Love, Irving power Cavs; LeBron tops 26,000 pts

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan – Kevin Love scored 19 of his 29 points in the first half, Kyrie Irving had 28 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to a 114-106 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday.

LeBron James had 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, shrugging off a rare missed dunk in the third quarter. He surpassed the 26,000-point mark during that period, becoming the youngest player to do so at 31 years, 30 days.

Cleveland has the best record in the Eastern Conference at 33-12, but it’s hardly been a smooth ride of late for the defending conference champions. Tyronn Lue took over when coach David Blatt was fired, and Cleveland ended up with only one player (James) picked for the All-Star team.

James was one point shy of 26,000 when he breezed in on a breakaway in the third. As he went up for a dunk, the ball came loose from his right hand, and by the time he reached up with his left, he’d lost control.

James reached the milestone on a free throw with 4:04 left in the quarter.

Dwyane Wade scored 24 points and hit a long jumper with 44.5 seconds left, and the Miami Heat won their third straight road game by beating the Milwaukee Bucks, 107-103.

Russell Westbrook’s sixth triple-double of the season helped the Thunder defeat the Houston Rockets, 116-108. Westbrook finished with 26 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. It was the 25th triple-double of his career.

In other games, Chris Paul scored 27 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Lakers, 105-93;  Kelly Olynyk and Marcus Smart scored 16 points apiece as the Boston Celtics won a season-high fifth straight game, beating the slumping Orlando Magic, 113-94; Carmelo Anthony had 19 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in his return from a two-game absence, and the New York Knicks ended a four-game losing streak with a 102-84 victory over the Phoenix Suns; and  the Portland Trail Blazers had a 109-91 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, the Utah Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 103-90 and Chandler Parsons had 19 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets, 91-79.