As for the Cavs, they beat the NY Knicks 90-84 on Friday night as Lebron James scored 31 points and Mo Williams proved to be clutch as he made the tiebreaking field goal with 41 seconds left and finished with 20 points.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to their best National Basketball Association start in 39 years after coming from behind to beat the NY Knicks for the second time in just nine days.
“I blew the whistle with 7.4 seconds because I was in my action refereeing the play, and off to the side I heard Cleveland’s bench ask for a timeout”, Davis told ESPN.
While Carmelo Anthony slowly disappeared in the second half, LeBron James kept getting stronger and stronger and eventually dominated the fourth quarter like he has so many times in the past against the Knicks.
Tobias Harris added 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Magic, who won for the fifth time in their last seven games.
Nicolas Batum scored 12 of his 28 points in the third quarter and was five of six from three-point range for Charlotte.
Spurs 92, 76ers 83 – LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 19 rebounds to help host San Antonio topple Philadelphia without Kawhi Leonard (upper respiratory infection) and Manu Ginobili (strained abductor). Butler then iced it with a 22-footer to put the Bulls up 102-97.
Westbrook stepped up while top scorer Kevin Durant sat out with a strained left hamstring.
Meanwhile, rookie Kristaps Porzingis is giving constant excitement to the Big Apple crowd as the rookie continues to shed his “raw” label as he is nearly averaging a double-double this season with 11.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game – where he leads the team in the latter statistic. Knicks guard Arron Afflalo, making his Garden debut after being out with an injury, tied it at 84-84 on a turnaround jumper with 1:01 to play.
The regular-season meetings between the two players have been even in terms of wins and losses throughout their careers. Anthony would score 14 of his 26 total in the first quarter.
When the game ended, it was a sign of what both teams are: The Cavs are one of the best teams in the league, thinking championship, and the Knicks are trying to improve on last season’s 17 victories, thinking the playoffs might be a possibility. Trouble off the court, including multiple arrests, soured his reputation with the fans and preceded him being dealt to Houston in the summer. James converted the free throw and after missing a jumper over Porzingis, he drew a foul on Galloway and cut the lead to 74-71. James added 12 rebounds in the loss. LeBron had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but his three point attempt was missed, Cleveland got the rebound but could not get another shot attempt up before the buzzer.
It was the second straight victory for the Kings, who had snapped a six-game losing streak on Wednesday.
Brook Lopez missed a lay-up to win the game for the Nets, who were unable to recover as they scored just two OT points.
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But James has been doing this all season, and his dominance has carried the Cavs to an 8-1 record.
