Wall scores 37, Wizards down Cavs
CLEVELAND >> John Wall scored 37 points, Bradley Beal added 27 and the Washington Wizards began a challenging road trip by beating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 127-115 on Saturday night.
Wall scored 18 in the first quarter, when the Wizards shot 82 percent, and Washington held on down the stretch to avenge an overtime loss to the NBA champions last month.
James, who briefly wore goggles to protect an eye injury sustained Friday night, scored 24 and added 11 rebounds and eight assists. Kyrie Irving added 23 points and Kevin Love 17 for Cleveland, playing at home for the only time in a seven-game stretch.
Washington’s victory cut Cleveland’s lead in the Eastern Conference to a halfgame over idle Boston.
But even more importantly, the Wizards, who are 29-10 since Jan. 6 and within 2½ games of first, showed they could put a complete game together against the Cavs — a possible playoff opponent. They lost to Cleveland 140-135 on Feb. 6, when James banked in an impossible 3-pointer to force OT.
Trailing from early in the first quarter, the Cavs got within four in the fourth and were down only eight when Wall scored on a layup and Otto Porter delivered a dagger dunk to make it 123-111.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue called time and pulled his starters, conceding the win to the Wizards, who are playing with swagger and have the look of a team poised to make some postseason noise.
James scratched his right cornea on Friday night when he got poked in the eye by Charlotte’s Jeremy Lamb. He stayed in the game, but afterward said there was a chance he would rest against the Wizards and the Cavs listed him as questionable until about two hours before tip-off.
James took the floor wearing glasses for the first time in his career and played the first eight minutes before tossing them aside. SPURS 106, KNICKS 98 >> Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and 10 rebounds, San Antonio beat New York.
San Antonio has won four straight heading into home games against Cleveland on Monday and Golden State on Wednesday.
The Spurs (56-16) are two games behind the Warriors (58-14) for the league’s best record.
San Antonio ensured there would not be a repeat of its disappointing 94-90 loss in New York on Feb. 12, but not without some tense moments.
Derrick Rose and Willy Hernangomez each scored 24 points and Hernangomez added 13 rebounds.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas had 19 points starting in place of Carmelo Anthony, who missed his second straight game with a sore left knee. and
Kristaps Porzingis had 12 points while being limited to 26 minutes due to foul trouble. He picked up his third foul with 3 minutes remaining in the first quarter and his fifth a minute into the fourth but did not foul out. CLIPPERS 108, JAZZ 95 >> Jamal Crawford scored 28 points off the bench, and Los Angeles beat Utah to clinch a playoff berth for the sixth straight year.
The Clippers trail the Jazz by a halfgame in their race for the No. 4 playoff seed in the West.
Blake Griffin added Jordan had 15 Clippers.
Rudy Gobert had 26 points and 14 rebounds for Utah, and reserve Joe Johnson added 17 points. The Jazz have dropped four of five. 15 points and DeAndre rebounds for the