By Jason Lloyd / Akron Beacon Journal
CLEVELAND—LeBron James joined Oscar Robertson’s elite company, and Kevin Love scored a season-high 34 points in the Cavaliers’s 117-103 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday.
James joined Robertson as the only players in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to rank in the top 25 in both scoring and assists. James’s assist on Kevin Love’s three-pointer with five minutes left in the second quarter gave him 6,387, moving him ahead of Norm Nixon and into 25th place.
James is 19th on the all-time scoring list and should pass Reggie Miller for 18th place on Wednesday night at Toronto.
Robertson ranks 11th all-time in scoring (26,710) and sixth in assists (9,887).
Forward Andrew Nicholson scored 18 points off the bench and center Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and five rebounds for the Magic, which rallied from an early 12-point to take a 42-34 lead in the second quarter before Love heated up.
Love scored 17 straight for the Cavs during a five-and-a-half-minute stretch in the second quarter that included three three-pointers. He set a season high for points by halftime and the Cavs cruised to their 11th consecutive win in this series.
James has already reached a number of milestones this season, including the youngest to score 25,000 points. Now he joins Robertson on another exclusive list.
“Every time there’s a young great player everybody talks about Michael [Jordan], but to me he’s always been more like a Magic [Johnson] or an Oscar type player because of his vision,” Magic Coach Scott Skiles said of James. “That’s what makes him so difficult. If you think you’re going to give him a steady diet of running and double teaming him, he’s going to carve you up.”
James matched a season high with 13 assists, to go with 15 points and six rebounds, guard Matthew Dellavedova had a season-high 15 points, nine assists and no turnovers, and JR Smith scored a season-high 26 points. He made six more three-pointers and is now shooting 47 percent from deep in his last four games. Tristan Thompson grabbed 14 rebounds and the Cavs’s 18 three-pointers were a season high.
The Cavs improved to an Eastern Conference-best 11-3 on the same day James won the player of the week award for the East. The Cavs led 59-55 at halftime before Smith scored 11 in the third and the Magic shot 38 percent in the quarter (7-of-18).
Elsewhere on Monday, it was Charlotte 127, Sacramento 122, overtime; Miami 95, New York 78; Minnesota 100, Philadelphia 95; Milwaukee 109, Detroit 88; San Antonio 98, Phoenix 84; and Oklahoma City 111, Utah 89.
In Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant had 27 points and six rebounds in his return from a hamstring injury.
Durant was 10 for 13 from the field in his first game since he got hurt on November 10 at Washington. Russell Westbrook narrowly missed his third triple-double of the season with 20 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
The Thunder ran away with the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Jazz 40-26 and shooting 14 for 19 from the field.
Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 19 points. Derrick Favors had 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, and Rudy Gobert finished with 10 points.
In Miami, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh each scored 16 points, as Miami ended New York’s four-game winning streak.
Goran Dragic had 13 points and nine assists for the Heat, who went on a 36-8 run in the first half. Tyler Johnson scored 12, and Hassan Whiteside had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Miami would eventually lead by as many as 26, both its biggest advantage and the Knicks’s biggest deficit so far this season. The Knicks hadn’t even trailed by double figures in any of their last eight games.
Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for New York, which has lost 13 of its last 16 games in Miami. Rookie Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Andrew Wiggins scored 17 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to help Minnesota keep Philadelphia winless on the season.
Kevin Garnett had eight points and 10 rebounds, and the Timberwolves (6-8) won at home for the first time in seven games this season. They dropped Philadelphia to 0-15 and avoided another embarrassing home loss to the Sixers, who snapped an 0-17 start to last season with a win at Target Center.
Jahlil Okafor had 25 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks for Philadelphia, and thoroughly outplayed No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, who played just 19 minutes because of foul trouble. The Sixers led by 13 in the first half and by five with 2:30 to play but once again couldn’t hold on.
Greg Monroe had 20 points and 13 rebounds in his first game against his former team, leading the Bucks to the victory in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee had seven players score in double figures, including each of its starters. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 17 points, and Khris Middleton scored 16.
The Bucks had lost three straight and five of six.
Andre Drummond had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Detroit, but appeared to hurt himself late in the second quarter. He walked slowly up the court holding his left side after trying to defend Monroe.
Coach Stan van Gundy said after that game that Drummond was fine.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17 points for the Pistons, who have dropped six of eight.
In Charlotte Kemba Walker scored 39 points, as Charlotte battled back from 22 points down in the second half to beat Sacramento in overtime.
Nicolas Batum had 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Hornets, who have won four of their last five games. Jeremy Lin had seven of his 14 points in overtime.
It was the second-largest comeback in franchise history.
DeMarcus Cousins had 30 points and 11 rebounds for Sacramento, and Rudy Gay had 28 points and 10 boards. Rajon Rondo had 14 points and 20 assists.
Image credits: AP