James scores 46 to help Cavaliers even series

LeBron James scored 46 points and added 12 rebounds as the Cavaliers bounced back from a poor performance in the opener to defeat the Pacers 100-97 on Wednesday night in Cleveland to even their Eastern Conference firstround series at one game apiece.

James scored the game’s first 16 points and had 29 at halftime, dominating the way he has in so many previous postseasons. But the Pacers fought back from an 18-point deficit and had a chance to tie with 27 seconds left before Victor Oladipo missed a wideopen 3-pointer.

Kevin Love scored 15 points for the Cavaliers but injured his left hand, the same one he broke earlier this season, with 3:43 left.

Oladipo scored 22 points and Myles Turner 18 for the Pacers.

Derrick Favors had career playoff bests of 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Jazz, and Ricky Rubio had 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the first playoff win of his seven-year career.

Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds for the Thunder. Paul George, who scored 36 points in Game 1, finished with 18 on 6-for-21 shooting.

Chris Paul had 27 points and Gerald Green came off the bench to score 21 as the host Rockets cruised to a win over the Timberwolves to go up 2-0 in their Western Conference first-round series.

After scoring 44 points in Game 1, James Harden had just 12 on 2-of-18 shooting.

Jamal Crawford scored 16 points for the eighthseeded Timberwolves, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

The Spurs confirmed the death of Erin Popovich, wife of coach Gregg Popovich. She was 67. No further details were provided.