LeBron, Cavs demolished by Spurs, drop to second in East
SAN ANTONIO — Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points, and the San Antonio Spurs dismantled the ailing Cleveland Cavaliers 103-74 on Monday night in a showdown that turned into a major letdown for the defending NBA champions.
LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol added 14 points apiece for the Spurs, who won their fifth straight.
Cleveland (47-26) dropped its second in a row and fell a half-game behind Boston (48-26) for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
In addition to scoring a season-low 17 points, Cavaliers superstar LeBron James was injured late in the third quarter after taking an elbow to the base of his neck. He remained on the bench for a while receiving medical attention, then headed toward the locker room and didn’t return to the game.
RAPTORS 131, MAGIC 112
DeMar DeRozan scored 36 points, and Cory Joseph had 15 points and 13 assists as host Toronto defeated Orlando for its sixth consecutive victory.
Elfrid Payton had 22 points and nine assists for Orlando.
It was the first game between the teams since the Raptors traded Terrence Ross to the Magic for Serge Ibaka in February.
Ross finished with 17 points and two rebounds, while Ibaka had 16 points and seven rebounds.
KNICKS 109, PISTONS 95
Derrick Rose scored 27 points, Kristaps Porzingis had 25, and New York gave Detroit another damaging defeat with a win at Madison Square Garden.
Carmelo Anthony returned from a two-game absence because of a sore left knee and added 21 as the Knicks snapped a fivegame losing streak and avoided playoff elimination.
Marcus Morris scored 20 points, but Detroit dropped its fourth straight and fell 1½ games behind Miami for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
THUNDER 92, MAVS 91
Russell Westbrook collected another triple-double with 37 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, and he hit the game-winning jumper with seven seconds remaining as Oklahoma City rallied from a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win at Dallas.
Nerlens Noel and Wesley Matthews scored 15 points apiece to lead Dallas, which fell to four games behind Portland and Denver for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with nine games remaining in the regular season.