LeBron goes home with a win
LeBron James felt only love at home.
Making his first trip back to Cleveland since leaving for the second time as a free agent, James was welcomed like a hero last night and rallied the Los Angeles Lakers to a 109-105 win over the Cavaliers, who played an inspired game against their former teammate but couldn’t stop him when it mattered most.
James finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. He also scored or assisted on 11 straight points as the Lakers overcame a 99-91 deficit in the fourth quarter.
The Cavs had a chance to tie late, but Kyle Korver missed a wide-open 3-pointer with 17 seconds left and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made four free throws in the final 15 to seal it for Los Angeles.
76ers 121, Pelicans 120 — Joel Embiid had 31 points and 19 rebounds, and host Philadelphia beat New Orleans after Anthony Davis missed the third of three free throws with 2.5 seconds left.
The 76ers are 10-0 at home this season. They looked in control, up nine points with just under 2½ minutes to play, before a late surge by the Pelicans.
Embiid fouled Davis on a 3-point attempt, and Davis calmly swished the first two free throws before the third one went in and out. Davis grabbed the rebound, but his wild attempt at a winning shot was off the mark. Davis finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Raptors 124, Hawks 108 — Kyle Lowry scored 21 points during his first triple-double of the season and visiting Toronto never trailed while beating reeling Atlanta despite a career milestone from Vince Carter.
A jam by Carter with less than a second remaining pushed him past 25,000 career points. He became the 22nd NBA player to reach the milestone.
Bucks 143, Trail Blazers 100 — Giannis Antetokounmpo matched his season high with 33 points and finished an assist short of a triple-double in three quarters as host Milwaukee defeated Portland. Antetokounmpo added 16 rebounds and nine assists.
Bulls 124, Suns 116 — Jabari Parker had 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, and host Chicago beat Phoenix to stop a four-game slide.
Zach LaVine scored 29 points for the Bulls after missing Saturday night’s loss to Toronto due to an illness, and Ryan Arcidiacono finished with 14.
Rockets 126, Pistons 124 — James Harden scored a season-high 43 points and Clint Capela added 27 as host Houston held off Detroit to get its fifth straight win.
Houston has won eight of its last 10 after winning just one of its first six games and improved to 9-7 this season.
Nuggets 103, Timberwolves 101 — Paul Millsap had 25 points, Jamal Murray added 18 and Denver used a 35-point third quarter to beat Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 22 points, and Derrick Rose added 20 off the bench.
Hornets 127, Pacers 109 — Jeremy Lamb scored 21 points, Kemba Walker had 16 points and a season-high 11 assists and host Charlotte defeated Indiana.
Walker, the NBA’s leading scorer entering the game, had scored 103 points in his previous two games.