Los Angeles (AFP) – The Cleveland Cavaliers, fueled by 29 points from Jarrett Allen, held off a late charge from Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday for a 117-115 NBA victory.
Allen added 16 rebounds and Caris LeVert scored 23 points off the bench for the Cavs, who handed the Spurs a fifth straight defeat.
French prodigy Wembanyama scored 24 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked five shots in less than 25 minutes on court, and made an impression on seven-year veteran Allen.
“He’s talented,” Allen said.”
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He can take people off the dribble, excellent shot-blocker, post-up — he’s got it all.”
But Wembanyama, playing under a minutes restriction as he recovers from an ankle injury, couldn’t get the Spurs over the hump, although they gave it a run after Cleveland pushed their lead to 16 points on an Allen dunk with less than six minutes to play.
San Antonio closed the contest on an 11-0 run.
“You know how we do it down here, we like to keep the fans engaged,” Allen joked.
They needed overtime to settle it in Brooklyn, where the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Nets 134-127.
Portland guard Anfernee Simons scored 19 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help the Trail Blazers withstand a 42-point performance from Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges.
Bridges’s fadeaway jumper with 1.5 seconds left in the fourth forced overtime, and Brooklyn took a quick lead before the Blazers stormed back in the extra session, connecting on six of seven shots from the floor.
That included back-to-back three-pointers from Malcolm Brogdon that put the Blazers — who trailed by 10 in the second half — up for good.
Jerami Grant added 27 points for the Trail Blazers, Shaedon Sharpe scored 21 and Brogdon 18.
