Nuggets foil James, Cavaliers
Gary Harris scored 32 points, Will Barton added 23 and the Denver Nuggets did most of their damage behind the 3-point arc in a 126-117 win over LeBron James and the Cavaliers last night in Cleveland.
The Nuggets made 19-of35 3-pointers, including three in the final 2:26, to hold off a second-half charge from the Cavs, who are struggling as they try to blend in four new players on the fly.
James finished with 25 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds — his 13th tripledouble this season — but Cleveland’s lack of a dependable No. 2 scorer with Kevin Love out with a broken left hand continues to be a major problem.
More troublesome, however, is the Cavs’ defense or lack of it. Whenever Denver needed a big basket, the Nuggets got it by making the extra pass and exploiting holes in Cleveland’s defense.
J.R. Smith scored 19 points — all in the second half — in his return from a one-game suspension for throwing a bowl of soup on Cavs assistant coach Damon Jones. With Smith and James carrying the scoring load, the Cavs pulled within 115-114 with 2:40 left.
But the Nuggets came right back as Paul Millsap drilled a 3-pointer and Harris made two more from outside to put it away. Jamal Murray and Wilson Chandler added 16 points apiece for the Nuggets, who are 9-3 since Feb. 1.
Larry Nance Jr. gave the Cavs a needed lift in the second quarter with a vicious dunk. — Richardson points, hanced Heat Kelly and its 105, Olynyk playoff host each Pistons Miami scored and hopes Josh en- 96 by 17 beating James Detroit. Johnson scored 14 points, Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow each had 13 and Dwyane Wade added 11 for Miami. Hassan Whiteside grabbed 19 rebounds for the Heat, who won for only the fourth time in 13 games.
Lakers 116, Spurs 112 — Lonzo Ball hit a career-best six 3-pointers, Julius Randle had 25 points and visiting
Los Angeles rallied in the fi- nal two minutes to beat San Antonio.
Ball made three shots from beyond the arc in the final three minutes to give the Lak- ers their fifth straight victory. Ball finished with 18 points, and Isaiah Thomas added 21.
Magic 107, Grizzlies 100 — Evan Fournier broke a tie on a long 3-pointer with 22.5 seconds left, and rookie Jonathan Isaac helped preserve Orlando’s lead with his third block of the game in a win that stretched visiting Memphis’ losing streak to 13 games. Trail Blazers 108, Thunder 100 — C.J. McCollum scored 28 points, Damian Lillard added 20 with seven assists and host Portland held off Oklahoma City. Russell Westbrook had 30 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder. Jazz 98, Kings 91 — Donovan Mitchell scored eight of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and Utah won in Sacramento, Calif. Rudy Gobert had another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Jazz.