(The Sports Xchange) – Kyrie Irving scored 46 points, and the Cleveland Cavaliers used a fourth-quarter rally to knock off the Los Angeles Lakers 125-120 on Sunday.
Irving connected on 15-of-21 shots from the floor and 6-of-10 from three-point range for the Cavaliers, who increased their lead over the Boston Celtics for first place in the Eastern Conference to 2 1/2 games. LeBron James contributed 34 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Kevin Love added 21 points and 15 boards for Cleveland.
D’Angelo Russell, who hit seven three-pointers, scored a career-high 40 points for the Lakers, who lost their fifth in a row. Jordan Clarkson had 19 points and Brandon Ingram chipped in 18 for Los Angeles.
76ers 105, Celtics 99
Dario Saric scored 23 points and Robert Covington nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with 3:41 left as Philadelphia beat Boston.
Saric and Covington, who finished with 16 points, combined for nine in the final 5:27 as Philadelphia rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to win for the third time in four games.
Boston’s Al Horford scored a season-high 27 points and had eight rebounds and six assists. Jae Crowder added 15 points as the Celtics saw a three-game winning streak end. They played their second straight game without All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas, who rested a sore right knee. He is expected to return Monday night against Washington.
Spurs 118, Kings 102
Pau Gasol scored 22 points off the bench and LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points in 21 minutes to help push San Antonio to an easy win over Sacramento at the AT&T Center.
The Spurs snapped a two-game losing streak, and they still haven’t lost three contests in a row this season. They also swept the four-game season series from Sacramento. Kawhi Leonard hit for 12 points for the Spurs, his season-low scoring output as he missed nine of his 12 shots from the floor.
Trail Blazers 115, Heat 104
Damian Lillard scored a season-high 49 points to lead Portland over Miami.
It was Lillard’s 13th game this season with 30 or more points and his fourth with 40 or more. He started the night seventh in the league in scoring with an average of 26.5 points per game. Jusuf Nurkic added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Blazers, and CJ McCollum scored 18 points.
James Johnson came off Miami’s bench to produce 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Hassan Whiteside battled foul trouble and had 17 points and 10 rebounds for his 12th straight double-double. Goran Dragic also had 17 points.
Mavericks 111, Nets 104
J.J. Barea scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as Dallas never trailed but was forced to hold on against Brooklyn.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 23 points but was not on the floor when Berea scored nine straight points in a span of 2:31. Nowitzki had 20 points in the first three quarters when the Mavericks took an 82-72 lead. He became the sixth NBAplayer to score at least 31,000 career points.
Pistons 112, Suns 95
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 23 points and eight assists, and Detroit snapped a three-game losing streak.
Andre Drummond contributed a double-double — his 46th — with 18 points and 18 rebounds for Detroit. Marcus Morris had 16 points and Reggie Jackson 14. Aron Baynes contributed 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds off the bench.
Raptors 116, Pacers 91
DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points to lead Toronto over Indiana.
Serge Ibaka added 16 points for Toronto. DeMarre Carroll and Jakob Poeltl contributed 12 points apiece, Cory Joseph scored 11 points and had nine assists, and Jonas Valanciunas scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. It was the 26th double-double of the season for Valanciunas, which leads the team.
Pelicans 123, Timberwolves 109
Anthony Davis scored 28 points and keyed a 12-0, fourth-quarter run with a layup and two assists to power New Orleans over Minnesota.
Jordan Crawford added 22 points off the bench for the Pelicans, who led 102-99 with 6:28 left after Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns slammed home a dunk. But in the next 3:01, New Orleans scored 12 straight to extend the advantage to 114-99 with 3:12 left. Towns led all scorers with 33 points, but Minnesota lost for the fourth time in five games.