Wiz trim Cavs’ lead over East
John Wall scored 37 points, Bradley Beal added 27 and the Washington Wizards began a challenging road trip by beating LeBron James and the Cavaliers, 127-115, last night in Cleveland.
Wall scored 18 in the first quarter, when the Wizards shot 82 percent, and Washington held on down the stretch to avenge an overtime loss to the NBA champions last month.
James, who briefly wore goggles to protect an eye injury sustained Friday night, scored 24 and added 11 rebounds and eight assists. Kyrie Irving added 23 points and Kevin Love 17 for Cleveland, playing at home for the only time in a seven-game stretch.
Washington’s victory cut Cleveland’s lead in the Eastern Conference to a half-game over the idle Celtics. The Celtics can pulled even with the Cavs today, when they host the Heat at the Garden.
The Wizards, who are 29-10 since Jan. 6 and climbed within 21⁄ games of first, showed they could put a complete 2 game together against the Cavs — a possible playoff opponent. They lost to Cleveland 140-135 on Feb. 6, when James banked in an impossible 3-pointer to force OT.
Trailing from early in the first quarter, the Cavs got within four in the fourth and were down only eight when Wall scored on a layup and Otto Porter delivered a dagger dunk to make it 123-111.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue called time and pulled his starters, conceding the win to the Wizards, who are playing with swagger and have the look of a team poised to make some postseason noise.
Raptors 94, Mavericks 86 —
DeMar DeRozan and Serge Ibaka scored 18 points apiece and visiting Toronto beat Dallas for its fifth straight victory.
Harrison Barnes scored 23 points for Dallas, which missed 18 of its first 22 3-pointers and finished just 7-of-28 from behind the arc.
Patrick Patterson added 14 points for Toronto, including a perfect 4-for-4 on 3-pointers.
Spurs 106, Knicks 98 —
Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and host San Antonio beat New York.
San Antonio has won four straight heading into home games against Cleveland tomorrow and Golden State on Wednesday. The Spurs (56-16) are two games behind the Warriors (58-14) for the league’s best record.
Knicks star Carmelo Anthony missed his second straight game with a sore left knee.
Earlier in the day, the Knicks’ Joakim Noah was suspended 20 games without pay for violating the league’s anti-drug policy.
Clippers 108, Jazz 95 —
Jamal Crawford scored 28 points off the bench, and host Los Angeles beat Utah to clinch a playoff berth for the sixth straight year.
The Clippers trail the Jazz by a half-game in their race for the No. 4 playoff seed in the West.
Blake Griffin added 15 points and DeAndre Jordan had 15 rebounds for the Clippers.
Trail Blazers 112, Timberwolves 100 —
CJ McCollum scored 32 points and host Portland continued its push for the postseason by beating Minnesota to pull within a game of Denver for the final Western playoff spot.