National Basketball Association Game Capsules

Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) – LeBron James delivered a triple-double in his second home game back in Cleveland, and the Cavaliers continued to make strides by coming through with a hard-earned 118-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. James tallied 32 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists and the Cavs also received huge contributions from their two other stars en route to a second straight win following a sluggish 1-3 start. Kyrie Irving scored 27 of his 32 points in the second half and Kevin Love buried four 3- pointers in the fourth quarter while chipping in 22 points for Cleveland, which hit on 13-of-27 attempts from beyond the arc for the game. Ryan Anderson went 8-of-12 from long distance for New Orleans and totaled 32 points, but only nine came after halftime. Anthony Davis posted 27 points and 14 rebounds and Jrue Holiday finished with 16 points in the loss.

Final Score: Indiana 97, Utah 86

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) – Roy Hibbert scored a season-high 29 points two days after leaving a game with an injured knee and the Indiana Pacers snapped a six-game losing streak with a 97-86 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night. Hibbert scored 11 of his 29 points in the first quarter after suffering a knee bruise in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Washington. A.J. Price scored 22 points off the bench four days after the banged-up Pacers signed him to bolster their depleted backcourt. Price, who played his first three NBA seasons with the Pacers from 2009-12, made two 3-pointers during a 13-2 run in the fourth quarter that turned a three- point deficit into an eight-point lead. The Pacers never trailed by fewer than five points after the run and avoided what would have been their longest losing streak in almost five years. Solomon Hill added 13 points and Lavoy Allen scored 12 with a game-high 15 rebounds off the bench. Indianapolis native Gordon Hayward poured in 30 points for Utah. Enes Kanter had 18 points and Derrick Favors scored 13 in the loss. Indiana won for the first time since its season opener against Philadelphia on Oct. 29. Each of its six straight losses came by 10 points or fewer.

Final Score: Atlanta 91, New York 85

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Paul Millsap had 19 points and the Atlanta Hawks defeated the New York Knicks 91-85 to sweep a home-and-home series on Monday night. The Hawks beat New York 103-96 Saturday in Atlanta. Kyle Korver netted 17 points to go with eight rebounds and Al Horford posted 12 points and six boards for the Hawks, who moved to 3-3 on the young season. Carmelo Anthony tallied 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Iman Shumpert supplied 18 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 15 for New York, which has dropped five straight. Anthony was 11-of-25 from the field. He’s now taken at least 20 shots in his last six games, but has just shot 50 percent or better just once.

Final Score: Chicago 102, Detroit 91

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – Derrick Rose played for the second time in six games since spraining both of his ankles and scored 24 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 102-91 win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night. The Bulls held on down the stretch after leading by as many as 19 points in the second quarter and 17 in the third, winning for the fifth time in their six games since Rose was hurt against Cleveland on Oct. 31. Rose, who sat out the previous two games, set up a key basket when he drew a double team near the paint and threw a no-look pass back to Jimmy Butler for a 3-pointer that gave the Bulls a 95-88 lead with 1:56 remaining. The former NBA MVP had seven assists in 32 minutes and Butler scored 19 as the Bulls beat the Pistons for the 22nd time in their last 24 meetings. Pau Gasol added 17 points and 15 rebounds and Joakim Noah scored 13 with 14 boards. Josh Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Pistons, who have dropped their last two. Greg Monroe added 16 points and 10 rebounds and D.J. Augustin added 16 points off the bench.

Final Score: San Antonio 89, LA Clippers 85

Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – San Antonio’s defense clamped down in the final minutes and took its first lead with less than two minutes left. Outplayed throughout, the Spurs figured out a way to avoid their worst start in six years. Kawhi Leonard netted 26 points to go with 10 rebounds and forced a pair of key steals late to lift the Spurs to an 89-85 triumph over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. Chris Paul’s runner staked the Clippers to an 82-75 advantage with 5:49 left, but endured a five-plus minute scoreless drought as San Antonio ripped off 12 unanswered points. Jamal Crawford was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 25.8 ticks remaining and made all three to pull LA within 87-85 before Manu Ginobili missed a pair of free throws at the other end. Paul’s driving layup, however, didn’t drop and Blake Griffin was called for a technical foul while he attempted to call a timeout on the floor with 1.4 seconds to go. The Clippers didn’t have any timeouts left. Tony Parker missed the technical freebie, but Leonard sunk two foul shots to seal the outcome. Tim Duncan posted 18 points and 11 rebounds and Parker added 13 points and five assists for the Spurs, who moved to 3-3 on the young campaign. The team was on the verge of getting off to their worst start since beginning the 2008-09 season 2-5. San Antonio won despite going just 2-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Categorized in: NBA