TORONTO – The Milwaukee Bucks are a problem. And though the Toronto Raptors evened their first-round series at one game apiece with a 106-100 victory on Tuesday, they’re still a long way from finding the solution. More
MILWAUKEE – Following a blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday in a game in which J.R. Smith allowed a wide-open dunk because he was busy greeting a Bucks player on the sidelines while the ball was in play, the Cleveland Cavaliers guard pleaded ignorance when asked about the mistake.
“I wasn’t even paying attention,” Smith said of his hug with Jason Terry with 2:57 remaining in the second quarter that left Tony Snell with an uncontested path to the basket. “I don’t even remember that.”
The basket gave Milwaukee a 53-50 lead en route to its eventual 118-101 victory, snapping a four-game win streak for the now 13-3 Cavs.
The blunder certainly wasn’t the main reason Cleveland lost – it can blame its season-high 20 turnovers leading to 22 Milwaukee points and the 68 points in the paint it gave up for that – yet Smith maintained his charade of selective amnesia nonetheless.
“What play are you talking about?” Smith said when a reporter continued to ask him about the clip that had already gone viral before the game even ended.
When the reporter described the play in detail, Smith replied, “I didn’t even know I was in the game. My bad.”
During the interview Smith wore a ski mask style cover over his face, only making his answers more bizarre.
“It’s my alter ego,” Smith said. “It’s a gift from Ohio State, so I figure why not?”
Smith got the hood he during the Cavs’ trip to the Ohio State-Michigan football game over the weekend.
He was then asked if his alter ego had a name.
“Yeah,” he said.
What is it?
“I can’t tell you,” Smith said as LeBron James chuckled as he got dressed at the locker next to him, causing Smith to laugh as well.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue was in a far less cheery mood after what was, unmistakably, his team’s worst loss of the season.
“I just didn’t like that we didn’t match their physicality,” Lue said after Cleveland saw an early 14-point lead turn into a double-digit defeat. “I…
BOSTON (AP) Kawhi Leonard had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Patty Mills scored 19 to lead the San Antonio Spurs past Boston 109-103 Friday for their eighth straight victory. Mills made a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left after the Celtics made it a one-possession game.
David Lee had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and rookie Davis Bertans scored a career-high 15 to help the Spurs improve to 9-0 on the road this season. San Antonio beat Boston for the 10th straight time.
Isaiah Thomas scored 24 points with eight assists and Avery Bradley had 19 points and eight rebounds for Boston, which had won three in a row. Al Horford had 12 points and 10 rebounds in his second home game since signing a four-year, $113-million contract with Boston this summer. Jae Crowder added 18 points for Boston.
CAVALIERS 128, MAVERICKS 90
CLEVELAND (AP) – Kevin Love scored 27 points, Kyrie Irving added 25 and Cleveland led by as many as 45 points in a rout of Dallas.
Love hit seven 3-pointers while Irving, who made his first 10 shots, scored 19 points in the first quarter. Irving’s big quarter came two nights after Love scored an NBA-record 34 in the first against Portland.
LeBron James, playing in his 1,000th regular-season game, had 19 points and 11 assists.
The defending NBA champions faced little resistance from the team with the league’s worst record. Dallas scored the game’s first basket before the Cavaliers turned the game into a rout. Cleveland led 36-16 after one quarter and was ahead 68-28 late in the second.
Dirk Nowitzki, who appeared in only his fifth game of the season because of an injured right Achilles, scored 15 points for Dallas.
KNICKS 113, HORNETS 111, OT
NEW YORK (AP) – Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 35 points, including the tiebreaking jumper with 3.1 seconds left in overtime, and New York beat Charlotte.
Derrick Rose added 16 points and blocked Kemba Walker’s 3-pointer that would have won it just before the buzzer. Kristaps Porzingis also scored 16 points in the Knicks’ sixth straight home victory.
Former Hornets guard Courtney Lee finished with 12 points in the opener of a home-and-home series.
Marco Belinelli scored 19 points, Nicolas Batum had 18 and Walker added 17 for the Hornets, who have lost four straight games.
PISTONS 108, CLIPPERS 97
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16 points and a career-high 10 assists as Detroit beat Los Angeles.
Detroit won its second straight and improved to 7-2 at home, as opposed to 1-7 on the road. The Clippers lost for just the second time in 13 games, falling to 7-1 on the road.
Marcus Morris scored 17 points and Andre Drummond had 16 points and 10 rebounds, as the Pistons got at least 15 points from all five starters. Jon Leuer added 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
J.J. Redick and Blake Griffith each had 24 points for the Clippers, while Chris Paul had eight points to go with 15 assists.
JAZZ 95, HAWKS 68
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Gordon Hayward scored 24 points as Utah beat…