Russell, Nets send Celtics to third straight defeat
NEW YORK — D’angelo Russell scored 18 of his 34 points in the third quarter and the Brooklyn Nets ended a 10-game losing streak to Boston with a 109102 victory on Monday night, sending the Celtics to a winless threegame road trip.
With Kyrie Irving nursing a bruised right quadriceps, the Nets blew open the game with a 15-0 run in the third quarter and outscored the Celtics 44-21 in the period.
ROCKETS 112, GRIZZLIES 94: James Harden scored a season-high 57 points to carry the short-handed Houston Rockets to a win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
The reigning MVP extended his streak of 30-point games to 17 by halftime, pouring in 36 points over the first two quarters to put Houston on top. It’s the longest such streak since Wilt Chamberlain had 20 straight games of at least 30 points in 1964.
NBA CLEARS CAVS OF WRONGDOING IN MCCAW SIGNING: The NBA has cleared the Cleveland Cavaliers of any wrongdoing in their brief alliance with forward Patrick Mccaw.
At the urging of the Golden State Warriors, the league investigated Cleveland’s signing of Mccaw as a restricted free agent before releasing him. Mccaw played two seasons with the defending champions but did not re-sign with them last summer. The Cavs signed him to a two-year, $6 million offer sheet last month the Warriors chose not to match. Mccaw played in three games for the Cavs and was waived before his contract became guaranteed. He signed with Toronto last week. The Cavs could have forfeited a draft pick had they been found guilty of any offenses.