Blocked and booed, LeBron James and Baron Davis refused to be beaten.
James and Davis led their teams to impressive road wins Wednesday night. Cleveland handed Portland only its fifth home loss, and Golden State snapped New Orleans’ nine-game winning streak.
Frustrated after having two shots rejected by Blazers center Joel Przybilla, James scored 17 points in the fourth quarter – two more than the entire Portland team – including a reverse layup with less than a second left that gave the Cavaliers an 84-83 victory.
James finished with 37 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have won 13 of their last 16 games. They have won five straight road games for the first time since March 17-April 1, 1998.
“I just wanted to take every possession like it was our last and be aggressive,” James said. “I don’t know when the turning point happened, but we were able to ride the wave and get a win.”
Davis, who starred for the Hornets during their first two-plus seasons in New Orleans before being traded to Golden State, had 23 points and nine assists in Golden State’s 116-103 victory.
Jeered every time he touched the ball, Davis hit five 3-pointers, helping the Warriors pull away in the fourth quarter.
“Nobody likes to get booed,” Davis said. “It wasn’t really motivation. It was kind of distracting, but at the same time you’ve just got deal with it. I expected it, so I just dealt with it.”
In other games, it was: Orlando 107, Miami 91; Philadelphia 112, Milwaukee 69; Toronto 122, Washington 83; Denver 106, Memphis 102; Minnesota 83, Chicago 67; Utah 100, New York 89; Sacramento 105, Charlotte 91; and the Los Angeles Clippers 95, Atlanta 88.
Golden State’s lead was only 92-88 early in the fourth quarter. Then Monta Ellis’ driving layup ignited an 11-2 run that included Davis’ 3-pointer and gave Golden State a 103-90 lead with 6:21 to go. Davis, who still keeps a home in New Orleans, buried his final 3 to make it 114-95 with 3:21 left.
“When we have all our guys on one page and we’re hitting shots like that it feels good because we know we’re definitely hard to beat that way,” said Stephen Jackson, who led the Warriors with 26 points.
Chris Paul had 28 points and 12 assists for New Orleans (32-13), which lost for only the third time in 20 games. David West had 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Portland led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but James hit three consecutive 3-pointers to tie it at 81 with 2:26 left. His layup with 0.9 seconds left gave Cleveland its only lead of the half and the victory.
And while James may not have known when the turning point was, Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said it was when James had his shots blocked.
“LeBron came down the court and he was really angry at himself. And then he took over,” Ilgauskas said. “I don’t think he missed the rest of the game.”
Brandon Roy had 16 points and eight assists for the Blazers, while LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points and nine rebounds. Portland shot a season-low 35.3 percent and fell to 18-5 at home.
Magic 107, Heat 91
At Orlando, Fla., Hedo Turkoglu had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Southeast Division-leading Magic (29-18), who have won the last eight meetings between the Sunshine State rivals.
Miami played without Dwyane Wade (flu), Shaquille O’Neal (hip) and Udonis Haslem (ankle), and trailed most of the way in what became its 17th loss in the past 18 games.
Raptors 122, Wizards 83
At Toronto, Andrea Bargnani scored 19 points and the Raptors went 13-for-18 from 3-point range while matching the largest margin of victory in team history.
DeShawn Stevenson scored 16 points for the Wizards, who were without forward Caron Butler (hip flexor) for the second straight game.
76ers 112, Bucks 69
Andre Iguodala scored 18 points and Andre Miller had 14 to lead Philadelphia to its largest win in 12 seasons at the Wachovia Center.
Royal Ivey scored 17 for the Bucks, who were without leading scorer Michael Redd for the third straight game because of a left knee strain.
Jazz 100, Knicks 89
Deron Williams had 22 points and 12 assists for his fifth straight double-double, and Utah extended its winning streak to a season-high six games. The Jazz have won 10 straight at home.
Jamal Crawford scored 26 and Zach Randolph had 23 points for New York, which is 0-3 on a five-game trip. Starters Eddy Curry and Quentin Richardson left the game early in the first quarter will flu-like symptoms.
Nuggets 106, Grizzlies 102
Allen Iverson had 32 points and 12 assists, and Denver used a late 12-0 run to snap a six-game road losing streak.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 30 points and 10 rebounds, and Darko Milicic finished with 14 points and matched his career high with 16 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who have lost four of five.
Timberwolves 83, Bulls 67
At Minneapolis, Al Jefferson had 26 points and 20 rebounds, and Ryan Gomes added 25 and 10 rebounds.
Kirk Hinrich had 14 points and nine assists for Chicago, but was just 5-for-17 from the field and the Bulls committed 22 turnovers and shot 33.3 percent.
Kings 105, Bobcats 91
At Sacramento, Calif., Brad Miller had 22 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to lead Sacramento to its second straight victory.
Gerald Wallace, who played his first three seasons in Sacramento, had 25 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Bobcats.
Clippers 95, Hawks 88
At Los Angeles, rookie Al Thornton scored a season-high 33 points, and the Clippers held off a furious late rally to snap a three-game losing streak.
Josh Smith had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who have dropped three straight and seven of eight.
Add A Comment
THIS IS NOT A GAMBLING SITE – If you think you have a gambling problem click here.
Disclaimer: This site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Individual users are responsible for the laws regarding accessing gambling information from their jurisdictions. Many countries around the world prohibit gambling, please check the laws in your location. Any use of this information that may violate any federal, state, local or international law is strictly prohibited.
Copyright: The information contained on TheSpread.com website is protected by international copyright and may not be reproduced, or redistributed in any way without expressed written consent.
About: TheSpread.com is the largest sports betting news site in the United States. We provide point spread news, odds, statistics and information to over 175 countries around the world each year. Our coverage includes all North American College and Professional Sports as well as entertainment, political and proposition wagering news.
©1999-2023 TheSpread.com