Cavaliers Stun Spurs on Saturday

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LeBron James scored 29 points and Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving added 21 apiece as the Cleveland Cavaliers finally took down one of the NBA’s elite teams, beating the San Antonio Spurs 117-103 on Saturday night.

The Cavs won their fourth straight under coach Tyronn Lue, who was promoted after David Blatt was fired on 22 January. Cleveland came in 0-5 against San Antonio, Golden State and Chicago, three top-tier teams who figure to contend with them for a title this season.

Lue has the Cavs playing at a faster pace and the Spurs, who were again without center Tim Duncan, couldn’t keep up with them. Duncan missed his third straight game with a sore right knee.

Kawhi Leonard scored 24 and LaMarcus Aldridge 15 for the Spurs, who lost for just the second time in 16 games. They lost to the Warriors on Monday.

Cleveland’s 117 points were the second-most given up this season by San Antonio, which came in allowing a league-best 90.6 points per game. The Cavs had more than that after three quarters.

Irving (10) and Matthew Dellavedova (8) scored Cleveland’s first 18 points in the fourth quarter. James scored the next three when he was fouled while going to the basket by San Antonio’s Patty Mills, who was flicked aside like a gnat by the four-time MVP on his way to a layup and three-point play.

Down by 17 points at the half, the Spurs scored the first eight of the third quarter, a spurt that prompted an oh-no-here-they-come vibe through Cleveland’s loud crowd, which was in playoff form.

But the Cavs responded with a flurry that showcased their offensive depth. Love and Dellavedova hit three-pointers and James powered inside for several baskets, helping Cleveland push its lead to 88-69 late in the third. James scored 16 in the quarter.

James, too, made one of his signature defensive plays by chasing down Spurs guard Manu Ginobili on a breakaway and blocking his shot at the rim.

Elsewhere, Harrison Barnes hit a three-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining and Golden State escaped with a 108-105 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Klay Thompson had 32 points and Stephen Curry scored 23 for the Warriors, who nearly blew a 24-point second-half lead. Draymond Green added 10 points and 13 rebounds for Golden State, who opened a three-game road trip with their sixth straight victory while matching the NBA’s best start through 47 games.

Isaiah Canaan had 18 points to lead the 76ers, who dropped to 7-41 but nearly pulled off the most improbable victory of the NBA season.

“It shows we have no letdown, no backdown,” Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said.

Philadelphia trailed by double-digits most of the second half until a late 15-2 run tied the game at 105 with 22.3 seconds left. The Warriors won it when Curry passed inside to Green, who fired outside to Barnes on the right baseline.

“We kind of went into it knowing they were going to trap Steph, so whoever it was that got the ball tried to make a play,” Barnes said. “[Green] made that kick to the corner. I just let it ride.”

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King James Blamed for Blatt Exit

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Cavaliers star LeBron James said “it sucks” that people think he was behind coach David Blatt’s shock exit – but feels “people get it so misconstrued because I’m a smart basketball player.”

An exasperated James said to reporters on Wednesday: “What do you guys want me to do? Turn my brain off because I have a huge basketball IQ?”

James insisted he had nothing to do with Cleveland’s decision to fire Blatt, who was surprisingly let go just months after taking the Cavaliers to the NBA finals.

“It sucks,” James said. “But what can I do about it? I’ve never, in my time since I picked up a basketball, ever undermined a coach, ever disrespected a coach. You ask any of my little league coaches, my high school coaches, coaches I’ve played for in tournaments, camps, my NBA coaches. I’ve always respected what they wanted to do. And I’m not the owner of a team, I’m not the GM of a team. I’m the player of a team.”

The four-time NBA MVP has been labelled a “coach killer” for apparently orchestrating in Blatt’s departure, in order to get Tyronn Lue, his preferred coach, into the top role. But that just isn’t true, said LeBron.

“People get it so misconstrued because I’m a smart basketball player and I’ve voiced my opinion about certain things, which I did when I was here my first stint with Paul Silas and Mike Brown. Which I did in Miami with Coach Spo [Erik Spoelstra]. Which I did with Blatt and I’ll do with T-Lue. And at the end of the day, they’ll still have their final call.”

“I don’t know,” James said. “What do you guys want me to do, turn my brain off because I have a huge basketball IQ? If that’s what they want me to do, I’m not going to do it, because I’ve got so much to give to the game. There’s no difference for me telling my team-mates or telling guys how to get better with their game. If I feel I got something that will help our team, ultimately, I like to give it. It helped me get two titles.”

