NBA roundup
Spurs 103, Cavaliers 74
The Cavaliers acknowledged having heavy legs, but there is something far weightier on the minds of the defending NBA champions.
Cleveland is in the midst of one of its worst stretches of the season and there is little time to fix it.
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and San Antonio dismantled the ailing Cavs on Monday night in a showdown that turned into a major letdown for Cleveland.
“The way we’ve been struggling, (the Spurs are) the last team that you want to play,” said LeBron James, who was fine after taking elbow to the neck. “A well-oiled machine like this. They exploit everything that you’re not doing well at that point in time of the season and right now we’re not playing good basketball.”
James, who finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in 29 minutes, said he will play Thursday at Chicago.
Cleveland (47-26) dropped its second in a row, set a season low for points and fell a half-game behind Boston (48-26) for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Cavaliers have nine games remaining, all against teams in the East, including a showdown at Boston on April 5.
James said the standings “always matter,” but playing more consistently is far more important and he refused to blame injuries or an arduous schedule for the team’s troubles.
“It matters more that we’re playing better basketball than where we’re at,” he said. “If that results in us having the No. 1 seed, the No. 2 seed, 3 or whatever the hell it is, we need to play better basketball. That’s what it comes down to.”
What Cleveland is seeking, the Spurs have already found.
San Antonio (57-16) is two games behind Golden State (59-14) for the league’s best record entering a home showdown with the Warriors on Wednesday.
The Spurs have won five straight and eight of 10 after sweeping their season series against the Cavaliers. They are holding opponents under 100 points per game for the 22nd straight season
“It was a big game, but in the end, it’s just one game, and one win,” San Antonio guard Tony Parker said. “We’re trying to be consistent. We’re trying to play the same way every game. It was definitely surprising. Coming off a loss, I thought they would play with a lot more energy, but it can happen. It’s a long season. It’s just one game and I’m sure they’re going to bounce back and use this game as motivation.”
LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol added 14 points apiece for the Spurs, who won their fifth straight.
San Antonio led by as many as 33 to the delight of the sold-out crowd.
“We did a good job coming out early and then keeping our foot on the pedal,” Leonard said.
The Spurs’ bench outscored the Cavaliers’ 49-24.
Cleveland, which was already without Iman Shumpert, received more bad news Monday morning when it was announced that Kyle Korver will miss at least two more games with a sore left foot.
“You lose Korver and Shumpert off your bench and things tend to change,” Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said. “With those two guys out, we tried some different things and it didn’t work. It was not on the bench. It was on me.”
Cleveland opted to play its stars rather than sit them for rest, but the trio of James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love sat out the fourth quarter of its second rout in the past two weeks.
Lue said he has considered resting his stars over the team’s final nine games, which James is not in favor of.
“Coach is going to have his logic of things, but we need to play,” James said.
James exited with 25 seconds remaining in the third after taking an elbow to his neck from David Lee on a rebound. James continually rubbed the area before collapsing after he crossed midcourt. He remained on the floor for about a minute before walking unassisted to the bench.
James left for the locker room early in the fourth quarter during a timeout, but said afterward he is fine.
Thunder 92, Mavericks 91
Russell Westbrook hit a pull-up jumper with seven seconds left and Oklahoma City erased a 13-point deficit in the final four minutes to beat Dallas.
Westbrook scored 37 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, with 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his third straight triple-double and 37th of the season.
The Thunder finished on a 14-0 run, capped when they gained possession on a replay reversal with 13 seconds to go and Westbrook hit the decisive shot from just beyond the free throw line over Wesley Matthews. Westbrook scored 12 of the final 14 points.
Dallas didn’t call a timeout, and Harrison Barnes missed a long 3-pointer just before the buzzer, clinching the first losing season for the Mavericks (31-42) since 1999-2000, the season that owner Mark Cuban bought the team with Dirk Nowitzki in his second year.
Jazz 108, Pelicans 100
Rudy Gobert had 20 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks to lead Utah over New Orleans.
Rodney Hood scored 20 points, Joe Ingles added 19 and George Hill chipped in with 17 as that Jazz trio combined to make a dozen 3-pointers. Utah (45-29) swept the season series 3-0 after dominating from the perimeter for four quarters.
Anthony Davis had 36 points and 17 rebounds for New Orleans. Jrue Holiday scored 19, but the Pelicans (31-43) lost for only the third time in nine games.
New Orleans got no closer than six in the fourth quarter. The Pelicans cut the deficit to 102-96 on a 3-pointer by Davis, but Utah answered with a jumper from Joe Johnson and a 3 from Hood to seal the win in the final minute.
Raptors 131, Magic 112
DeMar DeRozan scored 36 points and Cory Joseph had 15 points and 13 assists as Toronto defeated Orlando for its sixth straight victory.
DeRozan, selected the Eastern Conference player of the week earlier in the day, set the pace early by scoring 18 in the first quarter. Joseph added six rebounds and Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors (45-29).
Elfrid Payton had 22 points and nine assists for Orlando (27-47). Evan Fournier added 20 points, and Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and 15 assists.
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.
Kings 91, Grizzlies 90
Darren Collison scored 23 points and made two crucial free throws in the closing seconds to help Sacramento hand slumping Memphis its fourth consecutive loss.
The victory was the second straight for the Kings, both over playoff-bound teams. Sacramento rallied from an 18-point deficit in the final five minutes to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
Mike Conley had 22 points and nine assists for the Grizzlies, and Zach Randolph added 17 points and 15 rebounds. Memphis has lost nine of 13 and sits in seventh place in the Western Conference.
Randolph hit two free throws with 32.9 seconds left, giving the Grizzlies a 90-89 lead. But then Collison made both free throws to put the Kings up by one with 5.7 seconds left. Randolph missed an open 3-pointer with a second left that would have won it for Memphis.
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