Cavaliers duo LeBron, Irving brush off Magic
cleveland — LeBron James scored 23 points, Kyrie Irving added 20 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic for the 15th straight time, 105-99 on Saturday. Kevin Love scored 19 points to help the NBA champion Cavaliers improve to 3-0. They haven’t lost to the Magic since Nov. 23, 2012 in Orlando.
Evan Fournier scored 22 points for Orlando. The Magic cut a 22-point deficit to three at 88-85 with 4 minutes to play, but J.R. Smith hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 in the fourth quarter.
James put together a personal highlight reel in the first half when Cleveland built a 54-32 lead. He converted a four-point play in the second quarter, hitting a threepointer while being fouled in front of Cleveland’s bench with the shot clock winding down, before making the free throw. James drove past Fournier and dunked over Nikola Vucevic despite getting hit in the face in the first quarter. He also motored down the late for a dunk at the first-half buzzer.
Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and the San Antonio Spurs beat the New Orleans Pelicans 98-79 in their home opener.
The Spurs won their first season opener in 20 years without Tim Duncan, who retired in the offseason. San Antonio played without any of its Big Three as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both sat out to rest in the first night of back-toback games.
San Antonio didn’t appear to miss them, as 11 players scored to help the team remain unbeaten after three games.
Patty Mills scored 18 points starting in place of Parker, and LaMarcus Aldridge had 12 points.
Pelicans forward Anthony Davis was held to 18 points after scoring
“Not every game is going to be pretty for. We understand that. (We) came off a kind of late win just like this against Toronto yesterday and now Swish (Smith) hit the big shot. For us it’s just about being ready no matter what the score is. We’ve just got to stay resilient.”
Kyrie Irving, Cavs guard Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert goes up for a shot against Orlando Magic centre Bismack Biyombo (11) during their NBA game. — AP
50 and 45 points in the first two games, as the Pelicans remain winless. Paul Millsap scored 17 points to lead five Hawks in double figures and Atlanta toppled the Philadelphia 76ers 104-72.
Kyle Korver added 15 points and Mike Muscala added 14 for Atlanta. The Hawks barely needed top offseason acquisition Howard. The big man had just two points and seven rebounds in his second game for his hometown team after signing a three-year, $70 million free-agent contract this summer.
Avery Bradley had 31 points on a career-high eight 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics defeated the Charlotte Hornets 104-98. —
Results
Atlanta 104 Philadelphia Boston 104 Charlotte Ny Knicks 111 Memphis Cleveland 105 Orlando Chicago 118 Indiana Milwaukee 110 Brooklyn San Antonio 98 New Orleans Portland 115 Denver Sacramento 106 Minnesota 72 98 104 99 101 108 79 113 103