“So, but I think it does suck that people want to throw my name in dirt for no particular reason, because of speculation or whatever the case may be. But you can’t worry about it too much. I got 14 guys here. I got a fan base here and a fan base all over the world that loves what I do, and they respect what I do, and I can’t worry about a select group of people that wants to use their negative energy to take away my positive energy. I can’t allow that to happen.”

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Simmons is King James - Magic Jonhson

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Magic Johnson believes Australian teenage sensation Ben Simmons is the best young player he has seen since LeBron James.

Melbourne-born Simmons has been on fire for Louisiana State University averaging 20.5 points and a league-high 13.1 rebounds to confirm his place as the expected No1 NBA draft pick in June.

“LSU’s Ben Simmons is the best all around player I’ve seen since LeBron James came out of high school straight to the NBA!” Johnson tweeted.

“Whatever team selects Ben Simmons, will be getting a player that will have an immediate impact on their squad!”

The NBA Draft rewards the teams with the worst records with the best chance of scoring the top pick and the Lakers are having a woeful year.

The backing from Johnson came just hours before Simmons’ LSU team inflicted a major upset victory over the University of Kentucky.

LSU won 85-67 in Baton Rouge on Tuesday, with Australian 19-year-old Simmons having a relatively quiet game for his high standards with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

Tim Quarterman and forward Craig Victor stepped up after Simmons was hit with two early fouls and sat out 11 minutes of the first half against ninth-ranked Kentucky.

Kentucky coach John Calipari had warned his team the highly skilled, athletic 208cm tall Simmons was a handful.

“He is a 6-9 point guard-ish guy that will go inside, score next to the basket, makes free throws so you can’t foul him and, in transition, when he brings it up, he’s a great playmaker, Calipari said.”

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King James Unable to Stop Cavs

Even when all those long-range shots aren’t falling like usual, the defending-champion Golden State Warriors showed they are quite comfortable grinding out wins.

The Golden State Warriors remain undefeated at home after 89-83 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Draymond Green had 22 points and 15 rebounds and the Warriors got defensive in their NBA Finals rematch against Cleveland, beating the Cavaliers 89-83 on Friday.

“It’s good to have one of those every so often,” guard Stephen Curry said. “If our defense shows up, we’re in pretty good shape to win games. We just show our versatility and try to win different ways.”

Curry added 19 points, Klay Thompson had 18, and the Warriors improved to 28-1 by winning their 32nd straight regular-season home game. Instead of doing it with 3-pointers, defending champion Golden State maintained its edge over Cleveland by limiting the Cavaliers to 32 percent shooting.

The Warriors were held under 100 points at home for the first time in more than a year in the regular season, however it happened five times in the playoffs.

“It’s good to practice and get experience in that type of game as well where it’s low scoring, getting stops, knocking down free throws and executing in the half court,” interim coach Luke Walton said. “It’s great experience for us.”

LeBron James scored 25 points to lead the Cavaliers. They had their six-game winning streak snapped.

“We gave ourselves a chance,” James said. “If we play like that defensively, we’re going to be a very tough team to beat. Offensively, we just didn’t have it. No one had it.”

The Cavaliers were short-handed when they lost the final to the Warriors in six games, missing power forward Kevin Love the entire series with a shoulder injury and losing point guard Kyrie Irving to a knee injury late in the first game.

Having both those players healthy for the rematch did little to help Cleveland. Love scored just 10 points on 5-for-16 shooting, and Irving missed 11 of 15 shots in a 13-point game.

With those two struggling, the Warriors built a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter following a jumper by Thompson and a layup from Green.

But James responded with a pair of dunks and a blocked shot on Thompson before Love’s tip-in made it 81-77 with just over 2 minutes to play.

James missed two free throws after Cleveland got another stop and Curry responded with a pair of layups around J.R. Smith’s 3-pointer to make it 85-80 with 57.6 seconds to play.

James shot an air ball from three with 12.7 seconds to play to end Cleveland’s comeback attempt.

“Tonight our defense was absolutely unbelievable for all 48 minutes,” Warriors center Andrew Bogut said. “To keep them to the 80s, they never really got in a flow where they could really attack us.”

There was an increased intensity at the start of the seventh Christmas Day rematch of the previous season’s finals with fans on edge far more than for most regular season games.

The officials let both teams play through contact early and the Warriors led 45-42 at the half.

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LeBron Gives Ellie Bad Day

The wife of the Australian golfer Jason Day was taken away in a neck brace on a stretcher after being accidentally crunched by Cleveland superstar LeBron James while watching an NBA match.

