San Antonio: Kyrie Irving had a career-high 57 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied for a 128-125 overtime victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA on Thursday.
Irving had the most points in the NBA this season, topping his 55-point game against Portland on January 28. He scored nine points in the final minute of regulation to force overtime.
The Cavs’ star point guard made all seven of his 3-point attempts, was 20 of 32 from the field overall, and made 10 free throws without a miss.
Irving hit a 3-pointer in the face of heavy defence from Danny Green to pull Cleveland to 110-107 with 31 seconds remaining in regulation. After the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard missed two free throws with 4.3 seconds left, Irving made another 3 - this time over Leonard - to tie it at 110.
He then scored 11 points in overtime, including a crossover, fade-away 3-pointer against Boris Diaw with 1:20 remaining to give Cleveland a 122-118 lead.
LeBron James added 31 points in his first game in San Antonio since being blown out by the Spurs in the NBA Finals in his last games with the Miami Heat.
Tony Parker had 31 points for San Antonio and Leonard added 24 points.
Elsewhere in the league, Rudy Gobert had 19 points, 22 rebounds and four blocks as Utah beat Houston 109-91 for their ninth victory in 11 games.
The Rockets didn’t have an answer for the 7-foot-1 Frenchman on either end of the floor. He had a double-double in the first quarter and 18 rebounds at halftime.
Teammate Gordon Hayward finished with 29 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Rookie Rodney Hood put up a career high for the second consecutive game with 20 points.
Corey Brewer led the Rockets with 25 points, and James Harden had 15.
Washington’s John Wall had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead the Wizards past short-handed Memphis 107-87.
Memphis sat three starters: the injured Mike Conley, and Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, who were resting on the second night of a back-to-back. The Grizzlies also held out key reserve Tony Allen.
Indiana won for the ninth time in their last 10 games, beating Milwaukee 109-103 in overtime to pull within 3 1/2 games of the Bucks for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Rodney Stuckey scored 25 points and Luis Scola had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Pacers.
In Los Angeles, the New York Knicks ended their five-game losing streak with just their fifth road victory of the season, topping the Lakers 101-94.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 points and Alexey Shved had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks.
