NBA roundup: Kyrie Irving lifts Cavaliers past Wizards 140-135 in OT

Kyrie Irving scored 11 of his 23 points in overtime, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 35 seconds left, and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers edged the Washington Wizards 140-135 in a playoff-type atmosphere Monday night.

The loud, sellout crowd was standing, and so were the players on both benches, when James somehow missed a gimme layup late in the fourth quarter. Moments later, he banked in a maximum-degree-of-difficulty, step-back 3 with 0.3 seconds left to send the game overtime, where he fouled out and Irving took over for Cleveland.

James finished 32 points and a career-high 17 assists. Kevin Love had 39 points and 12 rebounds for the Eastern Conference leaders, who ended surging Washington’s winning streaks of 17 in a row at home and seven in a row overall.

Bradley Beal had 41 points and eight assists for the Wizards, but he missed a potential tying 3 with about 5 seconds left in overtime.

Toronto 118, L.A. Clippers 109: DeMar DeRozan had 31 points and the Raptors overcame a triple-double from Blake Griffin to beat the Clippers in Toronto.

Griffin, who had his fifth career triple-double and first of the season in three quarters, finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. It wasn’t enough to prevent the Clippers from a third straight defeat against the Raptors and their seventh in eight games in Toronto.

DeRozan, who had missed seven of Toronto’s last eight games with a sprained ankle, was 11 of 22 from the floor, while Kyle Lowry scored 24 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 12 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the season. The Raptors were 3-4 in DeRozan’s absence and won for just the fourth time in their last 12 games.

Austin Rivers had 22 points and Marreese Speights added 15 off the bench for the Clippers, who lost for the seventh time in their last nine games.

Indiana 93, Oklahoma City 90: Paul George had 21 points and eight rebounds, Jeff Teague scored 17 points and the Pacers rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to beat the Thunder in Indianapolis.

Indiana has won seven straight games – its longest winning streak in almost two years.

Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma City with 27 points, a season-high 18 rebounds and nine assists, falling just short of his 26th triple-double this season.

The Thunder struggled mightily in the second half, giving away a 52-41 halftime lead by midway through the third quarter. The Pacers then went on a 12-4 run to take a 79-72 advantage early in the fourth and never trailed again.

Miami 115, Minnesota 113: Goran Dragic scored 33 points and hit a career-high seven 3-pointers to lead the Heat to their 11th straight victory with a win over the Timberwolves in Minneapolis.

Hassan Whiteside had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and the Heat shot 53.6 percent (15 for 28) from 3-point range. Miami made 10 more 3s than Minnesota and held on late after a furious comeback attempt by the Wolves.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 35 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost four straight games. Andrew Wiggins added 27 points, but missed two shots with chances to win the game in the final 8.5 seconds.

Denver 110, Dallas 87: Will Barton scored 31 points, connecting on five 3-pointers, and the Nuggets overcame the absence of three starters to beat the Mavericks in Denver.

Gary Harris added 20 points and Wilson Chandler had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who were without forward Danilo Gallinari because of a left groin strain and guard Emmanuel Mudiay due to a recurrence of a lower back injury. Also missing the game was forward Kenneth Faried, who was excused to tend to personal matters.

Dallas, which was also short-handed, was led by Seth Curry and Yogi Ferrell. They had 15 points apiece, but the loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Mavericks.

Trailing by as many as 27 early in the third quarter, the Mavericks closed the period with an 18-6 run and pulled to 82-67 going into the fourth. Wesley Matthews and Curry both hit 3-pointers in the run.

Memphis 89, San Antonio 74: Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph scored 15 points each, Mike Conley added 12 points and nine assists and the Grizzlies held the Spurs to a season low in points with an 89-74 victory in Memphis, Tennessee.

The game was close until Memphis stretched the margin to double digits just past the midway point of the fourth quarter and maintained the cushion the rest of the way.

