New-look Cavaliers rout Irving, Celtics
BOSTON — LeBron James led the new-look Cavaliers to a blowout in Boston with an individual performance reminiscent of the rivalry’s heyday.
And this time, Paul Pierce was sitting courtside in street clothes, unable to do anything about it.
With the former Celtics great waiting to see his No. 34 raised to the Boston Garden rafters, James shook off a first-quarter leg injury to score 24 points with 10 assists and eight rebounds to give Cleveland a 121-99 victory on Sunday.
In their first appearances since being acquired at the trade deadline, Jordan Clarkson scored 17 points, Rodney Hood had 15, George Hill had 12 and Larry Nance Jr. scored five. The foursome practiced with the Cavs for the first time on Saturday.
“I know the guys that are here are very excited about this opportunity,” James said. “It’s my job to as the leader of this team to make sure that I acclimate the new four guys to be around a culture that’s built around winning.”
James scored 13 in the second quarter — eight of them during a 13-2 run that turned a one-point deficit into a double-digit lead. The Celtics made it 64-55 on the first basket of the third quarter but never got within 10 again.
As the Cavaliers opened a 27-point lead midway through the fourth, the crowd began chanting “We want Paul Pierce!” But he remained in his baseline seat, awaiting the postgame ceremony that would raise his No. 34 to the TD Garden rafters — the 23rd person in the history of the NBA’s most-decorated franchise to be so honored.
“It definitely gave me chills, especially with LeBron out there,” Pierce told reporters afterward. “I wanted to be out there.”
The current Celtics, who have spent much of the season in first place in the East, could have used him.
ROCKETS 104, MAVERICKS
97: James Harden scored 27 points, Chris Paul added 25 and the Houston Rockets easily handled the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks to get a 104-97 win on Sunday night. The Rockets have won eight straight and 12 of 13. The Rockets led for most of the game, but the Mavericks kept it close until a couple of runs in the third quarter allowed Houston to pull away. Yogi Ferrell scored 20 points for the Mavs, who have lost eight of 10. Dwight Powell had 18 points and 12 rebounds.
PACERS 121, KNICKS 113: Victor Oladipo had 30 points, nine assists and eight rebounds to help Indiana beat New York. Bojan Bogdanovic made four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points and Thaddeus Young added 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. The Pacerso have won six of eight. Enes Kanter and Tim Hardaway, Jr. each scored 17 points, and Michael Beasley had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks. They have lost six in a row.
RAPTORS 123, HORNETS 103: DeMar DeRozan had 25 points and eight assists, C.J. Miles added 24 points and Toronto routed Charlotte for its fifth straight victory. Jonas Valanciunas added 21 points and nine rebounds for Toronto, sparking the Raptors’ pivotal run in the third quarter. Dwane Casey earned his 300th victory as head coach of the team. Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 23 points and nine assists.
TIMBERWOLVES 111, KINGS 106: Karl-Anthony Towns scored 29 points, Jeff Teague added 12 points and 10 assists and the Minnesota Timberwolves overcame an uncharacteristic sloppy performance at home to beat the Sacramento Kings 111-106 on Sunday night. Minnesota had 17 turnovers and allowed Sacramento 22 second-chance points, but prevailed after backto-back road losses. Jimmy Butler scored 18 points, 15 in the second half, for the Timberwolves in their 13th straight home win.
HAWKS 118, PISTONS 115: Dewayne Dedmon gave Atlanta the lead with a three-point play and then padded the margin with a 3-pointer, lifting the Hawks past Detroit. Dedmon matched his career high with 20 points and had 13 rebounds in his matchup with Andre Drummond, who had 25 points and 15 rebounds for Detroit. Dennis Schroder had 23 points, including six free throws in the final 20 seconds, for Atlanta. Blake Griffin had 23 points for Detroit. The Pistons have lost two straight after winning five in a row, including four with the newly acquired Griffin.