CLEVELAND — LeBron James joined Oscar Robertson on an exclusive NBA list and Kevin Love scored a season-high 34 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers remained unbeaten at home with a 117-103 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night.
CLEVELAND — LeBron James joined Oscar Robertson on an exclusive NBA list and Kevin Love scored a season-high 34 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers remained unbeaten at home with a 117-103 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night.
James had 15 points and 13 assists and joined Robertson, the legendary “Big O,” as the only players in league history to rank in the top 25 in career points and assists.
With his fifth assist, James moved past Norm Nixon (6,386) into 25th place and moved alongside Robertson, who finished his Hall of Fame career with 26,710 points and 9,887 assists. James will soon eclipse Robertson’s scoring total and the unselfish superstar is a good bet to pass the guard on the assist list as well.
Love scored 27 in the first half for the Cavs, now 8-0 at home and an Eastern Conference-leading 11-3.
Andrew Nicholson scored 18 and Evan Fournier had 13 points for the Magic. Orlando has dropped 11 straight to Cleveland.
THUNDER 111,
JAZZ 89
SALT LAKE CITY — Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant had 27 points and six rebounds in his return from a hamstring injury.
Durant was 10 for 13 from the field in his first game since he got hurt Nov. 10 at Washington. Russell Westbrook narrowly missed his third triple-double of the season with 20 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
The Thunder ran away with the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Jazz 40-26 and shooting 14 for 19 from the field.
Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 19 points. Derrick Favors had 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, and Rudy Gobert finished with 10 points.
HEAT 95,
KNICKS 78
MIAMI — Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh each scored 16 points, and Miami snapped New York’s four-game winning streak.
Goran Dragic had 13 points and nine assists for the Heat, who went on a 36-8 run in the first half. Tyler Johnson scored 12, and Hassan Whiteside had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Miami would eventually lead by as many as 26, both its biggest advantage and the Knicks’ biggest deficit so far this season. The Knicks hadn’t even trailed by double figures in any of their last eight games.
Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for New York, which has lost 13 of its last 16 games in Miami. Rookie Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and 14 rebounds.
TIMBERWOLVES 100,
76ERS 95
MINNEAPOLIS — Andrew Wiggins scored 17 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to help Minnesota keep Philadelphia winless on the season.
Kevin Garnett had eight points and 10 rebounds and the Timberwolves (6-8) won at home for the first time in seven games this season. They dropped Philadelphia to 0-15 and avoided another embarrassing home loss to the Sixers, who snapped an 0-17 start to last season with a win at Target Center.
Jahlil Okafor had 25 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks for Philadelphia and thoroughly outplayed No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, who played just 19 minutes because of foul trouble. The Sixers led by 13 in the first half and by five with 2:30 to play but once again couldn’t hold on.
BUCKS 109,
PISTONS 88
MILWAUKEE — Greg Monroe had 20 points and 13 rebounds in his first game against his former team, leading the Bucks to the victory.
Milwaukee had seven players score in double figures, including each of its starters. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 17 points, and Khris Middleton scored 16.
The Bucks had lost three straight and five of six.
Andre Drummond had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Detroit, but appeared to hurt himself late in the second quarter. He walked slowly up the court holding his left side after trying to defend Monroe.
Coach Stan Van Gundy said after that game that Drummond was fine.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17 points for the Pistons, who have dropped six of eight.
HORNETS 127,
KINGS 122, OT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kemba Walker scored 39 points, and Charlotte battled back from 22 points down in the second half to beat Sacramento in overtime.
Nicolas Batum had 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Hornets, who have won four of their last five games. Jeremy Lin had seven of his 14 points in overtime.
It was the second-largest comeback in franchise history.
DeMarcus Cousins had 30 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento, and Rudy Gay had 28 points and 10 boards. Rajon Rondo had 14 points and 20 assists.
SPURS 98,
SUNS 84
SAN ANTONIO — Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and the Spurs shut down the Suns.
Phoenix was averaging 106.5 points, but was held to season low for points and committed a season-high 28 turnovers.
Tony Parker had 20 points and eight assists for San Antonio, which is off to an 11-3 start.
Markieff Morris had 28 points and Brandon Knight scored 18 for Phoenix.