NY Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, right, shoots over…
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The Cleveland Cavaliers won their eighth straight contest after an opening-game loss, getting 31 points and an outstanding defensive effort from superstar forward LeBron James in a 90-84 victory over the NY Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Cleveland forward Tristan Thompson, playing in his 297th straight game, made two free throws to tie the score at 66 with 4:00 left in the third, but the Knicks ended the quarter on a 6-0 spurt to take a 72-66 cushion.
LeBron James scored 37 points and tallied Cleveland’s last six points in regulation. He’s averaging 22.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1 steal in 34 minutes per game. He largely outplayed James, but was 1-of-9 in the second half with just four points, finishing with a team-high 26, but running out of gas.
With LeBron James spending so much energy shutting Carmelo Anthony down in the second half, it was good to have Mo Williams with him to finish the game offensively.
San Antonio played without Kawhi Leonard (respiratory infection) and Manu Ginobili (adductor tightness) but still had enough firepower to keep Philadelphia winless after 10 games. The Cavs watched their record fall to 8-2.
This will be the Bucks first divisional game this season and the second for the Cavaliers after defeating the Indiana Pacers and losing their season opener against the Chicago Bulls.
James 3-point attempt missed at the buzzer to send the game into a second overtime. However, the Cavaliers responded with a vengeance when Williams tossed up a near half-court lob pass to James, who threw down a two-handed dunk.
Anthony had surgery on his knee in February this year and only finished rehab at the end of October, right when the preseason started.
Cleveland is undefeated (3-0) when opponents score 100 or more points.
Then, after Dellavedova hit another jump shot, the Knicks went on a 10-1 scoring run that was anchored by the jump shooting of Anthony and Afflalo. It resulted in a three-point play that brought the Cavs within 74-69. The Knicks (4-6) didn’t help themselves by going 5:53 without a field goal to start the fourth.
PHOENIX – Eric Bledsoe scored 30 points in three quarters of work as Phoenix had no trouble handling Denver. This season LeBron is shooting a measly 20% from the three point line, a number that makes Lance Stephenson‘s outside shot look good (Lance has shot 29% from three in his career). Despite five straight points from Williams and James, the Cavaliers found themselves again down by nine points when Afflalo knocked down a jumper and followed it up with a driving layup. The rest of the Knicks were held to a sparse 12 points in the final period.
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Williams’ jumper put the Cavaliers 86-84 ahead with 40 seconds left and his four free throws in the final 18 seconds sealed the victory. While the Bucks will have their starting point guard tonight, the Cavaliers are still without Kyrie Irving as he recovers from a fractured left knee cap.
