Beal, Wiz hold off Cavaliers
Bradley Beal scored 18 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. added 17 and tried to untie the sneakers of one of the Cavaliers’ new players, and the Washington Wizards withstood a late assault by LeBron James to post a 110-103 victory last night in Cleveland.
The Wizards nearly blew a late 11-point lead as James scored 14 straight points to pull the Cavs within 106-103. But Beal hit a driving layup and James missed a free throw and committed a lane violation while intentionally missing the second one and the Wizards held on.
Washington is 8-2 since star guard John Wall went down with a knee injury. Tomas Satoransky, who has been starting in Wall’s spot, added 17 points and eight assists.
James, back from winning MVP honors at the All-Star Game, scored 32 — 14 in the fourth — for the Cavs, who dropped to 2-1 since acquiring four new players before the trade deadline. J.R. Smith added 15 for Cleveland.
The Wizards spoiled the home debuts for Larry Nance Jr., George Hill, Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson, four new faces the Cavs are hoping can get them back to the NBA Finals.
Before the game, Nance Jr. announced that the NBA will allow him to wear his dad’s retired No. 22 jersey, which will remain hanging from the rafters in Quicken Loans Arena.
76ers 116, Bulls 115 — Ben Simmons scored 32 points, making two free throws with 5.6 seconds left to complete Philadelphia’s rally from five points down in the final minute in Chicago.
Joel Embiid had 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Simmons added 11 assists and seven rebounds as Philadelphia won its sixth straight and snapped a four-game road losing streak.
Bobby Portis had a career-high 38 points and Zach LaVine added 23 for the Bulls, who were 18-for-34 on 3-pointers.
Knicks 120, Magic 113 — Trey Burke came off the bench with a season-high 26 points and six assists to help New York break an eight-game losing streak with a victory over Orlando.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had 23 points and six assists for the Knicks, who won for the first time since Jan.30 and the first time since losing Kristaps Porzingis for the season to a torn ACL.
Hornets 111, Nets 96 — Dwight Howard grabbed a season-high 24 rebounds and added 15 points, Kemba Walker scored 31 and host Charlotte beat Brooklyn.
Dante Cunningham had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets, who lost their eighth straight game and fell to 19-41.
Thunder 110, Kings 107 — Russell Westbrook made a 3-pointer as time expired, lifting visiting Oklahoma City over Sacramento.
The Thunder blew a 23-point lead and trailed 105-102 with 41 ⁄2 minutes remaining before closing the game on an 8-2 run.
Warriors 134, Clippers 127 — In Oakland, Calif., Stephen Curry swished a beautiful buzzer-beater from way back early and hit another timely 3-pointer late on the way to scoring 44, and Golden State returned from the All-Star break and had to hold off Los Angeles.