Home » Sports » Basketball
Irving sizzles in return but Cavs lose in Atlanta
Print Edition
AUSTRALIAN star Kyrie Irving scored 35 points in his National Basketball Association return from a bruised left knee but the Cleveland Cavaliers, playing without LeBron James, lost 101-109 to the Hawks in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Tuesday, missed the contest due to a sore left knee. He is averaging 25.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.6 assists a game.
James had missed only one prior game this season, three weeks ago at Oklahoma City, in his first campaign since leaving the Miami Heat and returning to the Cavaliers.
Irving, a point guard who missed Cleveland’s two prior games with a bone bruise, passed out a team-high nine assists and pulled down six rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were also missing forward Shawn Marion.
Adding to the misery for the Cavaliers was a setback for big man Kevin Love, who scored only seven points on 1-of-8 shooting before leaving the game with back spasms.
Paul Millsap led Atlanta with 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Jeff Teague added 23 points and a game-high 11 assists and Kyle Korver contributed 19 points.
Tristan Thompson added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who fell to 18-13 and only 7-7 in road games.
Cleveland pulled within two points in the final five minutes but Millsap and Teague combined to score Atlanta’s final 16 points to seal the win.
Southeast division leader Atlanta improved to 23-8 overall and 14-3 at home with a seventh win in eight games. The Hawks are one game behind Toronto for the best record in the Eastern Conference while the Cavaliers rank fifth in the East, four games behind Chicago in the Central division.
Elsewhere, it was: Pistons 109, Magic 86; Pelicans 110, Suns 106; Nets 96, Bulls 82; Grizzlies 95, Spurs 87; Mavericks 114, Wizards 87; Lakers 111, Nuggets 103; Jazz 100, Timberwolves 94; Trail Blazers 102, Raptors 97 (in overtime); and Warriors 126, 76ers 86.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
