NBA
The Golden State Warriors returned to their winning ways on Wednesday, but the Cleveland Cavaliers continued their slump.
Kevin Durant scored 16 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ eighth win in nine games, 113-103 at Charlotte. Stephen Curry had 28 points on six 3-pointers for the Warriors, who were coming off a three-point loss to Miami on Monday. Golden State trailed by five before scoring 38 points in the final period. Klay Thompson finished with 19 points and Draymond Green added 13 as the Warriors improved to an NBA-best 39-7.
The Cavaliers lost for the sixth time in eight games as DeMarcus Cousins finished with a game-high 28 for the Sacramento Kings in a 116-112 overtime win at Cleveland. Darren Collision added 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting, while Arron Afflalo went 4-for-6 from 3-point range in scoring 14 points. Afflalo hit a 3-pointer with 17.3 seconds left in OT. LeBron James had 24 points and 11 assists for the defending NBA champs, whose lead in the Eastern Conference remains three games over Toronto. The Cavs also wasted Kevin Love’s 21 points and 16 rebounds.
Russell Westbrook recorded his 23rd triple-double of the season by producing 27 points, 21 boards and 10 assists in Oklahoma City’s 114-105 win at New Orleans. Steven Adams finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, while teammate Enes Kanter added 17 points and 11 boards.
Boston’s three-game losing streak is over after Isaiah Thomas contributed 38 points and nine assists in a 120-109 Celtics downing of Houston. Jae Crowder had 23 points as the Celtics improved to 27-18 and climbed within a half-game of the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors. James Harden finished with 30 points and 12 assists in the Rockets’ sixth loss in nine games.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
The No. 6 and No. 8 teams in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll tasted defeat on Wednesday, one night after three of the top four schools came away with losses.
Josh Okogie poured in 35 points and Georgia Tech pulled off its second home upset of a top 10 opponent this season by ripping sixth-ranked Florida State, 78-56. Ben Lammers had 18 points for the Yellow Jackets, who beat previous-No. 9 North Carolina on New Year’s Eve. The Seminoles never trailed by fewer than 18 points in the second half after entering the game with an 18-2 record. FSU fell to 6-2 in the ACC.
Southern California won a turf war with UCLA as Shaqquan Aaron scored a career-high 23 points and Elijah Stewart added 15 in the Trojans’ 84-76 win over the eighth-ranked Bruins. USC matched a season high by hitting 14 3-pointers and beat UCLA for the fourth straight time to improve to 18-4.
Unranked Georgetown had dropped six of eight before L.J. Peak scored 20 points and Rodney Pryor added 18 in the Hoyas’ 71-51 pounding of No. 16 Creighton. The Bluejays were held to their lowest scoring output of the season in falling to 0-2 since point guard Maurice Watson Jr. suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Louis Adams and Hayden Dalton scored 15 points apiece and Justin James hit the winner with 1:01 remaining as Wyoming nearly blew an 18-point halftime lead but held on to beat UNLV 66-65 on Wednesday night. Wyoming (14-7, 4-4 Mountain West) led 41-23 at the half and led 55-45 with 10:22 left. But UNLV progressively chipped away, finally tying it at 59 on a Jovan Mooring 3 with 4:33 to go. A Tyler Green free throw and Christian Jones’ layup gave the Rebels a three-point lead before a Justin James 3-pointer made it 64-all. After an Uche Ofoegbu turnover, James drilled what turned out to be the clincher with 1:01 remaining. Mooring cut it to one with a free throw, but missed a potential winning 3 with two seconds left. James finished with 14 points for Wyoming. Mooring led UNLV (10-11, 3-5) with 15 points. Jones added 14 points and 12 rebounds
University of Kansas police say they are investigating the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl last month at a dorm housing the men’s basketball team. Five members of the Jayhawks team are listed as witnesses on the police report, but no charges have been filed and no suspects have been identified. Police said in their release that the athletics department is cooperating and has assisted investigators. The alleged assault and other related crimes occurred sometime between 10 p.m. on Dec. 17 and 5 a.m. on Dec. 18. The Jayhawks played a game against Davidson in nearby Kansas City the night of Dec. 17.
Brent Musburger is ending his sportscasting career at ESPN to get in the sports handicapping business. The 77-year old will bow out after calling the Jan. 31 basketball game between Kentucky and Georgia. Musburger came to prominence as part of CBS’s NFL Today program in the 1980’s before he was let go by the network in what was considered a salary dump.
(Stories Courtesy: Associated Press)