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James leads Cavs over Raptors

Dec 6, 2014 - 5:45 AM Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - LeBron James had 24 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers extended their winning streak to six games with a 105-91 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

The Cavs, led by Kyrie Irving's season-high 37 points, opened a three-game road trip with a win over Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

Irving scored 15 in this one, including the bulk of Cleveland's points in a key third-quarter run after Toronto had gone ahead for the first time.

Tristan Thompson added 21 points and 14 rebounds off the bench for the Cavs and Kevin Love scored 15 with 13 boards.

Amir Johnson had 27 points for the Eastern Conference-leading Raptors and Kyle Lowry scored 22 with nine assists.

NBA legends Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Dikembe Mutombo were among those at Air Canada Centre to honor Nelson Mandela on the one-year anniversary of the former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner's death.

The celebration was put together by Raptors president and general manager Masai Ujiri.

James, whose 13 assists were a season high, was told that Johnson said on the TV broadcast he felt the Cavs star played a "Magic"-type game.

"To have legends here and see Charles and Magic in the crowd was spectacular," said James. "For me I just try and do whatever it takes to win and being able to get my teammates involved, assists to me mean more than anything."

Toronto took its first lead of the game five minutes into the second half on a Lowry 3-pointer that made it 58-57. But Irving scored seven points and James knocked down a 3 during a 16-2 Cavaliers run.

James and Irving combined to score 17 in the third quarter and the Cavs led by as many as 14. They never let the Raptors get closer than six in the fourth.

"They were hitting on all cylinders, and they were executing as well as you could ask for," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. "I would say that I know this team tonight wasn't us. Sometimes in the NBA schedule (with) the first game back from a West Coast trip, the worst team you want to see is a team as talented as Cleveland. But again, hats off to them; they spanked us."

Love and Anderson Varejao combined to score 18 points in the first quarter and the Cavs shot almost 58 percent from the floor for a 30-21 lead going into the second.

Johnson had 12 points in the quarter but the Raptors started cold from the field, shooting under 39 percent. They remained under 39 percent in the second quarter and never got closer than five.

The Cavs shot 50 percent in the half for a 51-44 lead at the break, led by Love's 11 points and 10 from James. Johnson scored 17 in the half to lead all players.

Game Notes

Varejao scored seven of his nine points in the first quarter ... Toronto had won four of the last five meetings, including a 110-93 victory on Nov. 22 in Cleveland. The teams will meet again on Tuesday in Cleveland ... The Raptors next play on Monday in Toronto against Denver ... The Cavaliers finish their three-game road trip against Brooklyn on Monday.