Milestone for James part of Cavs’ victory
LeBron James scored 31 points and finished a month averaging a triple-double for the first time in his career, as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 129-123 on Tuesday night.
James added 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his 12th triple-double of the season and 67th of his career. He also reached 8,000 assists and became the first frontcourt player in NBA history to reach that milestone, along with 30,000 points and 8,000 rebounds.
“Scoring has always been last for me,” James said. “I’ve never looked at myself as a scorer. But to know the history of the game and seeing the guys that put up triple-doubles on a regular (basis) from Jason Kidd to Magic Johnson to Oscar Robertson to Russell Westbrook, you can throw my name in there as well.”
Rodney Hood’s threepoint play with 40 seconds remaining gave Cleveland a 123-121 lead.
HEAT 102, 76ERS 101 >> Dwyane Wade scored a seasonhigh 27 points, the last of those coming on a jumper that gave Miami its only lead of the fourth quarter with 5.9 seconds left, as the Heat rallied to beat Philadelphia, which got 23 points from Joel Embiid. NUGGETS 122, CLIPPERS 120 >> Lou Williams scored 25 points, and Boban Marjanovic added 18 as Los Angeles overcame a 19-point deficit in the third quarter to beat Denver.
TRAIL BLAZERS 116, KINGS 99 >> Damian Lillard had 26 points and 12 assists to help Portland win its fourth in a row with a victory over Sacramento.
WIZARDS 107, BUCKS 104 >> Bradley Beal scored 21 points, including a clutch 3-pointer and a free throw down the stretch, to help Washington beat Milwaukee.
HORNETS 118, BULLS 103 >> Kemba Walker scored 31 points, and Dwight Howard added 24 after returning from a first-quarter back injury as Charlotte won its fifth in a row.