Cavs blow big lead, hang on to beat Magic

CLEVELAND » Isaiah Thomas made two free throws with 11 seconds left and the Cleveland Cavaliers came up with a defensive stop in the frantic final seconds after blowing a 23-point lead to beat the Orlando Magic 104-103 on Thursday night.

After Thomas made his shots, Orlando’s Elfrid Payton missed a contested layup with three seconds left. The officials ruled there was an inadvertent whistle and held a jump ball at midcourt.

Magic forward Aaron Gordon grabbed the toss and sank an apparent game-winning 45-footer as the horn sounded and Cleveland’s crowds shrieked in disbelief. But Gordon committed a jump-ball violation with the move and Cleveland then only had to inbound the ball to come away with a win that shouldn’t have been so difficult.

LeBron James closed in on 30,000 career points, Thomas scored 21 and the Cavs snapped a four-game losing skid — but not out of a January funk.

James scored 16 and now needs 25 to become the seventh player in NBA history to reach 30,000.

The Cavs were rolling to a rare, easy win before they went cold from the outside and were outscored 3317 in the third quarter by the Magic, who have dropped 17 of 19.

Afflalo suspended 2 games for fighting with Bjelica

NEW YORK » Orlando’s Aaron Afflalo has been suspended two games without pay by the NBA for fighting with Minnesota’s Nemanja Bjelica. Afflalo punched Bjelica in the head in the fight that took place with 7:28 left in the second quarter of the Magic’s 108-102 victory on Tuesday.