Love, LeBron lead Cavs to 12th straight W
Celtics withstand Giannis's 40 to beat Bucks • Spurs surge to edge Pistons • Warrios top Pelicans
Kevin Love scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and LeBron James finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their 12th straight game with a 113-91 road victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.
The Cavaliers can tie a franchise record for consecutive victories with a win Wednesday at home against Sacramento.
Dwayne Wade, who is flourishing as a reserve with the Cavaliers following a season playing for his hometown Bulls, also finished with 24 points to help pace the Cavaliers. Jeff Green added 14 points for Cleveland.
Kris Dunn scored 15 points to lead Chicago (3-19), which has lost nine straight games. Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday also scored 14 points for the Bulls, who also got 13 points from Lauri Markkanen and 10 from Bobby Portis.
Celtics 111, Bucks 100
Kyrie Irving scored 32 points and Boston overcame 40 points by Giannis Antetokounmpo to defeat Milwaukee.
Al Horford, playing another strong allaround game, fought off second-half foul trouble and finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Boston.
Jayson Tatum scored 14 of his 17 in the first quarter and Aron Baynes had 10 points in the win. Jaylen Brown got in early foul trouble but finished with eight points and seven rebounds in 22:58.
Spurs 96, Pistons 93
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 17 points, including San Antonio’s final six points of the game, and took 10 rebounds as San Antonio came from behind to beat Detroit.
Detroit led 86-82 with 4:42 to play before Patty Mills canned a long three-pointer from well beyond the top of the circle to begin a 14-2 San Antonio run that granted the Spurs a 94-88 advantage with 1:51 left.
The Pistons then forged a final charge, getting to within 94-93 with 23.5 seconds left on a put-back by Andre Drummond. Aldridge then sank two free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to increase San Antonio’s lead to 96-93.
Warriors 125, Pelicans 115
Stephen Curry scored a team-high 31 points before badly spraining his ankle and Nick Young and Klay Thompson combined for 18 points in the fourth quarter as Golden State erased a 20-point halftime deficit and defeated New Orleans.
The Warriors trailed by as many as 21 points late in the second quarter and by 20 at halftime. The comeback was their second best of the season.
The Warriors, who have beaten New Orleans in 20 of their last 21 meetings, outscored the Pelicans 76-47 in the second half after trailing 69-49 at the half.
Grizzlies 95, Timberwolves 92
Marc Gasol scored 21 points as Memphis held on to defeat Minnesota, ending an 11-game losing streak.
Minnesota shooting guard Jimmy Butler, who had a game-high 30 points, launched an off-balance three-point attempt at the buzzer that would have tied the game, but the shot missed.
Memphis won for the first time since November 7 at Portland, prevailing for the first time under interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff. The previous head coach, David Fizdale, was fired last week.
Pacers 115, Knicks 97
Thaddeus Young scored 20 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 19, propelling Indiana to a romp over short-handed New York.
Seven players scored in double figures for Indiana. Victor Oladipo added 16 points for the Pacers, Domantas Sabonis contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Darren Collison had 10 points and 10 assists.
The Knicks played without their injured two top scorers, Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr., for the second consecutive game.
Nets 110, Hawks 90
Caris LeVert scored a season-high 17 points, and Brooklyn broke the game open with a 17-0 run to open the second half as the Nets beat Atlanta.
LeVert, a second-year guard from Michigan, entered the game averaging 10.3 points. He almost equaled that with nine first-half points.
He shot 7-for-13 from the field and matched his career best with seven assists. LeVert’s previous best scoring night was a 16-point effort against the Hawks on October 22.
The Nets avenged a 114-102 loss to the Hawks in Brooklyn on Saturday and have won three of their past five games overall. Atlanta has lost three of its past five.
Suns 115, 76ers 101
Devin Booker scored a season-high 46 points, 13 in a clinching 16-3 run late in the game, as Phoenix beat Philadelphia to snap a two-game losing streak.
Booker shot 17-of-32 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from three-point range, as Phoenix won for just the second time in seven games.