Soup toss has Cavs’ Smith in hot water
Chicken noodle or tomato? J.R. Smith didn’t serve up any explanation.
Cleveland’s mercurial shooting guard declined an interview request Friday, a day after the Cavaliers suspended him one game for throwing a bowl of soup at assistant coach Damon Jones.
The soup toss came following Thursday’s shootaround at the team’s training facility, hours before the Cavs played the Philadelphia 76ers, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not disclosed details.
Smith was with his teammates Friday the Cavs didn’t practice, but watched film and after getting in some extra shots, he told a team spokesman he will address the media at Saturday’s shootaround before the Cavs play Denver.
THUNDER 124, SUNS 116 >> Russell Westbrook had 43 points, including the goahead 3-pointer with 56 seconds to play, and Oklahoma City scored the final 10 points of the game to escape with a victory over Phoenix.
Westbrook also had 14 rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder, who had lost three straight to Phoenix. Paul George scored 20 points. Devin Booker had 39 points for the Suns and at 21 years, 123 days became the third-youngest player in NBA history to reach 4,000 career points. Only LeBron James and Kevin Durant were younger.
76ERS 110, HORNETS 99 >> Joel Embiid had 23 points and 14 rebounds to help Philadelphia pull away from Charlotte down the stretch in a victory.
The Sixers won their 13th straight game at the Wells Fargo Center and looked strong in the fourth quarter on the second night of a back-to-back. JJ Redick and newly signed Ersan Ilyasova scored clutch buckets in the final minutes to continue the Sixers’ late charge up the East standings.
BULLS 108, MAVERICKS 100 >> Bobby Portis scored 22 points and made three straight shots during the decisive run late in the fourth quarter to help Chicago roar back and beat Dallas.
RAPTORS 102, WIZARDS 95 >> DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, reserve CJ Miles added 20 and Toronto beats the Washington.
The Raptors have won 10 of their last 11 games, including a season-high four straight on the road.
MAGIC 115, PISTONS 106 >> Aaron Gordon had 27 points and 13 rebounds to help Orlando stop a sevengame losing streak with a victory against Detroit in overtime.
PACERS 103, BUCKS 96 >> Victor Oladipo had 21 points, and Indiana nearly blew a 17-point lead in the middle of a mistake-laden fourth quarter before holding off Milwaukee for a win.
With his team trailing by five, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton missed a corner 3-pointer off an inbounds play with 8.9 seconds left. Bojan Bogdanovic hit two foul shots at the other end to seal it.
NUGGETS 108, GRIZZLIES 102 >> Gary Harris scored 26 points, hitting a key basket with just under a minute left, and the Denver Nuggets weathered a fourthquarter rally to beat Memphis.
Harris was 11 of 18 from the field to help the Nuggets snap a two-game skid.
• Lakers rookie Josh Hart will be sidelined for four to six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair his broken left hand.