Durant in command in Warriors victory
LOS ANGELES – Agence France-Presse
Kevin Durant scored 32 points as the Golden State Warriors overpowered the Cleveland Cavaliers with a late rally to score a 118-108 win in a pulsating clash between the two NBA archrivals on Jan. 15.
Durant added seven assists and pulled down four rebounds as the Warriors completed back-to-back wins over the Cavs following their victory in the Christmas Day meeting.
LeBron James and Cleveland had gone into the game at the Quicken Loans Arena determined to halt a three-game losing streak by beating the Warriors, who they have faced in the last three editions of the NBA Finals.
Curry adds 23 points
Durant completed a fine night’s work with a sublime 26-foot three-pointer to extend the Warriors lead at 116-104.
While Durant led the scoring, Curry finished with 23 points and added eight assists with four rebounds. Draymond Green (11) and Klay Thompson (17) also made double figures.
For Cleveland, James finished with 32 points, with Isaiah Thomas adding 19 and Kevin Love 17.
Elsewhere on Monday, a packed program to mark the Martin Luther King Jr holiday saw the Toronto Raptors (29-13) beaten by the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Sixers’ Ben Simmons and Toronto’s Kyle Lowry were both ejected in the closing seconds of an ill-tempered clash.
Joel Embiid starred for with 34 points and 11 rebounds as the Sixers improved to 20-20.
In Washington, Giannis Antetokounmpo posted 27 points and 20 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Wizards 104-95.
In Atlanta, the Hawks (12-31) scored an upset over the San Antonio Spurs (29-16) to run out 102-99 victors. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points for the visiting Spurs, but was outshone by Atlanta’s Dennis Schroder who topscored with 26 points.
The Oklahoma City Thunder produced the comeback of the night in their game against the Sacramento Kings, overturning a 15-point deficit to win 95-88.
Russell Westbrook just missed out on a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists. The Thunder improved to 24-20 with the victory.
