Cavs lose again without LeBron…
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant hit a late go-head jumper to help push his team to victory over the Indiana Pacers at the Staples Center on Sunday night.
The 36-year-old ended the game with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists and his performance included hitting a go-ahead jumper with 12.4 seconds to play.
Bryant has benefited from being rested in recent weeks and it undoubtedly helped him on Sunday as he was able to have a significant impact down the stretch.
“I have many faults, but one of my strengths is that I can be realistic and that I can build around that,” Bryant said. “I have to understand my weaknesses, what I can’t do, accept it and then try to dominate.”
Nick Young scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter for the Lakers as they improve to 11-23 for the season.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers suffered another heavy loss despite 30 points and 10 rebounds from Kevin Love, as the Dallas Mavericks secured a comfortable win.
Monta Ellis scored 20 points and Tyson Chandler added 14 points and eight rebounds as the Mavs sealed their fifth straight win with LeBron James sitting out for the hosts.
James is sidelined with knee and back soreness and is expected to miss the next two weeks of play, and Cleveland have now lost five of seven without him this year.
To add to coach David Blatt’s woes, Kyrie Irving left in the third quarter with lower back tightness and didn’t return, while he has also been ruled out of the Cavaliers’ next game.
The Phoenix Suns picked up an impressive win at home against the Toronto Raptors, with their guard trio all inflicting the damage.
Eric Bledsoe scored 20 points while Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas added 18 apiece with coach Jeff Hornacek insisting that his team will win a “ton of games” if they continue to play at that level.
As for the Raptors, they will be pleased to have ended a season-long six-game road trip after losing three in a row for the first time in more than a year.
There was another loss for the New York Knicks on Sunday as Zaza Pachulia had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Milwaukee Bucks who inflicted an 11th straight loss on their rivals.
The Knicks played without Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani and Iman Shumpert, but by the end of the fourth quarter there were chants of “Fire Fisher!” around Madison Square Garden.
NBA Results
Dallas Mavericks 109-90 Cleveland Cavaliers
Sacramento Kings 95-114 Detroit Pistons
Brooklyn Nets 84-88 Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks 95-82 New York Knicks
Toronto Raptors 109-125 Phoenix Suns
Indiana Pacers 87-88 Los Angeles Lakers
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