(The Sports Xchange) – Kyrie Irving scored 26 points, Kyle Korver added 18 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off a series of runs by the Sacramento Kings to post a 120-108 victory at the Golden 1 Center on Friday. LeBron James had 16 points and 15 assists, and Cleveland (29-10) snapped a two-game skid in his annual visit to the city where he made his debut in 2003.
James’ teams have now won nine times in his 12 visits against the Kings.
The Kings got as close as 90-85 in the fourth quarter after trailing by 24 points in the first half.
Irving and Korver stopped recent slumps by combining to hit 17-of-32 shots from the field. They were a combined 5-of-21 in the two Cleveland losses leading into this one.
Korver, playing his third game after being acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade last Saturday, finally found some rhythm. He made his first three shots, went 7-of-10 from the field and drilled 4-of-6 shots from three-point range. Korver had made only 2-of-10 shots and missed on all five of his three-pointers in his first two games with the Cavaliers.
Irving, who went 4-of-16 in a loss at Portland on Tuesday and was just 29-of-80 (36.2 percent) shooting in four games since returning from a slightly pulled hamstring, was 10-of-22 and added five assists. DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Kings (16-23), but Sacramento never got closer than five points after falling behind 30-11 in the first quarter.
The Kings have lost four of five on a season-high seven-game homestand.
Rudy Gay added 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and contributed 10 rebounds, and Ty Lawson led a frantic rally by scoring 13 of his 17 in the fourth quarter for the Kings.
The Kings made runs at Cleveland three times, but the Cavaliers held them at check each time.
The Kings reduced a 19-point first-quarter deficit to 43-31 with six minutes left in the first half, but Korver scored seven points during a 16-4 run that put the Cavaliers back ahead 59-35.
The Kings got the deficit down to 66-58 with 7:02 left the third quarter, but Irving scored nine of Cleveland’s next 14 as it built the lead back to 80-59.
(Editing by John O’Brien)
Reuters
