LeBron James scored 24 points to move into 12th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list and the Cleveland Cavaliers hammered the Brooklyn Nets 107-87 on Thursday.
James, who also recorded 11 assists, has 26,689 points to move ahead of Dominique Wilkins. He remains 21 points behind Oscar Robertson for 11th and can surpass him on Friday when Cleveland play at Atlanta.
Kevin Love had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Channing Frye scored 13 points off the bench for the Cavaliers, who lost to the Nets last weekend on the road.
Cleveland moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the idle Toronto Raptors for home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Thaddeus Young had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Nets, who rested starters Brook Lopez and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Brooklyn has lost its last eight road games with their last victory away from home March 4 in Denver.
Thunder 119, Clippers 117
Kevin Durant scored 31 points to lead Oklahoma City to a victory over short-handed Los Angeles.
Durant shot 10-for-22 from the field and only 1-for-8 from 3-point range as he scored at least 20 points for the 60th consecutive game. Russell Westbrook added 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Serge Ibaka scored 16 points to go along with nine rebounds.
Playing without their five regular starters, the Clippers got a career-high 32 points from Austin Rivers and 32 from Jamal Crawford. Rivers shot 12-for-19 from the floor, 7-for-9 from 3-point range, and handed out five assists. Crawford had seven assists, and Jeff Green added 19 points.
Trail Blazers 116, Celtics 109
Al-Farouq Aminu scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Portland pulled out a victory over Boston.
CJ McCollum added 17 points and eight assists, and Gerald Henderson came off the bench for 15 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Trail Blazers. Portland won its third consecutive game overall and sixth in a row at home.
Isaiah Thomas scored 22 points but made only six of 21 shots from the field and had five turnovers for the Celtics, who lost their second game in a row. Reserve guard Evan Turner had 14 points for Boston.
Bulls 103, Rockets 100
Nikola Mirotic drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer inside the final three minutes and Chicago rallied from a 14-point deficit to stun Houston.
Mirotic finished with a game-high 28 points. His corner 3 with 2:57 left gave the Bulls the lead for good at 92-91 and preceded a dunk from Jimmy Butler (21 points) and another 3, this one from E’Twaun Moore that extended the lead to 97-91 with 1:30 remaining.
James Harden played the entire second half and finished with 24 points and eight assists for the Rockets. His backcourt partner, Patrick Beverley, scored a career-high 22 points and added five rebounds and seven assists. Michael Beasley chipped in 22 points and 11 boards off the bench.
Chicago’s Pau Gasol finished with 12 points and 10 boards for his 500th career double-double.
Magic 114, Pacers 94
Evan Fournier scored 25 points and Nikola Vucevic added 24, leading suddenly red-hot Orlando to victory over Indiana.
The Magic have won three in a row by a collective 76 points as they beat Chicago by 22 and Brooklyn by 34. Orlando also snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Pacers and a six-game skid in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The Magic’s Victor Oladipo finished with 18 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
Indiana got 27 points from Paul George, 13 from Monta Ellis and 12 from Lavoy Allen in their second consecutive home loss. The Pacers fell to Chicago 98-96 on Tuesday.
Pelicans 101, Nuggets 95
Luke Babbitt scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and guard Toney Douglas added 20 points and 10 assists to lead short-handed New Orleans past Denver.
Tim Frazier nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing with 45 seconds left to give the Pelicans their biggest lead 99-91.
New Orleans won for only the fifth time in 18 games. Frazier finished with 17 points and eight assists.
The Nuggets were led by Darrell Arthur with 24 points and nine rebounds.
© Reuters
