James scores 24 as Cavs top Nets

Cavs extend lead

for top seed in East

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

LeBron James scored 24 points to move into 12th place on the NBA’s career scoring list and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 107-87 on Thursday night.

James passed Dominique Wilkins with a three-point play in the first quarter. The four-time MVP, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter, has 26,689 career points.

Kevin Love added 19 points for Cleveland (53-22), which leads Toronto by 21/2 games for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Thaddeus Young led Brooklyn with 18 points.

James, who also had 11 assists, sparked a 25-6 run to end the second quarter. After returning with 7:27 remaining, he scored eight points as Cleveland built a five-point margin into a 63-39 lead at halftime.

James sat out Tuesday against Houston to rest, a game Cleveland lost after leading by 20 points in the third quarter.

The Nets defeated the Cavaliers 104-95 in Brooklyn last week, a game in which Cleveland scored 12 points in the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers, with that embarrassing performance likely still in the back of their minds, took the lead for good late in the first quarter and continued to build the margin, which reached 32 in the fourth quarter. Coach Tyronn Lue was able to rest his starters in the final period.

Kyrie Irving, who was listed as questionable after missing Thursday’s shootaround because he was sick, scored 10 points. The speculation about his playing status came as off-the-court issues surrounded the star guard.

Irving addressed a personal issue on Twitter late Wednesday night involving R&B singer Kehlani, who the player was dating at one time. He subsequently deleted the tweets regarding their relationship.

James offered his support to Irving, and Lue said he spoke to him.

“We’re all just there for him,” Lue said. “He’s a part of this team and it’s our job to make sure he’s OK. He’s in good hands.”

Nets center Brook Lopez, the team’s leading scorer, was given the night off to rest. Bojan Bogdanovic added 14 points for Brooklyn.

James is likely to pass Oscar Robertson, who scored 26,710 career points, for 11th place tonight in Atlanta. He has also passed Jerry West, Reggie Miller, Alex English, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, John Havlicek and Tim Duncan on the scoring list this season.