LeBron James scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half and Cleveland had seven other players in double figures as the Cavaliers shook off a slow start for a 120-103 win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.
The Cavs were down 18 points in the first quarter, but regrouped and stopped Boston’s winning streak at five games.
Kyrie Irving added 21 points and Iman Shumpert busted out of a shooting slump to add 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for Cleveland, who moved two-and-a-half games ahead of Toronto for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Photo: AP
James also passed Tim Duncan for 14th place on the NBA’s career scoring list. He added 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 27 points and Jared Sullinger had 17 with 13 rebounds.
PACERS 100, WIZARDS 99
Photo: AP
In Washington, Paul George scored 38 points, including two free throws with 3 seconds left, to lift Indiana past Washington.
John Wall missed a jumper at the buzzer for the Wizards.
George, coming off a 35-point effort on Friday night, shot 13 of 22 from the field and converted all eight of his free throws.
Nene hit one of two free throws to put Washington ahead with 11 seconds left.
Indiana inbounded and George drove baseline and was fouled by Alan Anderson.
Wall had 25 points and 12 assists for Washington, who began play 10th in the Eastern Conference, one-and-a-half games behind seventh-place Indiana.
HAWKS 107, CLIPPERS 97
In Los Angeles, Jeff Teague scored 22 points and Paul Millsap had 20 points and a season-high 18 rebounds to lead Atlanta to the win.
Kent Bazemore added 17 points for the Hawks, who were back at Staples Center one night after routing the Lakers 106-77. They climbed one-and-a-half games behind idle Miami in the in the race for the Southeast Division lead.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Clippers, including DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul with 17 each. Jordan also had 11 rebounds and Paul 11 assists.
Bazemore converted a steal into a fast-break layup and a three-point play, giving Atlanta a 62-60 lead with 7 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter after the Hawks trailed by 17 points. They sealed the victory with a 19-5 run that turned a six-point deficit into a 101-93 lead with 3 minutes, 18 seconds to play.
TIMBERWOLVES 132, NETS 118
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points, seven assists and six rebounds as Minnesota shot a franchise-record 68.4 percent to beat Brooklyn.
Andrew Wiggins had 26 points and six assists, Zach LaVine scored 21 points and Ricky Rubio had 16 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Timberwolves. The Wolves had a season-high 36 assists to bounce back from an ugly loss in Milwaukee on Friday night.
Markel Brown scored 23 points and Thomas Robinson added 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Nets. Brooklyn played without starters Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young, who both sat out to rest.
Minnesota’s previous franchise record was 67.1 set against the Lakers in 2014.
JAZZ 106, PELICANS 94
In New Orleans, Derrick Favors had 28 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks as Utah beat New Orleans to snap a five-game losing streak.
Gordon Hayward scored 24 points for Utah, who entered the night’s action two games behind Houston for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Rudy Gobert grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked two shots for the Jazz, who broke open a 70-all tie with a 14-0 run to close the third quarter.
New Orleans lost their fourth straight game and might be without Eric Gordon for the rest of the season after he again fractured his right ring finger — just eight days after returning from the same injury.
Anthony Davis had 29 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans, but missed 20 of 31 shots.
In other results, it was:
‧ Spurs 104, Kings 94
‧ Knicks 102, Pistons 81
‧ Bulls 108, Rockets 100
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