Cavaliers rally to wallop Wiz
LeBron James scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and brought the Cavaliers back from a 17-point deficit to stun the Washington Wizards, 119-115, last night in Cleveland and maintain the No.3 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavs trailed 104-87 with 7:35 left before storming back behind James, who added 14 assists, nine rebounds and made sure coach Tyronn Lue got a win in his return after missing nine games due to health reasons.
Jeff Green added 21 points and Kevin Love had 16 for the Cavs, who are 10-1 since March 17, when Lue was forced to leave a game in Chicago with “piercing” chest pains. Lue, who has changed his diet and is taking sleep medication, has come back to a team that seems to be hitting its stride just in time for the playoffs.
But it took another of those patented James’ comebacks to down the Wizards, who have dropped seven of nine and are in a three-way battle with Milwaukee and Miami for playoff positioning.
Washington’s John Wall looked more like his speedy All-Star self in his third game back from knee surgery, scoring 28 points with 14 assists. But he had a costly turnover in the closing seconds and the Wizards couldn’t put away the Cavs down the stretch.
Pacers 126, Warriors 106 — Bojan Bogdanovic had 28 points, Victor Oladipo scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and playoff-bound Indiana beat Golden State in Indianapolis.
The Pacers have won 6-of-7, including twice against the shorthanded defending NBA champions. It’s their first season sweep over the Warriors since 2011-12.
Kevin Durant had 27 points, five rebounds and seven assists, but Golden State’s three-game winning streak ended.
Nets 119, Bucks 111 — Allen Crabbe scored 25 points and hit two 3-pointers in the closing minutes of a tight game, and Brooklyn shot 48 percent from behind the arc to beat host Milwaukee.
The sharpshooting Nets were 19-of-39 from 3-point range, dealing a blow to the Bucks’ hopes of moving up from the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Rockets 96, Trail Blazers 94 — Chris Paul hit an off-balance layup with 0.8 seconds left to lift host Houston to a win over Portland, which played without star Damian Lillard.
Paul scored 27 points to help Houston get its second straight victory since a loss to San Antonio. The Rockets swept their four-game season series with Portland.
The Rockets led by 24 in the second quarter and still had a big lead with about five minutes left before the Trail Blazers went on a 19-2 run to tie it at 94-all with 6.1 seconds left. James Harden, who finished with 24 points, missed two free throws with 13.3 seconds left before Pat Connaughton tied it with a short basket.
Elsewhere in the NBA — Dirk Nowitzki’s 20th season is over a few games early after the Dallas Mavericks star had surgery on his left ankle.
The team said Nowitzki underwent a procedure to clear out unhealthy tissue, called surgical debridement. It was performed at a Dallas medical clinic.