NBA: Thompson, Cavaliers roll past Wizards

Tristan Thompson led seven Cavaliers in double figures with 21 points and visiting Cleveland held off the Washington Wizards for a 113-100 win on Friday night.

Washington, which trailed by as many as 21 points, pulled within one point twice in the fourth quarter.

Kevin Love and Collin Sexton scored 16 points each for the Cavaliers. Thompson and Love grabbed 12 rebounds apiece.

Thomas Bryant led Washington with 23 points and Rui Hachimura added 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting.

Bradley Beal scored 20 points for Washington, which has lost five of its past six.

Washington, which trailed by 15 at halftime, closed to within 11 early in the second half but a 6-0 run gave Cleveland a 73-56 lead.

The Wizards soon responded with an 8-0 run capped by Bryant's tip-in. After Beal's 3-point play brought Washington within 12, Hachimura's dunk cut the deficit to 86-76, and Bryant's dunk made it 86-78 with 2:49 left in the third quarter.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Davis Bertans and Ish Smith capped a 27-9 run that pulled Washington within 88-84 after three quarters.

The Wizards pulled within one early in the fourth quarter but never took the lead and the Cavaliers pushed the margin back to seven points on Jordan Clarkson's tip-in.

Cleveland's lead was 10 points after a goaltending violation by Bryant, who then earned a technical, and Love's free throw with 4:57 remaining.

Washington got no closer than within six points the rest of the way and Sexton's 3-pointer made it 111-100 with 1:41 left.

Leading 30-28 early in the second quarter the Cavaliers went on a 17-4 capped by Cedi Osman's jumper with 7:49 left in the first half.

Thompson's free throw gave Cleveland a 20-point lead late in the half, but Hachimura scored eight points down the stretch and the Wizards were within 67-52 at intermission.

The Wizards committed 11 turnovers in the first half and the Cleveland bench outscored the Washington reserves 26-10.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Thompson vs Green

Tristan Thompson #13 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors exchange words in overtime during Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on Thursday in Oakland, California. The Warriors won Game 1, 124-114.

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Khloe Kardashian reported to be pregnant with first child

LOS ANGELES - Reality star Khloe Kardashian, the younger sister of Kim Kardashian, is pregnant, multiple publications reported on Tuesday, days after Kylie Jenner, the youngest member of the celebrity family, was reported to be expecting her first child.

Celebrity news publications TMZ.com, Us Weekly and People Magazine, all citing unnamed sources, said Khloe Kardashian, 33, who is dating Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player Tristan Thompson, is three months pregnant with her first child.

A representative for Kardashian did not respond to requests for comment.

Kardashian made no mention of her reported pregnancy on social media on Tuesday. Her most recent Instagram post was a photograph of herself baring her flat midriff three days ago. Thompson also did not mention the news on his social media platforms.

The news comes just days after 20-year-old social media star Kylie Jenner was reported to be expecting a baby with her boyfriend of six months, rapper Travis Scott. She and her family have yet to confirm the pregnancy.

Kim Kardashian and her husband, rapper Kanye West, are also reported to be expecting their third child via a surrogate, due to be born next year, People Magazine reported earlier this month.

The pregnancy announcements coincide with the 10th anniversary of E! Network’s “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” show, which propelled the Kardashian and Jenner clan into the zeitgeist and made them one of America’s most successful reality franchises.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Royal beating for Celtics as King James leads Cavs' romp

LOS ANGELES -- LeBron James scored 36 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers moved clear of rivals Boston at the top of the Eastern Conference with a dominant 114-91 rout over the Celtics on Wednesday.

The titanic battle between the two sides never materialized as a fired-up Cavs surged into a 57-42 lead at half-time.

James was superb as Cleveland improved to 51-27, one game clear of second-placed Boston, who fell to 50-28 following the defeat.

Crucially, the win completed a 3-1 season series for Cleveland over the Celtics, meaning the Cavs would win the head-to-head tiebreaker in the event of the two teams finishing regular season level.

   
The victory also gives the Cavs a useful psychological edge over the Celtics as the two teams gear up for the postseason.

All of Cleveland's heavy hitters delivered performances to silence the home crowd in Boston. Kevin Love finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds while Kyrie Irving chipped in with 19 points.

A second half points spree proved to be the foundation of the Cavs success, with 38 points helping ensure a 15-point cushion at halftime.

Another one-sided quarter in the third saw Cleveland race away to lead 90-66 with the Celtics powerless to halt the slide.

Isaiah Thomas led Boston's scorers with with 26 points.

