James Guides Cavaliers To Win, NBA Scores

LeBron James has mostly gotten over the stinging loss to Golden State earlier this week. His coach can't quite let it go.

James scored 22 points with 12 assists, J.R. Smith made six 3-pointers, Kevin Love played like an All-Star and the Cleveland Cavaliers took care of one of the Western Conference's top teams, beating the Los Angeles Clippers 115-102 on Thursday night.

Love added 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Cavs, who were playing their first home game since being humiliated in a 34-point loss to the defending champion Warriors on Monday in a rematch of last year's NBA Finals. They bounced back with a win at Brooklyn on Wednesday, but the Nets aren't the Clippers, who came in 11-1 in their past 12.

And although they've played better the past two games, James said the Warriors' debacle hasn't been forgotten.

"Who's to say we shook it off," James said. "We won two games. We took two or three steps backward on Monday and we took a couple steps forward these last couple games, and that's all that matters to me."

Kyrie Irving scored 21 for Cleveland, which has won 13 of 14 against Los Angeles.

Before Thursday's game, Cavs coach David Blatt went on a long rant, complaining about the criticism his team has received since Monday's loss.

"I hear a lot of far-reaching conclusions and, personally, I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about it because I'm not the one that's saying or doing those things," Blatt said.

Thursday, January 21 Scoreboard
    
Cleveland 115, Los Angeles 102
    
New Orleans 115, Detroit 99

Memphis 102, Denver 101
    
Sacramento 91, Atlanta 88

San Antonio 117, Phoenix 89

Friday, January 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

Charlotte at Orlando, 6 p.m.

Chicago at Boston, 6:30 p.m.

Utah at Brooklyn, 6:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at New York, 6:30 p.m.

Miami at Toronto, 7 p.m.

Milwaukee at Houston, 7 p.m.

Oklahoma City at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Indiana at Golden State, 9:30 p.m.

San Antonio at Los Angeles, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 23 Schedule (All Times Central)

Utah at Washington, 5:30 p.m.

New York at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Boston at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Milwaukee at New Orleans, 6 p.m.

Memphis at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Chicago at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.

Atlanta at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

Detroit at Denver , 8:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at Portland, 9:30 p.m.

Indiana at Sacramento, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, January 24 Schedule (All Times Central)

Oklahoma City at Brooklyn, 2:30 p.m.

Dallas at Houston, 2:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at Toronto, 5 p.m.