LeBron powers Cavs to 8th straight victory
CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James scored 35 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining, and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied to beat the Toronto Raptors, 105-101, on Tuesday night for their eighth straight victory.
James’ jumper from the top of the key gave Cleveland a 102-99 lead and tied him with Mark Price for the franchise record for 3-pointers at 802.
James scored 10 points in the fourth quarter as Cleveland rallied from a 10point deficit early in the period. Dion Waiters scored 18 points and Kevin Love had 17.
Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross each scored 18 for Toronto. Kyle Lowry added 16, but only scored two in the fourth quarter as he was hounded defensively by Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova.
Toronto shot 14 for 21 in the first quarter and led 63-55 at halftime. Valanciunas had a strong first half with 14 points and nine rebounds. GRIZZLIES 114, MAVERICKS 105
In Memphis, Marc Gasol scored 30 points, Mike Conley added 22 and the Grizzlies withstood 18 Dallas 3-pointers.
Gasol, who was limited to only two points in Sunday’s win over Miami, was 9 of 14 from the field and 12 of 13 from the line as Memphis won its second straight. Zach Randolph had 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Tony Allen scored 13 points.
Chandler Parsons led the Mavericks with 30 points, going 10 of 18 from the field and 6 of 10 from 3-point range. Jameer Nelson had a season-high 18 points.
BLAZERS 98, PISTONS 86 In Auburn Hills, LaMarcus Aldridge had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 19 points, and Portland earned its fifth straight victory.
Detroit lost its 13th in a row, one short of the franchise record set in 1979-80 and tied in 1993-94. Those were both aging teams, with the second group marking the end of the Bad Boys era at the Palace. The current Pistons haven’t had a winning season or won a playoff game in seven years.
Greg Monroe had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit, which only got 40 points from its starting lineup.
LAKERS 98, KINGS 95 In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored nine of his 32 points in the final 3:14, leading the Los Angeles Lakers’ fourth- quarter comeback over the Sacramento Kings.
Carlos Boozer added 15 points for the Lakers, who snapped their threegame skid by rallying from a 12-point deficit in the second half.
After Bryant tied it at 92 with a breakaway dunk and a clutch 3-pointer, Jordan Hill’s layup on a sharp pass from Bryant put the Lakers ahead 94-93 with 1:39 to play.
The Kings went back in front on a driving layup by Darren Collison, but Bryant hit two free throws for the lead with 34 seconds left before Rudy Gay missed an open 3-pointer for Sacramento, which has lost six of eight.
PELICANS 104, KNICKS 93 In New Orleans, Tyreke Evans scored 27 points, Anthony Davis had 18 and the Pelicans handed the reeling Knicks their ninth straight loss.