James’ Cavs rout Knicks
Warriors continue Clippers dominance
LOS ANGELES: LeBron James let his game do the talking on Wednesday as his NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers humbled the New York Knicks 126-94 at Madison Square Garden.
While the Cavs were dismantling the Knicks, Western Conference powerhouse Golden State were producing another dominant win of their own, routing the Clippers 115-98 in Los Angeles.
The Warriors launched a five-game road trip in emphatic style against the third-ranked team in the West.
Cleveland’s trip to New York was the Cavaliers’ first since last month’s comments by Phil Jackson in which the Knicks president described James’ business associates as a “posse” in an interview with ESPN.
James found the term offensive, but insisted it didn’t give him extra motivation.
“I’m motivated for the love of the game,” he said. “I’m motivated by the process. I’m motivated knowing my kids are watching me tonight on national television.
“So I don’t need more,” James said, adding that he had no plans to talk to Jackson about the matter while in New York.
His performance on the floor, however, spoke volumes. He scored 25 points, handed out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds.
Kyrie Irving scored 20 points and dished out six assists. Tristan Thompson pulled down a season-high 20 rebounds and Kevin Love had 16 points for the Cavaliers, who notched their sixth straight win at Madison Square Garden and their eight win in a row over the Knicks.
Cleveland led all the way and were never really threatened.
“We were getting stops and we were able to get out in transition,” said Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, whose efforts to get his team back to step up their defensive efforts have paid off with two straight victories after a rare three-game slump.
Defence was also key in Los Angeles, where the Warriors raced to a 37-19 firstquarter lead — holding the Clippers to just 33 percent shooting in the opening period.
Klay Thompson scored 24 points and Draymond Green contributed 22 as the Warriors beat the Clippers for the seventh straight time.
Stephen Curry chipped in 19 points and six assists. He missed all eight of his three-point attempts but he came up with seven steals to help keep the Clippers out of synch.
Kevin Durant added 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors, who held Clippers forward Blake Griffin to just 12 points on fiveof-20 shooting.
Jamal Crawford led the Clippers with 21 points while point guard Chris Paul notched 15 points with six rebounds and five assists.
Up 62-49 at half-time, Golden State had stretched their lead to 91-75 going into the fourth. They outscored the Clippers 58-38 in the paint and handed out more than twice as many assists.