Dominant Durant turns back clock on Cleveland
Late block keys Golden State in Finals rematch
OAKLAND, Calif. — Lebron James drove to the basket in the waning seconds, and Kevin Durant swatted away any chance Cleveland had at a Christmas Day comeback.
Durant pumped his fist again and again, emphatically shook his head and pounded his chest in delight. It looked a lot like the dominant Durant from the NBA Finals six months ago.
Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:33 left, Durant delivered on both ends of the floor, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Cavaliers 99-92 on Monday in a festive holiday rematch of the past three Finals.
“There’s just so much joy in the arena today because it’s Christmas, and we all feed off of that,” Durant said.
Durant’s block against a driving James with 24.5 seconds left went out of bounds off James, who said he thought he was fouled on the play. Durant finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.
“He’s one of the leaders in shot blocks a game, and obviously he had five tonight, so he’s been doing a heck of a job of first of all taking the individual matchup and protecting the rim, too,” James said.
Kevin Love had 31 points and a season-best 18 rebounds, while James contributed 20 points, six rebounds and six assists in a rivalry missing one key piece: Warriors star Stephen Curry, who missed his eighth straight game with a sprained right ankle.
Thompson had 24 points and Draymond Green 12 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for Golden State, which notched its 12th win in 13 games.
Warriors rookie Jordan Bell traveled with 2:13 left, and
James tied it. Bell made up for that mistake with a key offensive rebound and pass to Thompson for his fourth 3.
James’ 3-pointer with 10:39 left pulled Cleveland within one, but Green answered with a 3, and Andre Iguodala scored two of his nine points the next time down. In another key sequence, Durant blocked Tristan Thompson’s shot with 6:23 to go and dunked moments later.
No surprise, the up-tempo, running rivals provided high entertainment once again. The Warriors in June captured a second championship in three years against James and the Cavaliers.
“I forgot all about it,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said with a chuckle.
The teams will see each other again soon, playing Jan. 15 in Cleveland.
Durant requested James for his defensive assignment, to which he explained simply, “I just like guarding my position.”
The Cavs, having won six of seven and playing for the first time since Thursday, had their run of scoring at least 100 points end at 26 games.
The Cavs’ 31.8-percent shooting was the lowest by a Warriors opponent in nearly four years, since Charlotte shot 31.2 percent from the field on Feb. 4, 2014.
At Boston, Bradley Beal had 25 points and John Wall 21 points and 14 assists for Washington, which dealt Boston its first Christmas home loss. Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum scored 20 points apiece for the Celtics in the teams’ first meeting since Boston’s Game 7 win in the second round of last season’s playoffs. The Celtics played for the 31st time on Christmas, with 28 of the previous games on the road and the other two at neutral sites.
Wizards 111, Celtics 103 — Timberwolves 121, Lakers 104 —
At Los Angeles, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson scored 23 points apiece, and Karl-anthony Towns added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota in its fourth straight win and first Christmas Day victory. Kyle Kuzma scored 31 points for Los Angeles, which lost its third straight. The Lakers led 84-83 before Towns and Jamal Crawford scored all the points in a 12-0 Timberwolves run.
At Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook had 31 points and 11 assists for Oklahoma City, which shot 54.4 percent in its fifth straight victory. Paul George added 24 points and Carmelo Anthony 20 for the Thunder. James Harden, coming off two straight 51-point outings, scored 29 on 7-for-18 shooting for Houston, which lost its third in a row.
At New York, Joel Embiid had 25 points and 16 rebounds and J.J. Redick 24 points for Philadelphia, which snapped a fivegame skid in its first Christmas Day appearance since 2001. Enes Kanter had a season-high 31 points and a career-best 22 rebounds for New York, which fell to 22-30 on Christmas with its fifth straight loss on the holiday.
Thunder 112, Rockets 107 — 76ers 105, Knicks 98 —