LOS ANGELES—LeBron James notched his second straight triple-double but it wasn’t enough to stave off an upset as the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers fell 116-112 in overtime to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
After Aaron Afflalo’s three-pointer with 30.8 seconds left in overtime put Sacramento up 115-112, James missed a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining and Kings star DeMarcus Cousins capped the scoring with a free-throw with five seconds to play.
It wasn’t the response James wanted to see when he called out teammates in the wake of their loss to New Orleans on Monday.
He notched his second triple-double in as many games with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, but the champions lost for the sixth time in their last eight games.
Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook notched the 60th triple-double of his career in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 114-105 victory over New Orleans on Wednesday to pass Larry Bird for fifth place on the all-time list.
Westbrook posted 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to fuel the Thunder with his 23rd triple-double of the season and his second in three victories over the Pelicans this season.
Despite Westbrook’s effort —and another early injury exit for Pelicans star forward Anthony Davis—New Orleans challenged until the end.
Oklahoma City led by 22 points in the second half but withstood a 9-0 Pelicans scoring run in the fourth quarter that cut the deficit to 105-100 with 5:33 remaining.
In Charlotte, Kevin Durant scored 16 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Golden State Warriors rebounded from an upset loss to the Miami Heat with a 113-103 NBA victory over the Hornets.
The Warriors trailed by 10 halfway through the third quarter and were down by five going into the final period.
But an impeccable finish lifted the Warriors to a league-leading 39th victory of the season in 46 games, with Durant playing a key role.
He gave Golden State the lead for good with 5:25 remaining, draining two free-throws to make it 95-94.
Golden State out-scored the Hornets 22-9 over the final six minutes.
NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry was also outstanding in his annual visit to his hometown, finishing with 28 points.
Curry drained two three-pointers in the final four minutes, and his long-range effort with 1:08 to play stretched the Warriors lead to 12 points.
Klay Thompson added 19 points and Draymond Green contributed 13 for the Warriors.
After the defeat by the Pelicans, James called the Cavaliers “top-heavy” intimating he, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love didn’t have a strong enough supporting cast.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game that the team would handle their superstar’s outburst internally.
“We talked to him and he understands, he understood and now we’re going to move on,” Lue said.
General manager David Griffin was especially stung by James’s suggestion that the team wasn’t committed to retaining the title but said he had a “good conversation” with James.
“The comment about the organization being complacent I think is really misguided,” Griffin said. “Organizationally there is absolutely no lack of clarity on what our goal set is. We are here to win championships and there is no other solution, there is no other outcome that is acceptable and there never has been.”
But James won’t be soothed by Wednesday’s on-court performance.
Love scored 21 points and pulled down 16 rebounds and Irving added 20 points, but the Cavaliers made just 17 of 34 free-throw attempts and they turned the ball over 18 times.
Cousins led all-scorers with 28 points with 11 rebounds, nine assists and three steals for the Kings. Afflalo scored 124 and Darren Collison added 23.
A layup by Collison with 35 seconds left in overtime put the Kings ahead 112-111 but Love split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 112-112.
Afflalo responded with what proved to be the game-winning three-pointer.
In a game in which each team led by as many as 10 points, Kyle Korver’s three-pointer with 7:43 remaining in regulation had put Cleveland up 97-87.
But Sacramento scored 11 straight points. Cleveland still had a chance to win it in regulation, but James’s attempt to inbound the ball to Love was thwarted by Cousins – who grabbed Love’s jersey but wasn’t whistled for a foul.