Jason and Ellie Day had courtside seats at Quicken Loans Arena for the game between Cleveland and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The four-time NBA MVP was chasing a loose ball when he tumbled towards the seats, and Ellie Day bore the full impact of James’s 113kg frame.

James said in a post-match interview shown on ESPN: “Obviously her health is very important and hopefully she’s doing well. The guys told us she’s doing great now. Going for a loose ball I was just trying to keep the possession going and I hate that that was the end result of it.”

Ellie Day was taken to a local hospital for treatment, as reported by cleveland.com and the ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst, while James was also quoted as saying: “She squeezed my hand, said she was fine. I think she was just a little weary.”

James scored 33 points for Cleveland in their 104-100 win, which halted Oklahoma’s six-game winning run.

The Cavs coach David Blatt, who spent years coaching in Europe, has long been worried about courtside fan safety. “It’s always concerned me, the sideline seats,” he said. “Always concerned me, because things like that, when you’re talking about players of this speed and physicality and effort level, it’s not a simple thing.

“The powers that be are the ones that really need to decide how to deal with that. He [James] made an honest attempt at the basketball, that’s all, obviously. We all hope she’s OK.”

The league has recently taken steps to improve safety, including cutting the number of photographers allowed to sit along the baselines to reduce the risk of contact with players.

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LeBron Like Mike with Nike

Nike has signed the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar to a lifetime deal that’s been described as the largest single-athlete guarantee in the company’s 44-year history.

While a spokesperson for the Oregon-based company declined to reveal the dollar value of the deal, a source told ESPN that it easily surpasses the 10-year, $300m contract Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant signed with Nike last year.

James’ relationship with Nike began in 2003, when the parties agreed to a seven-year, $90m contract ahead of that year’s NBA draft lottery.

Shortly before that deal expired in 2010, a nine-year extension was signed for an undisclosed amount.

“LeBron and I have been in love and obsessed with Nike since we were kids,” Maverick Carter, James’ childhood friend, confidant and long-time business manager, told ESPN on Monday. “Having built a totally innovative global business with them has truly been a dream come true. We are so excited to be taking the business to an entirely new level.

“For LeBron, he’s thrilled to know he’s a Nike guy for life.”

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Toronto Suffer King James

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LeBron James fought through a sore back to score 32 points, Chris Bosh added 18 and the Heat used another strong defensive effort to beat the Toronto Raptors 93-83 on Monday night. The win pushed the two-time defending NBA champions percentage points ahead of the struggling Indiana Pacers in the race for the No. 1 seed in the East.

"It doesn't feel like anything," James said. "The standings are what they are. We want to play the best we can and the fact that we are in first place, I think that's pretty cool but we've got so much work to do. We've got too much work to do. We've got guys that need to get healthy. We haven't even talked about it. We probably won't talk about it. We've got to play the season out."

Chris Andersen scored 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting and Mario Chalmers added 12 for Miami (51-22), which was again without Dwyane Wade (hamstring), Greg Oden (back) andRay Allen (flu).

Indiana (52-23) lost at home earlier Monday night to San Antonio, 103-77.

"The No. 1 seed is the last thing on our minds right now," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said after his team's loss.

The Heat -- who were three games out in the East after losing at Indiana on Wednesday -- are basically saying the same thing.

Sure, it's a neat perk -- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called it an "ancillary" effect of hard work -- and Bosh acknowledged the outcomes Monday merited a very subtle fist-pump from him. But there's still plenty of time for things to change, and Miami is thinking more about getting those who are hurt and sick back into rhythm with the playoffs coming up in less than three weeks.

"We're aware of it," Spoelstra said of the standings. "It's not that we're naive to it. I didn't talk about it. ... These were pros that were getting ready for battle and it's that type of focus, that's the type of thing we're trying to stress right now, the process of building those habits. The results will follow. They tend to take care of themselves."

Greivis Vasquez scored 17 points, DeMar DeRozan scored 16 and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors. Steve Novak added 13 for Toronto, which lost Kyle Lowry to a sore left knee late in the third quarter after he collided with James.

"It was a hard-fought game -- basketball at a high level," Vasquez said. "We lost it in the third period. We came out too relaxed. We didn't attack the basket. Everything worked for them."

Lowry's knee swelled, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said, and that hardly sounds like good news for a team fighting for the No. 3 spot in the East.

