James’ triple-double leads Cavs over Magic
LeBron James had 24 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers stopped a three-game losing streak with a 116-104 victory over the Orlando Magic on Saturday night.
Kyrie Irving scored 22 points and Tristan Thompson added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers, who had dropped four of five. The Magic played them close for much of the game, but couldn’t match shots with James and the defending NBA champions down the stretch.
It was James’ careerbest ninth triple-double of the season.
Orlando had four players score in double figures, but lost for the fourth time in five games. Nikola Vucevic had a team-high 20 points and 16 rebounds after missing the previous four games with a sore right Achilles.
The Magic put together a 12-2 run to tie it at 63 with 9:43 left in the third. But Richard Jefferson responded with a 3-pointer and J.R. Smith added two big 3s to help Cleveland run back out to an eight-point advantage with James on the bench for much of the quarter. SPURS 107, WARRIORS 85: Patty Mills had 21 points and the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a victory over the Golden State Warriors in a game short on star power to pull within a half-game of the NBA’s top record. The big showdown between the league’s top two teams turned into a huge letdown with both teams missing their star players. Already without Kevin Durant due to a knee injury, Golden State opted to rest Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.
THUNDER 112, JAZZ 104: Russell Westbrook had 33 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds for his 32nd triple-double of the season, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Utah Jazz. Westbrook broke a tie with Wilt Chamberlain (1967-68) for the second-most tripledoubles in a season. Oscar Robertson set the record of 41 in 1961-62. Victor Oladipo added 22 points to help the Thunder win for the third time in four regular-season meetings with the Jazz.
PELICANS 125, HORNETS 122, OT: Anthony Davis had 46 points and 21 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Charlotte Hornets in overtime with DeMarcus Cousins sitting on the bench during crunch time. Davis had 15 points in the fourth quarter and nine more in overtime, including a three-point play on an offensive rebound to put the Pelicans ahead for good with 1:11 left. Davis finished 18 of 31 from the field and was 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Jordan Crawford had 19 points and Jrue Holiday added 15 points and 13 assists as the Pelicans improved to 3-6 since adding Cousins. But Cousins didn’t play a big role in the win. He didn’t play after picking up his fifth foul with 9:35 left in regulation.
CLIPPERS 112, 76ERS 100: Chris Paul scored 30 points and DeAndre Jordan had 19 points and 20 rebounds, helping the host Clippers to their fourth win in five games. Paul also had seven assists, and Blake Griffin added 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Clippers trailed 79-75 after three quarters but opened the final period with a 10-0 run.