LeBron’s triple-double leads Cavs past Wiz
WASHINGTON — LeBron James played the first half wearing a pair of shoes — one black, one white — reading “equality” in gold capital letters and finished with 20 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Washington Wizards 106-99 on Sunday night for their 18th victory in 19 games.
James had his fourth triple-double in the past five games despite being called for four fouls in the final quarter. Kevin Love added 25 points and nine rebounds for the Cavs.
Bradley Beal led Washington with 27 points, and John Wall had 15 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes in his third game back after missing nine with an injured left knee.
In a matchup of Eastern Conference division leaders, neither team led by more than seven until Wall turned the ball over, leading to a fast break for James, who was fouled at the other end and completed the three-point play for a 103-94 lead.
The last time these teams played, at Washington on Nov. 3, Cleveland won thanks to 57 points from James.
That prompted Wizards coach Scott Brooks to joke before tipoff Sunday both that holding the four-time league MVP to “56 would be pretty good tonight” and “I have a lot of respect for Coach (Tyronn) Lue, but I think he’s making a bad decision if he doesn’t sit LeBron tonight. Back-to-back games, right? Our fans saw 57. They don’t need to see any more.”
James did not carry that much of a scoring load this time, but he did a bit of everything. He also made his statement with his sneakers, wearing that pair for the first half, before switching gear at halftime. He sported a pair of black shoes with “equality” written on them for Cleveland’s opening game of the season.
If it seems as if James climbs up some career list each and every night, well, that’s because he pretty much does. This time, he overtook Hakeem Olajuwon for ninth-most made field goals in NBA history and tied Nick Van Exel for 24th-most 3-pointers.
James made only 4 of 12 shots in the first half for nine points, but it was his 3 with 1.1 seconds remaining that made it
60-all at the break.
Wall’s 3 shortly before that moved him up to No. 5 on Washington’s franchise scoring list. He began the night at No. 7, but surpassed Phil Chenier and Gus Johnson in the second quarter.
The game was still tied heading into the fourth period, at
83-all.
Pistons 114, Magic 110
DETROIT — Reggie Bullock
scored a career-high 20 points, and Detroit tied a franchise record with 17 3-pointers in a victory over Orlando.
The Pistons have won three in a row after starting December with a seven-game losing streak. They almost let this game slip away when Orlando went on a 19-0 run to cut the lead to five late in the fourth, but Detroit was able to hold on.
Nikola Vucevic had 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists for the Magic. They have dropped five straight and 16 of 19.
Raptors 108, Kings 93
TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and a season-high 16 rebounds and Toronto won its ninth straight home game, beating Sacramento.
Kyle Lowry added 16 points and Norman Powell had 14. An NBA-best 11-1 at home, Toronto won for the ninth time in its past 10 and improved to 11-4 against Western Conference opponents.
Bogdan Bogdanovic and Garrett Temple each scored 18 points for the Kings.
Pacers 109, Nets 97
NEW YORK — Victor Oladipo scored 26 points, Domantas Sabonis had 17 and Indiana beat Brooklyn.
Allen Crabbe shook off his recent struggles, scoring 17 points in the first half on 5-for-7 shooting, including four 3s. He didn’t score in the second half.
Quincy Acy, Caris LeVert and Joe Harris each had 14 for Brooklyn.