facebook-pixel

NBA roundup: Kevin Durant scores 32 points as Warriors beat Cavaliers

Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant (35) shoots over Cleveland Cavaliers' Tristan Thompson (13) in the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Cleveland • Once the lead swelled to 14, Kevin Durant waved both arms like a boxing referee stopping a fight.

Another knockout on the road for these Warriors.

Durant scored 32 points, Stephen Curry added 23 and Golden State extended its road winning streak to 13 with a 118-108 Martin Luther King holiday victory Monday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, their struggling NBA Finals foes.

Durant scored 16 in the third quarter for the defending champions, who clamped down on defense and pulled away in the fourth to remain unbeaten outside Oracle Arena since Nov. 22. It’s not that they play poorly at home, but Durant said the Dubs take a different identity when they travel.

“At home, we just relax a little bit,” Durant said. “This is who we are when we’re on the road.”

LeBron James scored 32 points and Kevin Love 17 for Cleveland, which had its home winning streak stopped at 13. Isaiah Thomas, getting his first taste of the Warriors-Cavaliers rivalry, had 19 points in 32 minutes — his most in five games as he returns from a hip injury.

It was Golden State’s second straight win over Cleveland, which has dropped eight of 10 dating to a loss to the Warriors on Christmas Day. The Cavs were down just 93-91 entering the fourth, but missed 17 of 19 shots to open the period, and Golden State throttled away.

“It seemed like the rim just got smaller and smaller,” James said. “But I like our effort. If we continue that going into our next few games, then I like where we are.”

The teams have met in the Finals each of the past three years. And while there’s no guarantee there will be a fourth matchup, at this point only one of them looks prepared in January for June.

Durant, though, expects the Cavs to improve as they incorporate Thomas.

“Everyone knows it’s going to take a while to get into a comfortable groove here,” he said. “It’s a new system, so I don’t think this game was any indication of what’s going to happen with this team down the line. They’ll be much better than they are right now — and we all know that.”

Cleveland was home after going 1-4 on a road trip that included blowout losses in Minnesota and Toronto.

For three quarters, the Cavs matched the Warriors shot for shot. But with Durant and Curry on the bench, a Golden State lineup of Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, David West, Klay Thompson and Shaun Livingston stretched the lead.

“That unit, they won us the game with their energy and their effort,” Durant said. “They pushed the basketball and they set us up well to kind of end the game in the last three or four minutes. That’s what a well-rounded team does.”

Despite their recent struggles, the Cavs remain a confident bunch, and they showed some early swagger. After he and his teammates were introduced to “Gloves Are Comin’ Off” by rapper 7kingZ, James came out swinging.

He was in attack mode from the start, scoring 16 points in the first quarter and setting the tone for the Cavs.

Later in the half, James retreated down the lane for a huge block on Durant, blasting the ball off the glass to trigger memories for Cleveland fans of his famous chase down on Iguodala in the closing minutes of Game 7 of the 2016 Finals.

Curry threw down a two-handed dunk in the third quarter that surprised his teammates.

“It was like a dream,” Curry said. “I thought I was going to wake up and I was going to be back in my bed in the hotel, but it actually happened. Somebody said it was like a unicorn sighting. It was pretty cool for me to get a dunk in that situation.”

After being asked several times about the play, Curry said, “Seven dunk questions. This is crazy.”

Clippers 113, Rockets 102 • In Los Angeles, Lou Williams scored 31 points, Blake Griffin added 29 before his ejection, and Los Angeles beat Houston in Chris Paul’s heated return to Staples Center against his old team.

Buoyed by Williams’ 13th straight game of 20 or more points, the Clippers won their fifth in a row.

Paul had 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

Things got testy with 3½ minutes to go. Griffin scored under the basket and Paul was called for a foul. Paul ran over to the referees in disbelief, while Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni appeared to unleash expletives in Griffin’s direction.

The referees reviewed video of the play and confirmed the foul on Paul, while also assessing double technicals to Griffin and D’Antoni.

Bucks 104, Wizards 95 • In Washington, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 27 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Wizards for the second time in 10 days with a 104-95 victory Monday.

Like it was on Jan. 6, it was tight late before Antetokounmpo took over. He led Milwaukee on an 11-0 run in the final minutes and finished 9 of 23 from the field, dribbling out the clock to “M-V-P!” chants from Bucks fans in attendance for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee in Washington.

