Cavaliers still a work in progress as they fall to 5-5 for the season…
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NBA Season Preview 2014/15 San Antonio Spurs
All eyes were on the Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday night as the San Antonio Spurs visited the Cleveland Cavaliers and inflicted another loss on LeBron James.
Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw had 19 points apiece as the NBA champions beat the Cavaliers for the 10th straight time. Manu Ginobili scored on a lay-up with 18 seconds to go and made a free throw with 9.1 to go before harassing James into a costly turnover with 1.9 seconds remaining.
Anderson Varejao scored 23 points while Kyrie Irving added 20, but James had just 15 on 6-of-17 from the field while Kevin Love also struggled after going 4 of 12 with Cleveland’s bench contributing just 17 points.
As a result of their struggles across the board, the Cavs slip to 5-5 for the season as the Spurs make it clear that they are still a work in progress so far this year.
Staying in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks ensured coach Jason Kidd enjoyed a winning return to the Brooklyn Nets but it took triple overtime to separate the two teams.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the stat line with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, while Brook Lopez responded for the hosts with 26 points and seven rebounds.
However, with Jabari Parker scoring a season-high 23 points and OJ Mayo adding 21, Kidd was a happy man as he dealt with the boos and taunts from the fans at Barclays Center, an arena in which his retired jersey hangs in the rafters.
In a battle of the two teams with the best records in the NBA, the Toronto Raptors overcame a short-handed Memphis Grizzlies to improve to 9-2.
The Raptors rallied in the fourth to seal the win with the Grizzlies missing several players due to a stomach virus, with DeMar DeRozan scoring a team-high 21 points to inflict just a second loss of the season on the visitors.
Arguably the shock of the night came in Houston as the Rockets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers who secured their second straight win behind 29 points, five rebounds and seven assists from Kobe Bryant.
James Harden responded with 24 points and seven assists, but it wasn’t enough for the Rockets who are struggling in recent games and have slipped to 9-3 for the season.
Meanwhile, the Lakers improve to 3-9 with Nick Young back as they exploited the absence of Dwight Howard.
NBA Results
San Antonio Spurs 92-90 Cleveland Cavaliers
Charlotte Hornets 86-88 Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers 114-90 Orlando Magic
Boston Celtics 101-90 Philadelphia 76ers
Dallas Mavericks 105-102 Washington Wizards
Milwaukee Bucks 122-118 Brooklyn Nets
Phoenix Suns 88-86 Detroit Pistons
Memphis Grizzlies 92-96 Toronto Raptors
New York Knicks 99-115 Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder 100-107 Denver Nuggets
Los Angeles Lakers 98-92 Houston Rockets
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