NBA – Cavs pad lead in Eastern Conference with home win over Knicks
CLEVELAND (NBA) - The Cleveland Cavaliers won on Sunday to put some more distance between themselves and the Boston Celtics in the race to top seed for the Eastern Conference. The Cavs got 23 points from Mo Williams and 19 points from LeBron James in a 98-93 triumph over the New York Knicks at the Quicken Loans Arena. James had 10 ...
CLEVELAND (NBA) - The Cleveland Cavaliers won on Sunday to put some more distance between themselves and the Boston Celtics in the race to top seed for the Eastern Conference.
The Cavs got 23 points from Mo Williams and 19 points from LeBron James in a 98-93 triumph over the New York Knicks at the Quicken Loans Arena.
James had 10 assists, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks in a complete effort from the Team USA star.
Defending NBA champions Boston, still without Kevin Garnett while he recovers from a knee injury, fell 86-77 at Milwaukee.
In their last 10 games, Boston have lost five.
The Orlando Magic, looking to pass Boston and move into second place, got 28 points and 20 rebounds from Team USA star Dwight Howard in a 105-87 home victory over Utah.
Orlando (49-17) have reeled off nine victories in their last 10 games and are now a half-game behind the Celtics (50-17) in the East while Cleveland (53-13) are at the top.
Milwaukee (31-38) climbed into eighth place with their triumph over Boston.
Atlanta (39-28) are fourth in the Eastern Conference after blowing out visiting Portland 98-80.
Rudy Fernandez, playing six days after his nasty fall in the Blazers' victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, missed all four of his shots in 17 minutes as Portland dropped to 41-25.
Joe Johnson, a member of Team USA's bronze-medal winning side at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, poured in 35 points for the Hawks.
The Toronto Raptors (24-43) are having an awful season but they got some big games from their international contingent in Sunday's 110-87 win over visiting Indiana (28-40).
Italy's Andrea Bargnani scored 27 points and pulled down nine boards, and Great Britain international Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who recently signed with the club for the remainder of the campaign, had a career-high 21 points.
Mensah-Bonsu had four dunks and made 11 of his 13 attempts from the charity stripe.
"He had the game of his life against us," Indiana swingman Danny Granger said. "Hats off to him but we can't really let that happen."
Also for Toronto, Team USA's Chris Bosh contributed 15 points and 12 boards and Spain's Jose Calderon scored 15 and handed out 12 assists.
The Lakers have clinched their play-off place already and on Sunday, they strengthened their grip on first place in the Western Conference with a 107-100 victory over Dallas.
Kobe Bryant of Team USA scored 28 points, Trevor Ariza 26 and Pau Gasol 25 for LA (53-13), who are eight and a half games ahead of San Antonio (44-21) in the standings.
Lamar Odom had 14 rebounds to go with his 10 points for the Lakers.
Other results: Memphis 89 Detroit 84, Miami 77 Philadelphia 85, Sacramento 104 Washington 106, Phoenix 154 Golden State 130, New Jersey 105 LA Clippers 107.
FIBA