Harrison Barnes (left) and Klay Thompson (right) of the Golden State Warriors try to stop LeBron James of Cleveland Cavaliers from scoring during the NBA game in Cleveland, Ohio. (AFP)
DPA/Los Angeles
LeBron James was at his best against the league’s finest. “King” James erupted for season-high 42 points and 11 rebounds yesterday, sending the surging Cleveland Cavaliers to their 18th win in the last 20 games, 110-99 over the visiting Golden State Warriors.
James came out nearly 90 minutes before tipoff for some extra shooting practice and it paid off, with the four-time league MVP making 15-of-25 from the field. “I wanted to get into a rhythm, see the ball go through the rim and it did,” he said. “I didn’t miss many shots in the pre-game warm-up. I was locked in from the time I got to the arena all the way until the end of the game.”
Cleveland coach David Blatt marveled over James’ latest shining effort saying, “He was just fabulous tonight. He was in the attack moment from minute one.”
Kyrie Irving netted 24 points, Kevin Love added 16 while Timofey Mozgov finished with 10 and as many rebounds for Cleveland (37-22), which moved one-half game ahead of idle Chicago atop the Central Division.
“You you can tell LeBron was locked in, we all were,” Love said. “We wanted to play 48 minutes. We felt the energy and effort was there.”
David Lee tallied 19 points, Stephen Curry added 18 while Draymond Green had 16 for Golden State (44-11), which was held 11 below its league-best scoring average.
Asked if there was anything the Warriors could do to stop James, Green replied, “No. We played great defence on him but once he gets going he’s hard to stop. That’s why he’s arguably the best player in the world.”
In a matchup between the league’s best against the hottest, an aggressive James set the tone with 24 points, staking the Cavs to a 61-56 halftime advantage. He added 14 in the third quarter, including eight in a pivotal 16-3 blitz to start as the gap grew to 77-61 with 6:48 left in the period.
Cleveland carried a 90-78 cushion into the final frame and never let the lead dip below nine en route to an 11th consecutive home victory. “We held the NBA’s highest scoring team to 99 points,” Blatt said. “That says volumes about how we played defence.”
Fresh off a signature victory, James was asked if the Cavs are as good as any team in the league. “We’re as good as we want to be,” he said. “Right now we can’t stack up against a lot of these teams because we don’t have the camaraderie, the experience that a lot of the teams that are playing well right now have.
“Those guys have so much play-off games together and we have not played one playoff game. But it’s great to know we have a group of guys that want to work; that don’t mind making mistakes and learning from those mistakes and going on to play for one another.”
Phoenix Suns 117, Oklahoma City Thunder 113 (OT)
Markieff Morris had 29 points and 11 rebound, Eric Bledsoe added 28 with 13 rebounds and nine assists, and the Suns (31-28) snapped the visiting Thunder’s season-high seven-game winning streak.
Russell Westbrook collected his league-best fourth triple-double of the season, finishing with 39 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for Oklahoma City (32-26), playing again without sore right-footed reigning league MVP Kevin Durant.
Knotted in overtime, Bledsoe hit back-to-back baskets to put the Suns ahead 115-111 with 1:51 left.
After Westbrook’s layup cut it in half, the mercurial guard drove the lane past two defenders but missed a wide-open game-tying layup with 5.7 ticks to go. P.J. Tucker sank two free throws to seal the Suns’ first overtime win in five tries this season.