Pelicans pull away for 123-101 victory over Cavs

NEW ORLEANS—DeMarcus Cousins had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and the New Orleans Pelicans pulled away for a convincing 123-101 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

Anthony Davis added 30 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks to help New Orleans win for the third time in four games. New Orleans’ All-Star frontcourt tandem had help from the backcourt, too, with Jrue Holiday scoring 29 points and E’Twaun Moore 24 as the Pelicans made better than 53 percent off their shots.

Kevin Love had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavs, who were without Derrick Rose and trailed for most of the game. LeBron James had 18 points and Dwyane Wade 15 for Cleveland, which has lost three of four.

Trailing by 13 at halftime, Cleveland briefly appeared to be taking control in the third quarter. It began with an 8-0 Cavs run the included 3s by James and Love. Love hit three 3s, grabbed four rebounds and added an assist during what turned into a 21-7 surge that gave the Cavs a 73-72 lead.

But the Pelicans regained momentum as Cousins, Holiday and Davis reasserted themselves. Cousins’ three-point play on a driving layup and Holiday’s 3 were bookends of a 12-2 run that put New Orleans back up by nine, and the Pelicans never trailed again.

Love, meanwhile, briefly left the game after falling to the floor, clutching his left knee under the basket. He returned in the fourth quarter, but the Pelicans never let Cleveland get closer than six points in the final period. The Pelicans put the game away with a 13-3 run, capped by Holiday’s fourth 3-pointer, which made it 108-89 in the middle of the quarter.

Moore, who is starting while New Orleans awaits the recovery of Rajon Rando from a preseason core muscle injury, helped the Pelicans build an early double-digit lead. He hit his first five shots—three of them from 3-point range—and the last of those made it 40-27 early in the second quarter.

Cleveland used an 8-0 run, capped by Wade’s driving dunk, to pull to 40-35. Wade also produced a dazzling behind-the-back move to set up a floater, but such highlights were too infrequent for the Cavs.

New Orleans soon rebuilt its lead to 15, using a 9-1 spurt sparked by Holiday’s 3 and led 65-52 at halftime.

Celtics 96, Heat 90

MIAMI—Kyrie Irving scored nine of his 24 points in the final 2:03, and the Boston Celtics extended their winning streak to four games after holding on late to beat the Miami Heat 96-90 on Saturday night.

Jayson Tatum scored 20 and Marcus Smart added 16 for the Celtics, who beat Miami for the eighth consecutive time.

It was Irving’s eighth time playing at Miami—and the first time he was part of a win. Miami cut Boston’s lead to two on a pair of occasions late, and Irving answered with a basket both times to give the Celtics some breathing room.

He sealed the win with 57 seconds left, connecting on a 3-pointer for a 93-86 lead.

Goran Dragic scored 22 points for Miami, which got 16 apiece from Josh Richardson and James Johnson. Former Boston forward Kelly Olynyk had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, who were 7 for 31 from 3-point range.

Boston outscored Miami 53-37 in the middle two quarters—holding the Heat to 39 percent shooting from the field and 19 percent from 3-point range during that 24-minute span—and took an 11-point lead into the fourth, looking very much in control.

That is, until the Celtics went cold and the Heat showed some signs of life. A 7-0 Heat run got Miami within two, and that’s when Irving took over.