The Spurs ended a three-game winning streak and suffered through the absence of leading scorer Kawhi Leonard, a late scratch with a quad contusion.

David Lee led the Spurs with 14 points, converting all six of his shots. LaMarcus Aldridge added 13 points, connecting on only 4 of 19 shots. Danny Green and Manu Ginobili finished with 12 points each for San Antonio, which began an eight-game road trip.

Utah 120, Atlanta 95: Gordon Hayward scored 30 points and the Jazz broke open a close game with 10 straight points in the third quarter to beat the Hawks in Atlanta.

Hayward, who scored a season-high 33 points in Utah’s 105-98 win over Charlotte on Saturday, had 15 points as the Jazz built a 27-14 lead in the first quarter.

Utah led 40-23 in the second quarter before Atlanta had a strong finish to the half and cut the deficit to 54-50.

The Jazz led by only three points early in the second half before a basket by George Hill, who had 22 points, started the decisive 10-0 run. Hill had two three-point plays to close the run.

Utah made 16 of 20 shots in the third quarter while outscoring Atlanta 37-23.

Dennis Schroder led Atlanta with 21 points.

Chicago 112, Sacramento 107: Dwyane Wade scored 31 points, including the final seven for Chicago to help the Bulls hold off the Kings in Sacramento, California.

After the Bulls squandered a 27-point lead in the second half, Wade hit a tiebreaking 20-footer to put them ahead for good, 109-107, with 13 seconds left. Then he stole the inbounds pass following a timeout and went the length of the court for a dunk to make it a four-point lead.

Wade added a free throw with a second to play following the second technical foul of the night on a furious DeMarcus Cousins, who thought he was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Cousins was ejected after picking up his 16th technical of the season, a total that triggers an automatic one-game suspension.

Michael Carter-Williams had 21 points for the Bulls, and Robin Lopez scored 17. Jerian Grant added 13 points as Chicago won its second straight and third in four games.

L.A. Lakers 121, New York 107: Lou Williams scored 22 points, Nick Young had 17 and the Lakers handed the Knicks an embarrassing defeat in new York to stop a 12-game losing streak on the road.

Julius Randle and Brandon Ingram added 14 points apiece for the struggling Lakers, who won for only the third time in 13 games overall. They had dropped 17 of their previous 18 away from home, with the only road victory during that stretch coming on Dec. 16 in Philadelphia.

It was Los Angeles’ first victory over New York at Madison Square Garden in six years.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 26 points. Kristaps Porzingis and Brandon Jennings each had 16.

New York crept to within 15 early in the third quarter, but the Lakers again went up by a game-high 27 points, 83-56, on Young’s jumper with 4:45 left. They settled for a 97-73 lead after three.

Detroit 113, Philadelphia 96: Andre Drummond had 16 points and 17 rebounds, and the Pistons pulled away at the start of the third quarter for an easy victory over the 76ers in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Detroit led 55-46 at halftime, then made its first six shots of the third quarter. The Pistons went on to outscore Philadelphia 34-21 in the period and were never seriously challenged after that.

Detroit had seven players in double figures. Marcus Morris led the way with 19 points, and Reggie Jackson scored 14. Jon Leuer, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aron Baynes had 12 each.

Jahlil Okafor scored 16 points for the 76ers, who have lost four straight.

New Orleans 111, Phoenix 106: Anthony Davis capped his 34-point night with a key rebound and six made free throws in the final half-minute, Jrue Holiday scored five of his 30 points in the last minute and a half, and the Pelicans ended a four-game slide with a victory over the Suns in New Orleans.

E’Twaun Moore scored 12 points for the Pelicans, who led by as many as 10 in the first half but found themselves behind for much of the fourth quarter until Davis and Holiday took over late.

T.J. Warren scored 20 points for the Suns, while Devin Booker, Eric Bledsoe and Leandro Barbosa each added 14 points. Tyson Chandler had 12 rebounds and 11 points for Phoenix, which dropped its second straight.