LeBron James had 29 points and eight assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied to beat the Orlando Magic 98-89 in the NBA on Friday night.
Kevin Love scored 22 points and reserve Dion Waiters added 17 for Cleveland, who bounced back from a 101-91 loss at Miami on Christmas. Tristan Thompson grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Cavaliers played without point guard Kyrie Irving, who was sidelined with a bruised knee.
Photo: AFP
Tobias Harris led Orlando with 16 points. Nik Vucevic had 12 points, seven assists and eight rebounds, while reserve Evan Fournier scored 15 as the Magic lost for the fifth time in the last six games.
Vucevic’s dunk with 1 minute, 58 seconds left got Orlando within three, but the Magic were unable to score again.
James converted a three-point play with 40.7 seconds remaining and then hit three foul shots to help close out the game.
Photo: USA Today
MAVERICKS 102, LAKERS 98
Rajon Rondo scored a season-high 21 points in his fourth game with Dallas and Dirk Nowitzki had 14 while moving up another spot on the NBA’s scoring list.
Rondo, traded from Boston last week, also had eight rebounds and seven assists in Dallas’ franchise-best fifth straight win against the Lakers in the regular season.
Kobe Bryant missed his third straight game for Los Angeles to rest his sore body. He could return today at home against Phoenix.
Carlos Boozer scored 18 points for the Lakers, who lost again on the second night of a back-to-back after beating NBA-leading Golden State in the first game without Bryant.
Nowitzki passed Elvin Hayes for eighth on the NBA’s scoring list and 10th on the combined NBA-ABA list.
Nowitzki, in his 17th season, finished at 27,322 points, nine ahead of Hayes.
BUCKS 107, HAWKS 77
Reserve forward Jared Dudley made all 10 shots, including four three-pointers, to score a season-high 24 points on Friday night to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 107-77 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Brandon Knight added 16 points for Milwaukee, which ended Atlanta’s five-game winning streak.
The Hawks had won 14 of 15, but were routed in front of a rare sellout crowd at home.
After Dudley made back-to-back three-pointers for a 21-18 Milwaukee lead with 2:51 left in the first quarter, the Bucks led the rest of the way and went ahead by 30 in the final period.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
PISTONS 119, PACERS 109
Greg Monroe had 19 points and 15 rebounds, while Andre Drummond scored 20 points as Detroit ended a four-game skid.
The Pistons had seven players score in double figures. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 15 points and Brandon Jennings finished with 14 points and 10 assists.
Roy Hibbert paced Indiana with 19 points, but foul trouble sent him to the bench in the third quarter and the Pistons took advantage.
They outscored the Pacers 36-29 in the period to take an 11-point lead into the fourth.
NETS 109, CELTICS 107
Jarrett Jack made a tiebreaking jumper with 28 seconds left, lifting Brooklyn to the road win.
Jack had 27 points and Alan Anderson scored 15 for the Nets, who won their third straight and improved to 12-2 against sub-.500 teams. Mason Plumlee had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Jeff Green scored 22 points for Boston, who have dropped three in a row.
Jared Sullinger had 19 points and eight rebounds.
The Celtics had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but Sullinger’s shot from the left baseline rimmed out.
PELICANS 97, SPURS 90
Anthony Davis had 22 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, leading New Orleans to a 97-90 victory over slumping San Antonio.
The Pelicans earned consecutive wins over the Spurs for the first time in team history. They also won 100-99 in San Antonio on Nov. 8.
Ryan Anderson scored 22 points for New Orleans (15-14) and Jrue Holiday added 15 points and seven assists.
San Antonio have now dropped six of seven. Friday’s loss came off a 114-106 loss to Oklahoma City on Christmas.
Tim Duncan had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs (18-13), while Cory Joseph also scored 20.
New Orleans scored 20 points off 17 San Antonio turnovers.
In other games, it was:
‧ Rockets 117, Grizzlies 111, OT
‧ Thunder 98, Hornets 75
‧ Nuggets 106, T’wolves 102
‧ Trail Blazers 114, 76ers 93
‧ Suns 115, Kings 106
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