CLEVELAND — Channing Frye’s 3-pointer from the top of the arc off a pass from LeBron James in the final minute lifted the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 121-117 win over Toronto on Tuesday, handing the Raptors their first road loss of the season. Frye has made 11 3-pointers in his past two games.
With Oscar Robertson watching from close to the Cleveland bench, James fell one rebound shy of a triple-double with 28 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds. He had six assists in the fourth quarter alone.
Kevin Love scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving added 24 points for the Cavaliers. Frye scored 21 points off the bench.
Toronto’s Kyle Lowry scored 28 points and DeMar DeRozan added 26, marking just the second time in 10 games DeRozan failed to score at least 30. He began the night leading the league in scoring at 34 points per game.
Hawks 93, Heat 90
MIAMI — Dennis Schroder led a balanced offense with 18 points as the Atlanta Hawks won their fifth game in a row by defeating struggling Miami.
Leading 89-88, Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore made two free throws with 11.8 seconds left. Miami’s Josh Richardson got a dunk on the other end, and Schroder’s two free throws provided the final margin.
The win may have been costly for Atlanta (8-2), which suffered a potentially key injury. Center Dwight Howard left the game in the third quarter due to a left quad contusion. He finished the game with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three steals in 24 minutes.
Heat center Hassan Whiteside produced 19 points, 25 rebounds, two steals and one block. The 25 rebounds tied his career high and are also the most for any player in the NBA this season.
Hornets 115, Timberwolves 108
MINNEAPOLIS — Kemba Walker scored 30 points and Nicholas Batum added 16 to key the Charlotte Hornets’ second-half comeback in a victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Walker made 12 of 19 shots in scoring at least 20 points for the ninth straight game. He had six assists to surpass 2,000 in his career and added five steals and five rebounds. Frank Kaminsky came off the bench to score 20 points and hit three 3-pointers for Charlotte (7-3), which had lost back-to-back games against Toronto and Cleveland.
Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points for Minnesota (3-7). The Timberwolves hit 15 3-pointers, but Minnesota had 18 turnovers resulting in 20 points for Charlotte.