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LeBron James finished with a triple double in his second game at home since returning to Cleveland as the Cavaliers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 118-111 on Monday. |
James delivered 32 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Cavaliers who are finally showing signs of being a NBA contender after a disappointing 1-3 start to begin the regular season.
“I don’t care that we all know he can do it,” Cavaliers coach David Blatt said of James. “You go out there and have a triple-double and lead your team the way he did, it’s easy to overlook that.”
Kyrie Irving scored 27 of his 32 points in the second half and Kevin Love drained four three-pointers in the fourth quarter while contributing 22 points for Cleveland, who have won two straight.
The Cavaliers also made good on 13-of-27 three pointers in the win.
Ryan Anderson shot eight-of-12 from beyond the arc and finished with 32 points for New Orleans. He had just nine points at halftime.
Anthony Davis posted 27 points and 14 rebounds and Jrue Holiday finished with 16 points in the loss.
“Our defence got us tonight. We didn’t play much,” said Pelicans coach Monty Williams. “And our shot selection was poor.”
James, Irving and Love all contributed to a 25-7 run that spanned portions of the third and fourth quarters and turned a nine-point deficit into a 94-85 lead with under nine minutes to play. It was the 19th triple double of James’ career.
Elsewhere, the Indiana Pacers’ six-game losing streak is over as center Roy Hibbert scored 29 points and reserves A.J. Price and Lavoy Allen made solid contributions from the bench in a 97-86 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Price added 22 points and Allen had several key offensive rebounds, finishing with a double-double.
Indiana (2-6) had not lost six in a row since March 2011.
Utah got 30 points from forward Gordon Hayward but the Jazz (3-5) had no answer for Hibbert, Price and Allen, who finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Paul Millsap scored a season-high 19 points, leading the Atlanta Hawks to a 91-85 win over the New York Knicks.
The Knicks (2-6) dropped their fifth straight game as Atlanta improved to 3-3.
Forward Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 25 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, and while they trailed by a point with 2:51 to play, the Hawks used a 6-0 burst to surge 81-74 ahead with 59 seconds remaining.
Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, rallying the San Antonio Spurs to an 89-85 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Forward Tim Duncan finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Spurs (3-3) won for the first time in three games.
Forward Blake Griffin paced the Clippers (4-3), who lost for the second time in three games, with 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Buoyed by Derrick Rose’s return from spraining both ankles, Chicago (6-2) led from start to finish and held on late in the fourth quarter to stave off an impressive comeback effort by Detroit (2-5) to win 102-91.
Detroit cut a 19-point Bulls third-quarter lead to 78-70 starting the fourth and had it down to a two-point deficit with a couple minutes left to play.
But a baseline jumper by Bulls forward Pau Gasol (17 points, 15 rebounds) followed by a three-pointer from guard Jimmy Butler (19 points) with 1:56 left ensured Chicago could close it out.
Rose led five Bulls players in double-figures scoring with 24 points.
