Cavs crush Thunder LeBron crashes into Day’s wife

CLEVELAND – Unable to stop himself, LeBron James launched his 250-pound body into the air, crashing hard into the lap of a courtside spectator unable to get out of his way.

He had no idea he’d just plowed over the wife of PGA champion and Fil-Aussie Jason Day.

There was nothing anyone could do.

Scrambling for a loose ball, the Cavaliers star flattened Ellie Day, sending her to the hospital during the fourth quarter of Cleveland’s 104-100 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.

The Cavaliers did not provide any immediate word on her condition.

In an instant, the final minutes of an NBA game had become almost trivial.

Day, who gave birth to her second child last month, was carried from Quicken Loans Arena on a backboard, placed on a stretcher with her head immobilized and taken to MetroHealth Medical Center. She was accompanied from the building by her husband, who moments before the collision had chipped foam basketballs to the crowd as part of a promotion.

As she was being treated by medical personnel inside the arena, James came over to check on her, grabbing her hand.

“She squeezed my hand and said she was fine,” James said. “I think she was just a little weary. For me, obviously, her health is very important and hopefully she is doing well. The guys told me she’s doing great now. For me, just going for a loose ball, I tried to keep the possession going, I just hate that that was the end result.”

James was on his way to a 33-point, 11-assist, 9-rebound performance when the collision took place with five minutes left.

An hour after the game, James tweeted: “Ellie Day I hope you’re doing okay! My apologies! Hope u guys come back to another game soon. Love LJ!”

Day, the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world, won the PGA Championship this year for his first major win on the PGA Tour. On Nov. 11, Ellie gave birth to the couple’s second child, a girl named Lucy.

As his wife was being checked by medical staff, a concerned Day looked on as the Cavs and Thunder played a frantic final few minutes.

The Days live in suburban Columbus and have attended Cleveland games in the past. Ellie Day was pregnant when she went to an exhibition game earlier this year. That night on Ohio State’s campus, Cavs guard J.R. Smith bought cotton candy for the Days’ son, Dash, while he sat on the bench.

Cavs coach David Blatt said he didn’t see the full impact of the collision. Blatt has long been nervous about the safety of fans sitting so close to the action.

“Honestly, the only thing I saw was LeBron diving for the ball to save the ball,” Blatt said. “I kind of got blocked and just saw a sea of bodies. We all hope that she’s OK. It’s always concerned me, the sideline seats. Always concerned me, because things like that, when you’re talking about players of this speed and physicality and effort level, it’s not a simple thing.

“The powers that be are the ones that really need to decide how to deal with that. He made an honest attempt at the basketball, that’s all, obviously. We all hope she’s OK.”

Tristan Thompson had 15 rebounds for the Cavs, who improved to 11-1 at home.

Russell Westbrook scored 27 and Kevin Durant 25 for the Thunder, who had won six in a row. Oklahoma City was down 98-89 with three minutes left and closed within 103-100, but both Durant and Westbrook missed 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds.

In other results, Charlotte downed Toronto, 109-99; and the Houston Rockets buried the Los Angeles Lakers, 107-87.

James Harden scored 25 points, and Dwight Howard added 16 points and 15 rebounds in Houston’s second victory over Los Angeles in six days.

Terrence Jones had 16 points to help the Rockets avoid a winless three-game trip. They never trailed in their fifth straight win over the Lakers at Staples Center, Houston’s longest road winning streak in the rivalry’s history.

Kobe Bryant scored 22 points and dunked for the first time in his farewell season, but the Lakers followed up their fourth victory of the season with their 14th loss in 16 games.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, Jeremy Lin scored a season-high 35 points and Kemba Walker had 27 as Charlotte beat Toronto in overtime.

P.J. Hairston added 14 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining in overtime that put the Hornets ahead to stay.

DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points, Kyle Lowry added 20 and Terrence Ross had 17 for Toronto. Bismack Biyombo, who spent four seasons with Charlotte, had a career-best 18 rebounds while also blocking seven shots and scoring eight points.

Back in Cleveland, the Cavaliers were missing guards Mo Williams (thumb), Iman Shumpert (groin) and Kyrie Irving, who could make his season debut Sunday against Philadelphia.

Thompson added 12 points and his energy kept the Cavs close in the third quarter. Richard Jefferson added 13 points off the bench for Cleveland, now 31-2 in regular season games at home since Jan. 15.

With the Cavs down 78-74 to start the fourth, Kevin Love made two critical plays to swing the momentum for Cleveland.

First, he pump faked Nick Collison in the air to draw contact and dropped a 3-pointer while being fouled. After knocking down his free throw, Love grabbed a rebound on the defensive end and heaved a look outlet pass to a waiting James, who was bumped before dropping in his layup to put the Cavs up, 80-78.