Magic overcome 21-point deficit to rout Cavs, 116-98

Jonathon Simmons scored a career-high 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting, and the Orlando Magic overcame a 21-point, second-quarter deficit to record a 116-98 victory over the sinking Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

Evan Fournier added 19 points, as Orlando won for the third time in four games after enduring a 3-20 stretch. Bismack Biyombo had 11 points and eight rebounds while Mario Hezonja and Elfrid Payton tallied 10 points apiece as the Magic overcame the sixth-largest deficit in franchise history in terms of a winning outcome.

LeBron James had 25 points and 10 rebounds but couldn't prevent Cleveland from losing for the 13th time in the past 19 games. The Cavaliers were outscored 65-31 in the second half while shooting just 30.8 percent from the field to drop to 42.9 for the game.

Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue (illness) was helped to the locker room with 8:02 left in the second quarter and didn't return.

J.R. Smith scored 12 first-quarter points and Isaiah Thomas had 11, but neither played scored again. Tristan Thompson also had 12 points while Dwyane Wade had 11.

The Cavaliers scored nine final-quarter points on 3-of-18 shooting and had no answer defensively for Simmons.

"I didn't even know," Simmons said in a postgame television interview per establishing a career high. "My teammates found me and I was able to make plays."

Wade made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 92 with 10:59 left before the Magic rolled off the next 16 points. Shelvin Mack's floater ended the surge and made it 108-92 with 4:51 to play.

Cleveland led 75-59 after a 3-pointer by James with 9:46 left in the third quarter before Orlando soared back into the game.

The Magic erupted for a 19-2 burst, and Simmons finished the stretch with two free throws to give Orlando a 78-77 advantage with 5:33 to play.

Simmons hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Magic a 92-89 lead entering the final quarter.

The Cavaliers looked sharp offensively by making 15 of 22 from the field in the first quarter, as they took a 43-31 lead.

Smith was 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and James had 10 on 4-of-4 shooting.

Cleveland's lead reached 59-38 on James' layup with 5:48 left in the half before the attack started to slow. Orlando pulled within 12 late in the half before the Cavaliers took a 67-51 lead into the break.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Aldridge leads Spurs past Pelicans

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points in 26 minutes of play and Manu Ginobili added a season-high 17 points off the bench as the San Antonio Spurs manhandled the New Orleans Pelicans 113-100 on Sunday at the AT&T Center, winning their fourth straight game.

Kawhi Leonard added 13 points for San Antonio (22-5) while Tony Parker and Jonathan Simmons had 12 points and Patty Mills scored 11 points for the Spurs, who have won 8 of 19. Pau Gasol pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds in 24 minutes of play.

After the game, the Spurs retired the No. 21 jersey of former power forward Tim Duncan in a typically understated ceremony.

Duncan's 19-year career, all with San Antonio, featured five championships and a 1,072-438 regular-season record. The Spurs' .710 winning percentage during Duncan's tenure was the best 19-year stretch in NBA history and was the best in all of the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB over that time.

Alexis Ajinca led the Pelicans (9-20) with 16 points while Buddy Hield added 14. Anthony Davis and Langston Galloway scored 12 points each and Tim Frazier had 11 for New Orleans.

The Spurs outrebounded New Orleans 49-37 and went to the free throw line 22 times (making 18) while the Pelicans were just 8 of 14 from the charity stripe.

Five points from Ginobili and a 3-pointer from Patty Mills in a 90-second span of the first quarter allowed the Spurs to turn a 19-18 deficit into a 26-19 lead at the 2:58 mark. New Orleans responded with a spurt of its own, tying the game at 26 before a Gasol jumper and a Leonard layup handed San Antonio a 30-26 advantage after 12 minutes.

The Pelicans owned a 44-42 lead at the 6:25 mark of the second quarter after a driving layup by Hield, until San Antonio forged a 9-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Danny Green, to sweep past New Orleans and assume a 51-42 advantage. The Spurs led 61-49 at the half.

Aldridge led all scorers with 16 points in the first half while Ginobili hit for 12 and Leonard added 11. Gasol had 12 rebounds in 18 minutes of play before halftime as the Spurs owned a 29-18 edge on the boards.

Davis and Ajinca led the Pelicans with 10 points each at intermission, but Davis picked up his third foul with 1:07 to play in the second quarter.

New Orleans got back to within 72-62 on a Hield jumper at the 6:39 mark of the third quarter, but then the Spurs kicked things into another gear again, reeling off an 11-2 run that was highlighted by another Ginobili 3-pointer.

Three free throws by Mills with 14.4 seconds to play in the quarter pushed the San Antonio lead to 21 points, 92-71, and allowed the Spurs to play mostly their reserves for the final quarter.

source: news.abs-cbn.com