LeBron James scored 44 points, and Mo Williams hit a backbreaking half-court shot in the fourth quarter to help the Cleveland Cavaliers close out a 102-89 win against the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.
Williams tracked down the ball after Thabo Sefolosha had tipped it into the backcourt, then turned and fired a 48-footer with coach Mike Brown yelling to him as the shot clock ran down. The shot gave Cleveland a 94-87 lead.
“The 3 from half-court was spectacular,” Brown said. “It’s a tribute to me being the half-court shooting coach.”
The stunned Thunder didn’t score again for 3½ minutes as the Cavaliers put the game away.
Williams finished with 22 points.
Grizzlies 118, Heat 90: Rudy Gay scored a career-high 41 points, Marc Gasol made all seven of his shots on the way to a 16-point, 15-rebound effort, and Memphis enjoyed a rare road blowout by beating Miami. Gay made 15 of 28 shots, topping his previous career best by five points. It was just the 20th win in 95 road games for Memphis dating to the start of the 2007-08 season. Of those, only one was by more than 20 points, a 118-95 cakewalk past the Los Angeles Clippers back on March 4.
Spurs 115, Clippers 90: Tim Duncan scored 21 points before sitting out the fourth quarter, and visiting San Antonio beat Los Angeles. Duncan left with 1:48 left in the third quarter after he was accidentally elbowed on the right side of the head by teammate Matt Bonner while trying to rebound a missed layup by Sebastian Telfair with the Spurs leading 83-73.
Hawks 130, Nets 107: Maurice Evans scored 22 points to help Atlanta beat visiting New Jersey, the Hawks’ fourth straight win. Devin Harris, who started despite a sprained left pinky finger, had 23 points for the Nets, who fell to an NBA-worst 2-22. Evans made his first start this season after forward Marvin Williams was unable to play because of an upset stomach.
Raptors 101, Rockets 88: Chris Bosh scored 27 points as host Toronto beat Houston. Trevor Ariza, the Rockets’ top scorer, was ejected with 3:47 left in the third quarter for swinging his arm at DeMar DeRozan following a steal. Ariza had just one point in 26 minutes. He was 0 for 9 from the floor.
Knicks: New York signed Jonathan Bender, marking the oft-injured forward’s return to the NBA after a three-year absence.
