LOS ANGELES — LeBron James scored 27 points to lead Cleveland to a 114-90 NBA victory over the Clippers in Los Angeles Sunday and said the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers are rounding into shape.
“We’re kind of getting into form right now, and coach (Tyronn) Lue has done a great job of kind of finding out his rhythm, and we know what he wants out of us and we’re responding,” said James, who scored 16 points in the first half and sat out all of the fourth quarter.
“We have a great rotation going right now,” James added. “Guys are healthy, and we’re just trying to play the right way.”
J.R. Smith, who drained five three-pointers, and Kyrie Irving added 17 points each for Cleveland.
Cleveland won their third straight game and their sixth in seven outings.
James moved past Kevin Johnson for 19th on the NBA’s all-time assists list with 6,716.
J.J. Redick had 19 points to lead the Clippers, who have lost three of their last five and fell one and a half games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for third place in the Western Conference.
The game marked the first time Cavs coach Lue — promoted to replace the sacked David Blatt in January — faced his mentor Doc Rivers.
Lue spent five seasons as an assistant to Rivers, first with the Boston Celtics and then with the Clippers.
Hawks 104, Pacers 75: The Atlanta Hawks earned a split of the four-game season series against Indiana by continuing their home dominance of the Pacers.
The Hawks closed the third quarter on a 30-5 run to make the game a rout and rolled to a 104-75 victory for their 16th win in the past 17 regular-season home games against Indiana.
Jazz 108, Kings 99: Derrick Favors had 28 points and 14 rebounds, Gordon Hayward added 27 points and the Utah Jazz defeated the Sacramento Kings 108-99.
Utah (31-35) won its second straight game and moved to within two games of Dallas and Houston, who are tied for seventh in the Western Conference playoff race.
Bucks 109, Nets 100: Giannis Antetokounmpo recoded a triple-double with 28 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Brooklyn Nets 109-100.
Antetokounmpo nearly became the first player to get a triple-double in a half since Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd did it in the second half for the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 26, 2010. At halftime, the second-year forward had 12 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Knicks 90, Lakers 87: Jose Calderon nailed a 3-pointer with two-tenths of a second left, lifting the New York Knicks to a 90-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Calderon’s game-winner occurred after Kobe Bryant missed a bucket that would have given the Lakers a lead with 9.9 seconds remaining. Calderon had nine points and six assists. — Agencies
