(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of National Basketball Association games on Monday:
Cavaliers 100, Pacers 96
Center Tristan Thompson gave the Cavs the lead in the final minute and then preserved it with a big block in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 100-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Thompson, who was pulled from the starting lineup prior to the game, replaced Kevin Love in the final minute for defensive purposes. Then he scored the go-ahead basket off a LeBron James drive to give the Cavaliers a 96-94 lead with 39 seconds left.
His block at the rim of guard’s George Hill’s drive preserved the victory after the Cavs had lost three of their last four.
James scored 33 points, but just two in the fourth quarter. Guard Kyrie Irving had 22 points and six assists, including four free throws in the final eight seconds to clinch the win. Love had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Guard Monta Ellis scored 28 points for the Pacers, while forward Paul George had 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Wizads 116, 76ers 108
Guard John Wall scored 37 points and the Washington Wizards rallied with a 16-0 run in the fourth quarter for a 116-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Center Marcin Gortat had 18 points and a career-high 20 rebounds for the Wizards (29-30), who trailed 74-66 after letting a 14-point lead slip away.
Guard Ish Smith scored 25 points and forward Carl Landry had 15 for the 76ers (8-52).
Celtics 100, Jazz 95
The Boston Celtics rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit and pulled out their 11th straight home victory, a 100-95 win over the Utah Jazz.
Forward Jae Crowder drained a three-pointer with 30.4 seconds left for the go-ahead points. Guard Avery Bradley then blocked a shot by Utah’s Gordon Hayward and then went 3-for-4 from the foul line around a key offensive rebound by forward Amir Johnson to put it away.
The home streak is Boston’s first 11-gamer since Jan. 27-March 16, 2013 and the win avenges a 111-93 drubbing the Celtics (36-25) suffered at the in Salt Lake City just 11 days earlier.
Bucks 128, Rockets 121
Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded his second triple-double in the last week, and Jabari Parker scored a career-high 36 points as the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a two-game losing streak with a 128-121 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Antetokounmpo finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists — the last two coming on 3-pointers by shooting guard Jerryd Bayless — to help the Bucks break the game open down the stretch.
Bayless, a guard making his return after battling a knee injury for the last two weeks, finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Shooting guard Khris Middleton hit seven of 11 shots and all 15 of his free throws for 30 points.
Grizzlies 103, Nuggets 96
Forward Zach Randolph had 22 points, forward Matt Barnes had 16, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Denver Nuggets.
Guard Mario Chalmers had 15 off the bench for the Grizzlies (35-24), who are now 5-2 without center Marc Gasol. The team’s leading scorer had season-ending surgery on his fractured right foot in February.
Memphis has compensated for Gasol’s absence with a group effort. Five players scored in double figures.
Forward Kenneth Faried had 16 points and 11 rebounds and guard Gary Harris scored 15 for the Nuggets (23-37), who were playing for their first game without leading scorer Danilo Gallinari.
Thunder 131, Kings 116
Two nights later, the Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t need to worry about a Curry making life miserable. They also had guard Russell Westbrook doing that very thing to the Sacramento Kings.
Westbrook tallied his ninth triple-double of the season before the end of the third quarter Monday, and he finished with 20 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds as the Thunder shook off a miserable loss by blitzing the Kings.
Oklahoma City won for just the second time in six games in its first contest since Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry lit them up for 12 3-pointers, including a 38-footer with six-tenths of a second left in overtime to beat the Thunder 121-118 Saturday.
Clippers 105, Nets 95
Guard Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 26 points, leading the Los Angeles Clippers to a 105-95 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Crawford scored 14 of his points in the second half as the Clippers (39-20) defeated the Nets for the fifth consecutive time at home. They also swept the season series, earning a 105-100 win on Dec. 12 at Brooklyn.
Point guard Chris Paul had 23 points, 12 assists and six rebounds, while shooting guard J.J. Redick added 19 points for the Clippers.
Center Brook Lopez collected 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who failed in their attempt to win three in a row for the first time this season.
