Cleveland Cavaliers rally

Guard Kyrie Irving scored eight of his team-high 25 points in overtime as the Cleveland Cavaliers came from behind to defeat the Indiana Pacers 111-106.

Forward LeBron James added 24 points and 12 rebounds as Cleveland (35-12) stretched its winning streak to five games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Cavaliers outscored the Pacers 15-10 in overtime with Irving scoring eight, James adding four and Kevin Love sinking a key three-pointer.

Irving also had finished the game, in front of a crowd of 17,300, with three rebounds and seven assists while James chipped in with 12 rebounds and six assists. Love tallied 19 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

"It's only one of 82, but we knew what we came here to do, and that was to take care of business," Irving said. "We knew it would be a hard fought game in this arena, and we were locked in."

"They made a run in the third quarter, but we came back in the fourth quarter and overtime," he added.
The Cavaliers improved to 35-12 as James gave them the lead for good with 1:37 remaining in the extra period before two Irving free throws pushed the Cleveland lead to 107-104 with 43 seconds to go.

Irving and James each sank two free throws during the final 13 seconds as Cleveland improved to 25-2 when scoring 100 points or more and 25-3 when leading at halftime.

- Spurs stretch home win streak -

Forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored a season-high 28 points as the San Antonio Spurs shrugged off a lackluster second quarter and held off the Orlando Magic 107-92 to keep their home unbeaten streak intact.

The Spurs went on a 15-2 surge over a span of 3:37 that straddled the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth to erase Orlando's short-lived lead.

Kyle Anderson had seven of his nine points during that deciding stretch for San Antonio while reserve point guard Patty Mills hit three jumpers as part of his season-high-tying 22-point performance.
San Antonio (40-8) improved to 26-0 at the AT&T Center this season, matching the 1977-78 Portland Trail Blazers for the best home start ever by a Western Conference team.

The win also allowed the Spurs to extend their regular-season home win streak to 35 games, dating back to an overtime loss to Cleveland last March.

It was the 14th time this season that Aldridge has led the Spurs in scoring. Guard Manu Ginobili added 13 points for the Spurs while forward Kawhi Leonard had 10 points.

- Raptors streak snapped -

Center Nikola Jokic had a season-high 27 points and 14 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets snapped the Toronto Raptor's 11-game winning streak with a 112-93 victory.

Nuggets guard Will Barton scored 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as Denver cruised to victory.

Guard DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points for the Raptors, who suffered their first defeat since losing at Cleveland on January 4. The 11-game winning streak was a franchise record for the Raptors.

The Raptors won four in a row on the road and then swept a seven-game home stand that wrapped up on Saturday.
Source :AFP