N.O. flops with new lineup
LeBron’s triple-double helps Cavs rip Knicks
NEW ORLEANS — The Boogie-andBrow era in New Orleans is off to a highly inauspicious start.
The Pelicans’ tandem of newly acquired All-Star DeMarcus Cousins and All-Star Game MVP Anthony Davis was no match for the surging Houston Rockets on Thursday night.
Reserve Lou Williams hit seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points in his Rockets debut after a trade with the Lakers as Houston crushed New Orleans, 129-99.
Davis had 29 points, and Cousins, acquired from Sacramento during the break, finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds. But New Orleans turned the ball over 20 times and couldn’t keep pace with the firepower of the Rockets, who hit 20 3-pointers.
Eric Gordon scored 19 points and Ryan Anderson added 17 in both players’ first game in New Orleans since leaving the Pelicans. James Harden had 13 points and 14 assists.
Houston led by as many as 35 points when Gordon’s free throws made it 100-65 late in the third quarter. CAVALIERS 119, KNICKS 104: In Cleveland, LeBron James recorded his 48th career triple-double and Kyrie Irving scored 23 points, leading Cleveland to a victory over New York, who hung on to superstar Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose at Thursday’s trade deadline.
James scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds with 15 assists for his sixth tripledouble of the season.
Anthony, the subject of trade rumors because of a strained relationship with Knicks President of Basketball Operations Phil Jackson, scored 20 points, going 9-for25 from the field.
PISTONS 114, HORNETS 108 (OT): In Auburn Hills., Mich., Kentavious CaldwellPope scored 33 points, including three 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter, as Detroit outlasted Charlotte in overtime.
Caldwell-Pope scored Detroit’s last 11 points of regulation, and his 3-pointer with 18.2 seconds to play tied the game at 100. Kemba Walker scored Charlotte’s final nine points of the fourth, but the Pistons forced him to give up the ball on the last possession, and Marco Belinelli missed a 3-pointer that could have won it.
Detroit, which was behind by 18 in the third quarter, never trailed in the overtime session.
WARRIORS 123, CLIPPERS 113: In Oakland, Calif., Golden State overcame a 16-point first-half deficit to beat Los Angeles.
Steph Curry scored 35 points for the Warriors, who outscored the Clippers 50-26 in the third quarter.
TRAIL BLAZERS 112, MAGIC 103: In Orlando, Fla., Damian Lillard scored 33 points, C.J. McCollum added 22 and Portland beat Orlando to snap a three-game losing streak.
After trailing for much of the game, the Trail Blazers rallied in the fourth quarter behind Lillard’s 17 points. Recently acquired center Jusuf Nurkic also had 12 points and 12 rebounds during the win for the Portland.
KINGS 116, NUGGETS 100: In Sacramento, Calif., Willie Cauley-Stein had a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds to help Sacramento, playing for the first time since trading DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans, beat Denver.