LeBron
James scored 32 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Sacramento
Kings 101-95 on Wednesday to tie a team record for consecutive National
Basketball Association wins. The Cavs won their 13th straight, and they
can set a franchise record today against the Indiana Pacers.
Cleveland
previously won 13 in a row in March 2009 and in January-February 2010.
Kevin Love scored 18 points with 13 rebounds for the Cavs, while Jeff
Green scored 17 off the bench. Kyle Korver added 15 points as Cleveland
rallied from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter. Zach Randolph
paced the Kings with 18 points, and JaKarr Sampson set a career high
with 16 rebounds.
Warriors 101, Hornets 87
Kevin Durant
totalled 35 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as Golden State beat
Charlotte without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Durant finished 13
of 28 from the field and recorded his ninth career triple-double as the
Warriors won while Curry sat with a sprained ankle and Green was out
with a shoulder injury.
Klay Thompson added 22 for the Warriors, who
won their fifth straight and seventh in eight games. Kemba Walker led
Charlotte with 24 points. Nicolas Batum added 15 and Dwight Howard
finished with 14.
Celtics 97, Mavericks 90
Kyrie Irving scored
nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as Boston beat Dallas.
Irving scored seven points in a span of 3:05 and then added another
basket down the stretch to help Boston win its fourth straight. Al
Horford had 17 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and
two steals. Rookie Jayson Tatum also scored 17 and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Harrison Barnes led the Mavericks with 19 points and seven rebounds
while Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points.
Spurs 117, Heat 105
LaMarcus
Aldridge scored 18 points to lead a parade of teammates in double
figures as San Antonio Spurs beat Miami. Eight of the 11 players who saw
the court for San Antonio scored in double figures as Bryn Forbes hit
for 17 points, Rudy Gay scored 16 and Patty Mills had 13 points. Tyler
Johnson led Miami with 25 points off the bench, while Dion Waiters
scored 22 and Josh Richardson added 19.
Pelicans 123, Nuggets 114
DeMarcus
Cousins had 40 points and 22 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday was right
behind with 27 points and seven assists to lift New Orleans over Denver.
Playing without forward Anthony Davis, who missed his third consecutive
game with a strained adductor, the Pelicans erased an early 10-point
deficit by pounding the ball inside to Cousins. The Nuggets were led by
Gary Harris with 24 points, but they dropped to 3-9 on the road.
Knicks 99, Grizzlies 88
Courtney
Lee scored half of his 24 points in the second quarter as New York beat
Memphis. Kristaps Porzingis returned from missing two games with an
ankle injury to added 18 points on 8-of-19 shooting.
Enes Kanter
added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who won for the second
time in seven games. Marc Gasol scored 17 points, and Tyreke Evans added
15 to lead the Grizzlies, who lost for the 11th time in 12 games.
Bucks 104, Pistons 100
Andre
Drummond scored 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, but it was not
enough for the Detroit in a loss to Milwaukee. Drummond hit 12 of 15
shots but Detroit shot just 41.9% as a team and went 10-for-30 from
beyond the 3-point arc in its season-high fourth straight loss. Tobias
Harris added 21 and Avery Bradley finished with 20 for the Pistons.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for
Milwaukee, which also got 22 points from Eric Bledsoe and 21 from Khris
Middleton.
Magic 110, Hawks 106 (OT)
Evan Fournier led all
scorers with 27 points but left Orlando’s win over Atlanta early in the
extra period with a badly sprained right ankle. Fournier hit 12 of 21
shots and scored the first basket in overtime before limping off the
court after landing on Nikola Vucevic’s foot during the follow-through
of his running floater.
Aaron Gordon had 24 points and a season-high
15 rebounds for Orlando (11-15) while Vucevic added 22 and a season-best
16 rebounds. Dennis Schroder led the Hawks (5-19) with 26 points and
seven assists.
Pacers 98, Bulls 96
Victor Oladipo scored 11 of
his 27 points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer with 31.1
seconds left as Indiana rallied from a 16-point deficit in the final 9
1/2 minutes to beat Chicago. Oladipo made his shot after stealing the
ball from Chicago’s Denzel Valentine and was among five in double
figures for Indiana.
Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 points and Darren
Collison contributed 14. Kris Dunn scored 19 points for Chicago, which
dropped its 10th straight by getting outscored 29-13 and shooting 5 of
18 in the fourth quarter.
Timberwolves 113, Clippers 107
Karl-Anthony
Towns totalled 21 points and 12 rebounds as Minnesota beat Los Angeles.
Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague added 19 points apiece for Minnesota,
which shot 55%.
Andrew Wiggins contributed 16 points as did Taj
Gibson, who also grabbed 14 rebounds. Reserve Lou Williams and Austin
Rivers led the Clippers with 23 points. DeAndre Jordan collected 18
points and 21 rebounds as Los Angeles fell to 0-4 since losing Blake
Griffin for two months to a left knee injury.
Cavaliers forward LeBron James (left) reaches for a rebound as Sacramento Kings guards George Hill and Buddy Hield (right) attempt to block during the NBA game at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohi, on Wednesday night. (USA TODAY Sports)