Eric Bledsoe had 23 points for the Bucks in outdueling former University of Kentucky teammate John Wall, who led the Wizards with 27 points. Washington committed 23 turnovers, tying a season high; 17 of them came in the first half.

The Bucks, who came in ranked 28th in the NBA in 3-point shooting at 34.6 percent, made half of their attempts against the league leaders in 3-point defense.

Grizzlies 123, Lakers 114 • In Memphis, Tenn., Dillon Brooks matched his season best with 19 points and eight Memphis players finished in double figures.

Marc Gasol had 17 points and seven rebounds for Memphis, while Tyreke Evans had 15 points and 12 assists. Wayne Selden and James Ennis III added 13 points each.

The Lakers ended a four-game winning streak. They were without Lonzo Ball, who injured his left knee in Saturday’s overtime win at Dallas, and Brandon Ingram also didn’t play because of a left ankle sprain.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Lakers with 27 points, while Kyle Kuzma finished with 18. Josh Hart had 16 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter when Los Angeles cut a 20-point lead down to single-digits in the final minutes.

76ers 117, Raptors 111 • In Philadelphia, Joel Embiid had 34 points and 11 rebounds and Philadelphia narrowly avoided blowing another big lead in a 117-111 victory over cold-shooting Toronto.

T.J. McConnell added a career-high 18 points and JJ Redick scored 15 before leaving with a left leg injury for the Sixers, who shook off Ben Simmons’ foul trouble to win for the fifth time in six games.

The Sixers blew a 22-point lead in a loss to Boston in London in their last game and coughed up a 22-point lead in a loss in Toronto’s previous visit last month.

They saw a 21-point lead cut to 102-101 on DeMar DeRozan’s 3-pointer with 3:01 left. Simmons responded with a driving layup and Dario Saric hit a 3 on the next possession to get the lead back to six.

Hawks 102, Spurs 99 • In Atlanta, Dennis Schroder scored 26 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 20 and Atlanta held off San Antonio in the closing seconds.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio, which dropped to 10-14 on the road.

The Hawks (11-31), who came in with the NBA’s worst record and had lost five of six, never trailed after John Collins’ tip-in made it 78-76 with 9:23 remaining.

Danny Green’s 3-pointer with 31 seconds left cut the lead to one, but Schroder answered by dribbling down the shot clock and hitting a layup to put Atlanta up by three with 10 seconds left.

Atlanta hit four free throws and the Spurs hit two before Green’s 3-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim with 2 seconds left.

Bulls 119, Heat 111 • In Chicago, Zach LaVine scored 18 points in his second game for Chicago, Justin Holiday made a career-best seven 3s and scored 25 points, and the Bulls ended Miami’s seven-game winning streak.

The Bulls have won three straight and 14 of their last 21.

LaVine tore an ACL last season with Minnesota and was traded in a package for Jimmy Butler in the offseason. He scored 14 points in his Bulls debut Saturday against Detroit.

The Bulls are limiting LaVine to 20 minutes per game in his first week back. He scored 13 points in 12 minutes in the first half, and his four-point play with 0.9 seconds left before the break put the Bulls ahead 55-48. He also had five rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Knicks 119, Nets 104 • In New York Kristaps Porzingis had 26 points and nine rebounds, Michael Beasley added 23 points and 10 boards, and New York opened its longest road trip in nearly 30 years by beating Brooklyn.

A day after blowing a 19-point lead in the third quarter of a loss to New Orleans, the Knicks lost most of a 14-point advantage heading to the fourth. But they opened the period with 11 straight points and went on to beat the Nets comfortably for the third time this season.

Rookie Frank Ntilikina finished with 10 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds as the Knicks snapped a three-game losing streak and won for the third time in 13 games. They played without Tim Hardaway Jr., who was rested after playing 33 minutes Sunday in his second game back from a stress injury to his lower left leg.

Hornets 118, Pistons 107 • In Detroit, Kemba Walker scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half, and Charlotte pulled away in the fourth quarter of a win over Detroit.

Dwight Howard had 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Hornets, who trailed 56-50 at halftime before dominating the final two quarters. A 10-0 run in the fourth put Charlotte ahead 106-88, and although Detroit answered with nine quick points, the Hornets were never in much danger of losing down the stretch.

Andre Drummond of the Pistons had only three points and 10 rebounds, and his day was summed up late in the fourth when he went up for a powerful, one-handed dunk — only to have Howard easily swat the ball away.