CLEVELAND: Brandon Knight scored 26 points and the Milwaukee Bucks routed Cleveland 96-80 on Wednesday as Cavaliers stars LeBron James and Kevin Love sat out with injuries.
James, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, missed his second game in a row with a sore left knee while Love was sidelined by back spasms that forced him out of a loss Tuesday.
Milwaukee’s O.J. Mayo came off the bench to score 15 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Bucks, who improved to 17-6 with their first win in four games.
The Cavaliers, who managed only 3-of-19 shooting in the third quarter, fell behind 71-54 entering the final period and the Bucks pulled ahead by as much as 22 in the closing minutes.
“I thought we got off to a good start on the road, then they came back a little bit in the second,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “We came out after halftime getting stops and that was big.”
Australian guard Kyrie Irving, in only his second game back from injury for the Cavaliers, scored 25 points to lead Cleveland, which also has 10 points and 13 rebounds from Tristan Thompson in a third consecutive loss.
“We certainly fought,” Cavaliers coach David Blatt said. “Obviously we are short-handed. That is what happened.”
In San Antonio, Manu Ginobili sank the last of his 26 points on a layup with 24 seconds remaining in over-time to give San Antonio a 95-93 victory over New Orleans.
Reigning NBA champions Spurs had lost seven of their prior nine games, including a defeat at the hands of the Pelicans last Friday. San Antonio improved to 20-14 while the Pelicans fell to 16-16.
New Orleans took an 84-82 lead on a slam dunk by Anthony Davis with 0.7 of a second remaining in the fourth quarter.
But when Boris Diaw launched an inbounds pass to Spurs star Tim Duncan near the rim, the Pelicans’ Omer Asik inadvertently tipped the ball into his own team’s basket at the buzzer to send the game into over-time.
Duncan scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Spurs, while Argentina’s Ginobili came off the bench to spark the victory.
Davis had 21 points, 12 boards and four steals to lead the Pelicans. Ryan Anderson added 18 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans while Jrue Holiday contributed 13 points and nine assists in a losing cause.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant scored 44 points in his return after missing six games, powering the Oklahoma City Thunder over visiting Phoenix 137-134 in overtime.
Durant had been sidelined by a sprained right ankle suffered in a loss two weeks ago at Golden State.
The superstar playmaker missed the Thunder’s first 17 games of the season following surgery on his right foot, but Oklahoma City has gone 8-2 with Durant in the lineup and improved to 16-17 this season with the victory. AFP
