Leonard's late dunk lifts Spurs to OT win over Cavaliers
Reuters
Published Jan 22, 2017 01:09AM ET
Leonard's late dunk lifts Spurs to OT win over Cavaliers
(The Sports Xchange) - Kawhi Leonard capped his career-high, 41-point night with a dunk in the final seconds and the San Antonio Spurs held on for a 118-115 overtime victory Saturday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James tied up Leonard for a jump ball with 13 seconds left and the Cavs down 3. James won the tip, but the ball was headed out of bounds when Kevin Love saved it and fired it behind his back inbounds.
Leonard caught the pass and sprinted to the other end for the dunk and the clincher with four seconds left.
After LaMarcus Aldridge missed a pair of free throws in the final second of overtime and the Cavs called timeout, Love missed a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer that would've forced double overtime. Love shot just 3 of 11 from the 3-point line Saturday.
The Cavs had plenty of chances late, but went scoreless for about two minutes late in overtime.
James received an inbounds pass with 24 seconds left and a chance to tie with a 3-pointer. He fired a bounce pass to the corner, but no one was standing there on the busted play.
James expected Kyrie Irving to cut to the corner, but he never did and James was charged with his seventh turnover of the night.
Leonard surpassed 30 points for the sixth straight game, while Aldridge scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Spurs. David Lee scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds starting in place of Pau Gasol, who is out with a fractured bone in his left hand.
Tony Parker also missed the game with an ankle injury.
James and Irving each scored 29 points and Love had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavs. Tristan Thompson had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
James' deep 3-pointer from 30 feet away with 34.8 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 107 after the Cavs missed their previous five 3-point attempts.
The Spurs went scoreless over the final 2:36 of regulation, missing their last four shots and committing a turnover while the Cavs erased a five-point deficit in the final minute. Leonard missed a short fadeaway jumper over James with 13.4 seconds left and the Cavs grabbed the rebound with a chance to win it.
James and Irving ran a pick-and-roll to switch Leonard off James, but he missed a 3-pointer in the corner to force overtime.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.