Spurs end trip by stomping on Cavs
James scores 33 points but grumbles about refs; Rockets win 12th in row
CLEVELAND — The San Antonio Spurs ended their “rodeo” road trip by roping the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron James said he thought San Antonio got some help. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 27 points and Danny Green added 22 as the Spurs concluded their annual trip by beating Cleveland 110-94 on Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak.
Green, who missed Friday’s loss at Denver with food poisoning, came off the bench for the first time in 49 games this season and made five 3-pointers to provide a perfect outside complement to Aldridge’s inside game. Dejounte Murray added 13 points and nine rebounds for San Antonio, a team not accustomed to turmoil.
But the super-steady Spurs have not been themselves as they continue to play without injured star Kawhi Leonard, whose timetable to return remains a mystery. They had dropped six of seven and four in a row on a trip (their arena hosts a rodeo every year) that coach Gregg Popovich’s squad typically uses as a spring board into the playoffs.
“Every win is a big one for us,” Green said. “But this month we’ve had some ups and downs. This is a really good team, especially with the best player in the world over there.”
That would be James, who had 33 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. The Cavs fell to 3-2 since overhauling their roster, but James wasn’t disappointed with his team’s effort. However, he did have a problem with the officiating.
San Antonio was called for just 12 personal fouls — only three in the second half— and shot 32 free throws compared with 14 for Cleveland.
“We’re at a point now where we protect the shooter more than the driver,” said James, who shot four free throws. “There’s no reason I should be going to the line four times in a game when I drive 100 times to the paint and I’m getting hit and slapped and grabbed and whatever.”
ROCKETS 119, NUGGETS 114: In Denver, James Harden had 41 points and eight rebounds, and Chris Paul scored 23 points as Houston beat Denver for its 12th straight victory.
Harden had 27 in the first half and seven in the fourth quarter, when the Rockets held off a late Denver rally. Harden has scored 40 or more points nine times this season. He finished with seven assists.
Nikola Jokic had 21 points and 14 rebounds for Denver, whose four-game winning streak was snapped. Will Barton added 25 points.
The Rockets are 21-4 since Dec. 29 and own the best record (46-13) in the NBA. They are outscoring teams by an average of 12.5 points during the 12-game winning streak. The fivepoint win Sunday was their closest game during the streak.
PELICANS 123, BUCKS 121 (OT): In Milwaukee, Jrue Holiday scored 28 of his season-high 36 points after halftime to lead New Orleans to an overtime victory over Milwaukee.
Holiday added nine rebounds and six assists for the Pelicans, who held on for their season-high fifth win in a row when Jason Terry’s 3-pointer was ruled after the buzzer.
Anthony Davis, who entered the game as the league’s thirdleading scorer (27.7 ppg), added 27 points and 13 rebounds.
The Pelicans trailed by 18 early in the second half but outscored Milwaukee 38-19 in the third quarter.
Khris Middleton scored 25 points for the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the No. 2 scorer in the NBA (27.8) and Eric Bledsoe each added 20, but the Bucks lost for the fourth time
in 14 games and fell to 9-26 all-time against New Orleans.
Rajon Rondo came up with the play of the game by draining a 3-pointer from the right wing as the 24-second clock was about to expire to give the Pelicans a 123-119 lead with 1:25 remaining in overtime. WIZARDS 109, 76ERS 94: In Washington, Otto Porter scored 24 points and Bradley Beal added 23 as Washington had a dominant second quarter in a win over Philadelphia.
Kelly Oubre scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half to help Washington move a half-game ahead of Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Wizards improved to 9-3 in an extended stretch without All-Star point guard John Wall (knee surgery).
Joel Embiid had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia, which dropped a half-game behind Milwaukee into seventh place and two back of Washington in the congested East standings.
HORNETS 114, PISTONS 98: In Charlotte, N.C., Dwight Howard had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Kemba Walker added 17 points as Charlotte beat Detroit.
The Hornets are 27-33 while making a push toward the No. 8 seed in the East. The Pistons have 28 wins, and there are eight teams in the conference with at least 31 victories.
POPOVICH: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich hopes LeBron James never stops speaking up.
Long an admirer of Cleveland’s superstar, Popovich praised James for his activism and for being a role model to “millions” of kids. Popovich also defended James’ right to speak after he was recently criticized by Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham, who said the NBA’s most highprofile player should “shut up and dribble” after he criticized President Donald Trump.
“To me, when I heard about that, it was just an unbelievable show of arrogance for a talking head to try and tell someone else if they can speak, what they can speak about and when and where to do it,” Popovich said before the Spurs faced James and the Cavaliers.