LeBron Leads Cavaliers Past Bulls

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Published on October 25 2017 6:15 am
Last Updated on October 25 2017 6:15 am

By ESPN

The Cavaliers' lineups are changing daily. Their defense is a mess, their slow starts are puzzling and the starting point guard is hurt.

Cleveland's got some problems.

LeBron James minimizes them all.

Making a rare start at point guard, James scored 34 points as the Cavs, using another early season lineup, awakened after a sluggish first half and beat the Chicago Bulls 119-112 on Tuesday night.

Although he often handles the ball and runs Cleveland's offense, James had not officially been listed as a guard since 2012 with Miami. The superstar added 13 assists, including a no-look, behind-the-back dish to Jae Crowder for a 3-pointer during Cleveland's 15-3 spurt in the third quarter.

The Bulls did all they could. James just did more.

"You're playing against the best player on the planet," Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg said.

Kevin Love had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade, who asked Cavs coach Tyronn Lue to take him out of the starting lineup, came off the bench and added 11 points.

Justin Holiday scored 25 and rookie Lauri Markkanen 19 for Chicago, which made a season-high 17 3-pointers. The 7-foot Markkanen became the first player in NBA history to make 10 3-pointers in his first three career games.

Cleveland trailed 92-91 entering the fourth before Love dropped a 3 and Kyle Korver made a pair of 3s in 33 seconds. Chicago closed within six in the final two minutes, but the Cavs came up with two offensive rebounds to reset the shot clock before James drove past Markkanen for a left-handed layup to make it 118-110.

It was vintage James, perhaps the only player in the game who can play either guard spot, both forward positons and center.

It's how he was raised.

"Ever since I was a kid I've always learned every position on the floor," he said. "The point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center. And know all the plays, what they're doing and reads. Coach slides me to the 1, I know every set. If he slides me to the 5, I know the 5. I know the 4. I know the 3. I know the 2.

"I know every single play in every single position, so it makes the job a lot easier for me because I know where I should be and what my teammates should do."

The Cavs were coming off an embarrassing loss to Orlando and their defense was atrocious in the first half, when the Bulls made 12 3-pointers and scored 65 points -- 12 less than in their previous game.

Lue has been experimenting with lineups and combinations because of new players and injuries. He trotted out another new starting five -- his third in three games -- against the Bulls, moving James to the point, and starting Tristan Thompson at center so Love wouldn't have to guard 7-foot-1 Robin Lopez the entire game.

But Cleveland's starters let Chicago control things early. Dropping uncontested 3-pointers, the Bulls opened a 14-point lead before the second group -- led by Wade and Jeff Green -- got the Cavs back in it. Green finished with 16 points.

"Thank God for our bench," said Lue, who angrily got after his team at halftime about defense. "But we've got to be better -- 17 3s again where guys are just looking at us, staring us down and raising for shots. We talked about making the guys put the ball on the floor and we didn't learn our lesson."

 Pacers 130, Timberwolves 107

The Indiana Pacers couldn't miss, and the Minnesota Timberwolves paid the price.

Victor Oladipo scored 28 points, Cory Joseph added 21 and the Pacers set a franchise record for shooting percentage in a 130-107 victory on Tuesday night.

Darren Collison had 15 points and 16 assists, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and Domantas Sabonis had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who shot 67 percent from the floor.

"I thought our guards did a good job of establishing the tempo," said Pacers coach Nate McMillan, whose team scored 18 fast-break points and registered 31 assists. "If you move the ball as they did tonight, guys are going to have wide-open looks."

Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and seven rebounds for the Timberwolves, who came out flat after a thrilling last-second win at Oklahoma City on Sunday.

"We didn't play as well as we needed to today, and we obviously knew that," Towns said. "We were trying to scratch out a win and found ourselves fighting back to get into the game."

Minnesota was missing forward Jimmy Butler, who sat out with an upper respiratory infection. Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau wouldn't use that as an excuse.

"We have more than enough to win with," Thibodeau said. "You can never underestimate how hard you have to play to win in this league. There's going to be bumps in the road. There's times during the game where it may not be going our way and you have to battle through those things."

Oladipo scored eight points and Indiana made 15 of 22 shots (68 percent) in the first quarter to take a 33-20 lead. His first two baskets came in transition, including an alley-oop from Collison. That facet of the game was a point of emphasis for the Pacers after they scored just five points on the fast break in their loss at Miami on Saturday.

"(Collison) does a great job of setting the pace for us," Oladipo said. "We just got out and run collectively as a unit and it helped us."

Towns scored nine points in an 11-2 Minnesota run in the second quarter as the teams entered halftime tied at 61. But the Pacers ended the third quarter on a 24-5 run to pull ahead 98-84. Then they buried Minnesota with a 14-2 run early in the fourth.

"I didn't like our body language when it wasn't going our way," Thibodeau said. "I guess that's the thing that's disappointing is more the mental part, the mental toughness of fighting through things. The spirit has to remain strong, and you have to find ways to win."


Tuesday, October 24 Scoreboard

Cleveland 119, Chicago 1123

Orlando 125, Brooklyn 121

Boston 110, New York 89

Indiana 130, Minnesota 107

Portland 103, New Orleans 93

Los  Angeles Clippers 102, Utah 84


Wednesday, October 25 Schedule (All Times Central)

Denver at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Minnesota at Detroit, 6 p.m.

Houston at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Cleveland at Brooklyn, 6:30 p.m.

San Antonio at Miami, 7 p.m.

Indiana at Oklahoma  City, 7 p.m.

Memphis at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Utah at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

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

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