Impressively, Cleveland's win on the road came after a 122-102 victory in Orlando on Tuesday.

However, there was a trace of weariness as Cleveland overwhelmed Boston when they clicked into gear after trailing 20-19 at the end of the first quarter.

Cleveland also managed to win without the services of Tristan Thompson, who did not travel after spraining his thumb against Orlando.

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LeBron James leads Cavaliers over Bulls

LeBron James scored 25 points, grabbed nine rebounds and passed out nine assists to spark the Cleveland Cavaliers over Chicago 106-95, handing the Bulls their fifth consecutive loss.

Kyrie Irving added 19 points, while Tristan Thompson contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds and Kevin Love produced 15 points and 15 rebounds for the host Cavaliers (39-14).

Chicago beat Cleveland in two prior meetings this season, the first in the season opener and the other last month, just one day after Tyronn Lue replaced Dave Blatt as coach.

"In the first two games we didn't match their intensity and got beat," James said. "Today, I think we answered the call."

Cleveland's win streak stretched to four games and their overall margin atop the Eastern Conference improved to 3 1/2 games over Toronto.

"I thought our physicality won the game," Lue said. "I thought we were physical at every position."

At 27-26, the Bulls fell into a tie with Charlotte for the final two East playoff berths, only one half-game ahead of Detroit.

Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James, who hit 11-of-19 shots from the floor, passed Moses Malone (9,435) for 19th on the all-time baskets list.

James jammed in a slam dunk off a lob pass from J.R. Smith for a 65-48 lead and celebrated by dancing with the crowd.

Bulls star Joakim Noah has expressed his annoyance with James dancing in the past, but Noah was out with an injury as was Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic.

Derrick Rose led Chicago with 28 points while Spain's Pau Gasol added 14 points and nine rebounds.

"We've got to stay together through the good, the bad and the ugly -- and it's the ugly right now," Rose said.

Australian Matthew Dellavedova scored seven points in 16 minutes for the Cavaliers after missing the past five games with a hamstring injury.

James was lamenting the loss of Brazilian center Anderson Varejao, his teammate for eight seasons with the Cavaliers who was traded to Portland on Thursday as part of a deal to obtain guard Channing Frye from Orlando.

"That's the worst part of the business right there, when you lose a brother, a teammate," James said.

In Los Angeles, San Antonio's six-game winning streak came to an abrupt end as the Clippers romped to a 105-86 win at the Staples Center.

Clippers point guard Chris Paul went on a second half points spree -- scoring 26 of his 28 points after the mid-game break while contributing 12 assists as the home side improved to 36-18.

Jamal Crawford had 19 points and J.J.Redick 17 points for the Clippers, while Tony Parker led the scoring for the Spurs with 14 points. San Antonio's record slipped to 45-9 with the loss.

At Washington, Marcin Gortat had 22 points and 10 rebounds while John Wall added 17 points and 11 assists to power the host Wizards over Utah 103-89.

Brazil's Nene and guard Bradley Beal each contributed 16 points for the Wizards, who scored 27 points off 23 Jazz turnovers in improving to 24-28.

Gordon Hayward led Utah with 19 points while Rodney Hood added 18 for the Jazz, 26-27, in a game postponed from last month because of a massive snowstorm that struck the US capital.

The Wizards are 2 1/2 games behind Charlotte for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth while the Jazz fell level with Houston for the last spot in the Western Conference.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Thompson signs 5-year contract with Cavs

Tristan Thompson and the Cleveland Cavaliers ended an impasse with a signed five-year contract on Thursday. The deal is worth $82 million and is fully guaranteed.

No player or team options are included in the contract, which appears to be a massive victory for Thompson.

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New Orleans Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans is out until December after undergoing right knee surgery.

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said last week that Evans was dealing with some soreness in the knee and Evans' absence might necessitate a roster move.








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Lamar Odom's condition continues to improve after the former NBA forward was found unconscious last week in a Nevada brothel, his family said Thursday.

Odom was moved to Los Angeles after initially being treated in Las Vegas and is responding to an aggressive therapy regimen.

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The Chicago Bulls waived guards Jordan Crawford and Marcus Simmons on Thursday to reduce their roster to 15 players.

Crawford has played with four different teams and has a 12.2 career scoring average in 257 games. Simmons averaged 4.0 points per game for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League last season.

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The Atlanta Hawks waived swingman Terran Petteway, the team announced.

Petteway played for Nebraska last season and decided to bypass his senior season and enter the NBA Draft. He went undrafted and played in only three preseason games for Atlanta. (Editing by Frank Pingue)

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