Rockets rain 3s, humiliate James and flailing Cavs
Ashamed to show his face any longer, LeBron James stared at the floor as he headed toward the locker room before the final horn sounded. An inglorious exit.
The Cavaliers have become an embarrassment.
“I’m lost for words,” James said after Cleveland was humiliated by the visiting Houston Rockets, who rained down 19 three-pointers on the disconnected Cavaliers in a 120-88 blowout on Saturday night.
Chris Paul scored 22 points with 11 assists, Ryan Anderson added 21 points and the longrange Rockets became the latest team to manhandle the Cavaliers on national TV.
“They should take us off every nationally televised game for the rest of the season,” said James, who spoke softly with a baseball cap over his eyes. “We haven’t played good at all, and we get our butts kicked every time we play on national television, so I’m at a loss for words.”
James Harden scored only 16 points, 15 below his leagueleading average, but Houston rolled to its fourth straight win and improved to 11-2 since Jan. 8.
Meanwhile, the Cavs’ downward spiral accelerated.
Since losing at Golden State on Christmas, James and his teammates are 0-8 in network broadcasts and have been embarrassed in matchups against quality teams. They lost by 28 at Minnesota, 34 in Toronto, 24 at home to Oklahoma City and 32 to the Rockets.
With the Rockets up 35 in the third quarter, the Cavs, who have lost 12 of 18 games, didn’t even bother to huddle during a timeout.
Following the game, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue was asked if his team tried.
“Don’t look like it,” Lue said. “We didn’t have no fight. I thought they took the game to us on both ends.”
James finished with just 11 points and didn’t play in the fourth quarter as the Rockets were too far ahead. Isaiah Thomas scored 12 for Cleveland.
Somber wouldn’t describe the mood in the Cavaliers’ locker room, where players dressed quietly without conversation.
“Another embarrassing loss,” Thomas said. “Something gotta change. I don’t know. It was bad from the jump. I don’t want to comment too much on it. I need to watch film to see what really went down. It wasn’t a good one for us on both ends.”
Mavericks 106, Kings 99:
Yogi Ferrell made consecutive threepointers to spark a big run at the start of the fourth quarter and visiting Dallas beat Sacramento to snap a five-game losing streak. Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points and seven rebounds. Harrison Barnes scored 18 points, and Dwight Powell added 17 points and nine rebounds to help Dallas win in Sacramento for the first time in nearly three years.
Jazz 120, Spurs 111:
Ricky Rubio scored a season-high 34 points and added nine assists, and visiting Utah upended San Antonio for its fifth straight victory. San Antonio had possession trailing 112-109, but Jazz forward Derrick Favors batted down a pass near the three-point line and raced down the court for a monstrous one-handed dunk to essentially seal the Jazz’s second win over the Spurs this season. Favors finished with 14 points. LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points for San Antonio in its final home game before embarking on its annual monthlong rodeo road trip.
T’wolves 118, Pelicans 107:
Jimmy Butler scored 30 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 16 rebounds for his league-leading 47th double-double, and host Minnesota beat New Orleans. In front of a capacity crowd dotted with celebrities in town for Sunday’s Super Bowl, the Wolves dominated from the start en route to their 12th straight home win and a four-game season sweep of the Pelicans. Anthony Davis led New Orleans with 38 points.
Pistons 111, Heat 107: Andre Drummond had 23 points and 20 rebounds, and Blake Griffin made a key three-pointer in the final minute to lift host Detroit over Miami. Goran Dragic scored 33 points for the Heat, who have lost three in a row. Miami was without center Hassan Whiteside, who was out with an illness.
Pacers 100, 76ers 92: Victor Oladipo and Bojan Bogdanovic each scored 19 points and host Indiana beat Philadelphia. Oladipo added nine rebounds and four assists. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds while playing on both nights of a back-toback. Ben Simmons scored 10 points and added 11 rebounds.
Wizards 115, Magic 98:
Otto Porter scored 20 points and Tomas Satoransky had a career-high 19 to lift visiting Washington over Orlando. Bradley Beal had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Wizards won their fourth straight without injured All-Star point guard John Wall. Mario Hezonja and Johnathon Simmons led Orlando with 15 points apiece. The Magic had seven players in double figures, including 14 points from Elfrid Payton.
Clippers 113, Bulls 103:
Tobias Harris scored 24 points in his Clippers debut, leading host Los Angeles over Chicago. Danilo Gallinari also had 24 points, Lou Williams added 21 points and six assists, and Montrezl Harrell scored 14 to help the Clippers win for the third time in four games. Zach LaVine had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead six Bulls players scoring in double figures. Harris, Avery Bradley and Boban Marjanovic came to the Clippers on Monday in the trade that sent Blake Griffin to Detroit.