was a big help tonight.”
Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday in Houston.
Kawhi Leonard added 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Trevor Ariza tallied 17 points for Houston but had just two after halftime.
The Rockets’ three-man bench of Eric Gordon, Nene and Lou Williams combined for 10 points on three-of-19 shooting.
“They did a good job of just staying home on our shooters and forcing me to finish and make plays,” said Harden, who was 14 of 28 from the floor.
Houston shot just 36 percent from the field and could not keep pace with San Antonio, who were playing without injured point guard Tony Parker.
Parker will miss the remainder of the 2017 postseason after suffering a ruptured left quadriceps tendon in the fourth quarter of Game 2. WASHINGTON: Ireland’s Seamus Power and American Billy Hurley shared the clubhouse lead Friday as darkness halted play in the weather-hit Wells Fargo Championship.
The second round at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, teed off three hours late after an overnight storm brought more than an inch of rain.
When it got under way, players encountered challenging winds, in which Power posted a one-under par 71 and Hurley carded a three-under 69 for a five-under par total of 139.
First-round leader Francesco Molinari was five-under for the tournament — one-over for the round — through 11 holes, and American John Peterson was five-under through 12.
Spain’s Jon Rahm headed a group who had made it into the clubhouse a stroke back on 140, which included compatriot Rafa Cabrera Bello and Americans Vaughn Taylor, Brian Harman and Grayson Murray.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, playing his first tournament since pulling out of the Masters with a back injury suffered in a fall, was two-over for the round through 13 holes — five shots off the lead.
Power had four birdies in his one-under effort, and briefly held the outright lead before making two of his three bogeys of the day at 15 and 17.
Weather notwithstanding, the PGA Tour rookie said the move of the tournament to its new home at Eagle Point this year had improved the chances of tour newcomers.
“I think this is a great week for rookies because it’s a course nobody’s seen before,” he said. “That’s one of the toughest things for rookies. You’re playing golf courses that a lot of guys have played, depending on the player, anywhere from 20 to 40 to 50 times. You’re seeing it for the first time and just seeing it on a Tuesday, and it changes between Tuesday and Thursday.
“Whereas here we’re in the same boat as everyone else.”
Hurley was pleased to maintain his share of the lead with a tough par at his final hole — the ninth — which was playing straight into the wind.