LeBron shines again in Cavs' win over NY

Feb 24, 2017 - 6:45 AM LeBron James recorded his 48th career triple-double and Kyrie Irving scored 23 points, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 119-104 victory over the New York Knicks.

James scored 18 points, had 13 rebounds and 15 assists for his sixth triple-double of the season.

Kyle Korver scored 20 points for Cleveland, which is 8-1 in February and has now beaten New York 10 straight times.

"We got back to playing our type of basketball," James said.

"I've always felt good about our team but it was just about the way we were playing.

"I feel really good about the way we're playing right now."

Courtney Lee had 25 points and Carmelo Anthony 20 for New York, which have lost six of seven and are 12th in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Elsewhere, Damian Lillard has scored 33 points, CJ McCollum added 22 and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Orlando Magic 112-103 to snap a three-game losing streak.

After trailing for much of the game, the Trail Blazers rallied in the fourth quarter behind Lillard's 17 points.

Recently acquired centre Jusuf Nurkic also had 12 points and 12 rebounds during the much-needed win for the Portland.

The Trail Blazers spoiled Terrence Ross' debut with the Magic after being traded last week for Serge Ibaka.

Ross, who is supposed to add athleticism and a scoring punch, managed just 13 points with his new team.

Portland continues its four-game road swing with a stop at Toronto on Sunday, while Orlando will host Dwight Howard and the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 33 points, including a trio of three-pointers late in the fourth quarter as Detroit outlasted the Charlotte Hornets 114-108 in overtime.

Caldwell-Pope scored Detroit's last 11 points of regulation, and his three-pointer with 18.2 seconds to play tied the game at 100-all.

Kemba Walker scored Charlotte's final nine points of the fourth, but the Pistons forced him to give up the ball on the last possession, and Marco Belinelli missed a three-pointer that could have won it.

Detroit, which was behind by 18 in the third quarter, never trailed in the overtime.

The New Orleans Pelicans' tandem of newly acquired All-Star DeMarcus Cousins and All-Star Game MVP Anthony Davis was no match for the surging Houston Rockets.

Reserve Lou Williams hit seven three-pointers and scored 27 points in his Rockets debut, and Houston crushed New Orleans 129-99.

Davis had 29 points, and Cousins finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds.

But New Orleans turned the ball over 20 times couldn't keep pace with the firepower of the Rockets, who hit 20 three-pointers.

Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 35 points in a three-point flurry late in the third quarter as the Golden State Warriors saw off the Los Angeles Clippers 123-113.

After trailing 61-49 at the half, the Warriors scored 50 points in the third quarter to become the first side since the Lakers on March 25, 2014, to net a half century in an NBA quarter. The feat included nine three-pointers to match a franchise record.

Kevin Durant added 25 points and had 15 rebounds for the 48-9 Warriors while Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford both scored 19 points for the Clippers, who are just half a game ahead of the Jazz in fourth in the west.

In Sacramento, Willie Cauley-Stein had a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds to help the Kings beat the Denver Nuggets 116-100.

Playing for the first time since trading Cousins to the Pelicans in a blockbuster deal Sunday, the Kings players shared the load with newcomers Buddy Hield and Tyreke Evans scoring 16 and 15 points respectively, Darren Collison added 15 points and 10 assists while seldom-used rookie Skal Labissiere had a season-high 12 points.

Gary Harris made five three-pointers and had 23 points for Denver, who are just half a game ahead of the Kings in the race for eighth place in the Western Conference.

Source: AAP