James triple-double fuels Cavs over Lakers

Clevelandstar LeBron James tied Larry Bird for sixth all time in NBAtriple-doubles Thursday as the Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers121-112.“King” James scored 25 points with 12 rebounds and 12assists for the 59th triple-double of his 15-season career, and spokeafterwards of Bird’s legacy.“He’s one of the greatest players toever play the game,” James said of the former Boston Celtics great. “Heplayed until he couldn’t play no more.“And for young guys that don’tknow him, they think of Larry Bird as a jump shooter. But he was somuch more than that. He was a passer. He averaged double-digit rebounds.He defended. He took charges.”James’s milestone had him thinkingabout players he admired as a youngster - including Bird. On the courthe went up for the first time against NBA rookie Lonzo Ball - takensecond overall by the Lakers in the draft in June - who has cited Jamesas the player he idolized not so long ago.“Who was his favoriteplayer? It was me, and I was humbled by that,” James said. Ball and ayoung, energetic Lakers team led by Brandon Ingram’s 26 points seized anearly lead before the Cavaliers found their range.Cleveland’s KevinLove led all scorers with 28 points and Jose Calderon added 17 for theCavs, who scored 100 points for the 22nd consecutive game and won forthe 16th time in 17 contests.James helped put the game away, hisdunk with 2:20 remaining and a short shot with 1:38 to play putting theCavs up 117-108. Ball who finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eightassists for the Lakers, said it was “pretty cool” to play against Jamesfor the first time.“Watching him doesn’t do him justice,” Ballsaid. “He has that size, that speed. I’d say he’s the best player in theworld right now.”Warriors come alive lateThe DallasMavericks proved no match for the under-manned Golden State Warriors,who pulled away in the second half for a 112-97 victory in Oakland,California. The reigning NBA champion Warriors, still without starStephen Curry and also missing starters Draymond Green and ZazaPachulia, notched their eighth straight win.Kevin Durant equalled his season-high with 36 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.Klay Thompson added 25 points and made all five of his three-point attempts as Golden State improved to 23-7.Dallas,led by veteran Dirk Nowitzki’s 18 points, led 28-24 after the firstquarter and were tied at 48-48 at halftime before Golden State seizedcontrol in the third period.In other games, the New York Knicks loststar forward Kristaps Porzingis with a sore left knee in the thirdquarter but held on for a 111-104 victory over the Nets in Brooklyn.Although they were just across town from their Madison Square GardenArena, for the Knicks it was a much needed road win - just their secondof the season.Courtney Lee scored a season high 27 points for the Knicks.Porzingis indicated after the game that he came out of the contest as a precaution.“Ifelt my knee, it just kind of buckled maybe a little bit and I felt alittle pain there,” he said. “So yeah, it’s more just being cautious.”TheDetroit Pistons, called out by coach Stan Van Gundy after droppingtheir seventh straight game on Tuesday, snapped their skid with anemphatic 105-91 victory over Hawks in Atlanta.Andre Drummond scored12 points, pulled down 19 rebounds and handed out nine assists for thePistons. “It’s a little less burdensome now,” Van Gundy said of endingthe losing streak. “Maybe we just get back to playing basketball.”