"He bumped knees," Casey said. "It puffed up a little bit. X-rays were negative. We just have to wait and see how he is tomorrow."

The Heat were down 10 midway through the second quarter, and then closed the half on a 22-9 run to take the lead and never trailed again.

Bosh had consecutive baskets in the fourth quarter, the last of them an easy breakaway, to put Miami up by nine. A possession later, after a 3-pointer from Vasquez, James split a pair of defenders on the dribble and found Toney Douglas for a right-wing 3. And after a stop on the ensuing Miami trip, James got a wild layup to fall while getting fouled.

Moments later, the Heat could look at the standings and finally see themselves on top.

"We could still lose it," Bosh said. "That reality is there. We just have to keep concentrating on what we've been doing."

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Dallas Too Easy for King James

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LeBron James and the Miami Heat came up against a Dallas team already missing Dirk Nowitzki and plagued by more injuries- with no semblance of their two NBA Finals matchups against each other.

James scored 24 points with some early baskets on nifty passes from Dwyane Wade, and the Heat rolled to a 110-95 victory Thursday night, a game in which Miami led by 36 points before James and Wade sat out the entire fourth quarter.

"I'm just playing within the game," said Wade, who had 19 points and six assists. "My job is to do a little bit of everything right now."

Including getting the ball to James, who has scored at least 20 points in all 23 games, the longest streak to start an NBA season since Karl Malone's 24 in a row opening the 1989-90 season.

"I'm just very comfortable and confident in my ability," James said. "I put a lot of work into my game. It's always good when you put in the work and implement that into a game situation."

Nowitzki, the Mavs' 11-time All-Star, hasn't played this season though he practised for the first time this week since arthroscopic right knee surgery October 19. Dallas is now without starting point guard Derek Fisher (right knee) and post players Elton Brand (right groin) and Brandan Wright (right ankle).

The Heat never trailed after James drove for a short floater 3 minutes into the game. They had their first double-digit lead, 22-11, when James made a 3-pointer with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter.

"We don't want to give a team too much confidence at home. We understand this team was short-handed," Wade said. "We wanted to come out here on the road and make a statement."

Chris Bosh added 17 points as the Heat played only their second road game since Nov. 17. They return home to play Utah on Saturday before an NBA Finals rematch against Oklahoma City on Christmas Day.

Rookie Jae Crowder had 15 points to lead six Dallas players in double figures. Dahntay Jones and Bernard James had 12 points each.

LeBron James' first 3 came in between two impressive passes from Wade, who didn't yet have James or Dallas native Bosh as teammates when the Heat clinched their first NBA title in the same building in June 2006.

Dallas is much changed team since winning the 2011 NBA title over the Heat, in the star trio's first season together. Miami is now defending a championship this season.

"Much better team than we were. We know each other," James said. "We can close our eyes and where we're going to be offensively and defensively."

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle wholeheartedly agrees with that assessment, and is dealing with the opposite side of that since Nowitzki and Shawn Marion are the only current Dallas players who actually played in the NBA Finals only two seasons ago.

"They're so much better now since they've been together and there's a lot to be said about being together," Carlisle said. "Right now one of our struggles, we have a group that hasn't been together too much. ... And it's been challenging."

Bosh rebounded a missed 3-pointer by the Mavericks and got the ball to Wade, who had a perfect alley-oop pass to James, who caught the ball in midair near the rim and slammed it through with both hands.

After another missed 3 by Dallas later in the first quarter, Wade grabbed the rebound under the basket and then threw a football-like pass the length of the court to James. Even with Darren Collison and Vince Carter fronting him, James leaped and reached over to grab the ball, then finished with a layup to make it 27-13.

Dallas pulled to 36-33 after Dominique Jones had consecutive assists to rookies, a 3-pointer by Crowder and a reverse layup by Bernard James.

But Miami then responded with a 16-4 run.

Miami stretched the lead to 91-55, its largest of the season, when Shane Battier made a 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the third quarter.

Nowtizki practised for the first time Wednesday, and had an individual workout Thursday. It's still unclear when he will make his season debut, but got a huge cheer when he was shown on the video screen during a timeout.

Collison, who lost the job as the starting point guard when the Mavericks signed Fisher on Nov. 29, was back in the starting lineup and had 11 points.

Fisher was hurt in the first quarter of a win over Philadelphia on Tuesday night. He will skip a two-game trip for games at Memphis on Friday night and San Antonio on Sunday. The team said there is no timetable for the 38-year-old Fisher's return and that he would be re-evaluated next week.

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