James scores 34 as Cavs stop slide with win over Sixers

LOS ANGELES, USA (UPDATED) – LeBron James scored 34 points as the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers brought their miserable March to a close with a 122-105 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Kyrie Irving scored 24 points and Kevin Love added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who still trail the Boston Celtics for first place in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavaliers had lost 3 straight and 5 of their prior 7 games, posting a 7-10 record in the month of March.

James acknowledged after their loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday that the reigning champs were “in a bad spot.”

But they encountered little resistance from the 76ers, who had just 9 players in uniform thanks to a litany of injuries.

The Cavaliers outscored Philadelphia 38-23 in the second quarter and led 70-52 by halftime.

“We needed this game, we needed to get this win,” said Irving. “We all understood that and we’ve got to keep building from here and not look back. Our process was probably started about 5-6 days ago, a week ago, and now the seed’s been planted and now it’s just going to grow. So I’m excited about out it.”

Irving was whistled for a flagrant foul early in the first quarter. After Philadelphia’s Justin Anderson had knocked James to the court, Irving shoved Anderson out of bounds.

Irving was unrepentant afterward.

“I kind of saw Justin kind of lower his shoulder and knock down Bron,” Irving said.

His mindset then was “I’ve got to do something, I’ve got to protect my brother,” Irving said. “A lot of late hits on Bron, a lot of guys trying to get one over on him. It’s over for that, it’s over for that.”

James added 9 rebounds and 6 assists in just 30 minutes on the floor. Neither Love nor Irving played at all in the fourth quarter of a game in which the Cavaliers led by as many as 32.

Despite the Cavaliers’ recent difficulties, James said the spirit on the team never flagged.

“On the court, our chemistry took a hit. Our camaraderie didn’t,” James said. “But at the end of the day we have to fix it and we’re here to fix it. This is what we have and we know that, so as we continue to get our guys healthy and we continue to get into the flow of things, we’ll figure it out.”

Warriors rally past Rockets 

Western Conference leaders Golden State notched a 10th straight win, throttling Houston’s potent offense as they rallied late for a 107-98 victory over the Rockets.

The Warriors used a 12-0 fourth-quarter scoring run that included 10 points from their bench players.

They held the Rockets scoreless for almost 7 minutes of the final period as they notched their second win over Houston in 4 days.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with a game-high 24 points. Klay Thompson had 20 points and 8 rebounds for the Warriors, who had 49 points from their reserves.

Curry said defensive intensity was the key.

“Even against a high-octane offense like Houston, try to keep them under a hundred points – make it tough on them,” he said of the Warriors’ mindset.

James Harden led Huston with 17 points. He pulled down 12 rebounds and handed out eight assists, but missed 14 of his 18 shots overall as the Rockets lost their third straight and dropped a half-game closer to Utah in the battle for the third seed in the West.

The Warriors maintained a 3 1/2 game lead over the San Antonio Spurs atop the West.

The Spurs, with 28 points from Kawhi Leonard, 17 from Pau Gasol and 14 from LaMarcus Aldridge, withstood Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook’s 39th triple-double of the season to beat the Thunder 100-95.

“We needed one like this,” Ginobili said of the hard-fought victory. “We didn’t play good for 30 minutes of the game. But we bounced back, we played aggressive, we stayed together.”

Westbrook finished with 32 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. He’s within sight of Oscar Robertson’s NBA record of 41 triple-doubles in a season.

But he said he’s more concerned that the defeat taught his Thunder teammates what kind of challenges they’ll face when the playoffs roll around.

“Every night is going to be like this and they have to be ready,” he said.

The Memphis Grizzlies are headed back to the post-season for the seventh straight year after a 99-90 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Mike Conley scored 28 points and Zach Randolph added 22 for the Grizzlies, who were assured of a playoff berth with the win and Denver’s 122-114 defeat at Charlotte.

Grizzlies first-year coach David Fizdale said he was relieved to clinch the playoff berth with 6 games remaining.

“There were moments during the season when there was a lot of doubt,” he said. – Rappler.com