James scores 34 as point guard, leads Cavaliers over Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, left, is fouled by Chicago Bulls’ Jerian Grant in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

CLEVELAND — LeBron James scored 34 points in a rare start at point guard and the Cleveland Cavaliers, 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. He 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.

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.

CELTICS 110, KNICKS 89

BOSTON— Jaylen Brown scored 23 points, Jayson Tatum added 22 and Boston beat New York.

Kyrie Irving added 20 points and seven assists. Al Horford finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

After dropping their first two games to open the season, the Celtics have won two straight. The Knicks
remain winless through their first three games.

Enes Kanter led New York with 16 points and 19 rebounds. But he got most of them in a first half in as his team struggled mightily from the field. The Knicks scored the first basket of the night, but never led again. They shot just 42 percent and went 1 of 12 from the 3-point line.

PACERS 130, TIMBERWOLVES 107

MINNEAPOLIS — Victor Oladipo scored 28 points and Cory Joseph added 21 to lead hot-shooting Indiana past Minnesota.

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.

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.

Minnesota was missing forward Jimmy Butler, who sat out with an upper respiratory infection. Shabazz Muhammad took Butler’s spot in the starting lineup, and he contributed to Minnesota’s slow start, going 1-for-5 from the floor and missing two free throws in the first quarter.

MAGIC 125, NETS 121

ORLANDO, Fla. — Aaron Gordon scored a career-high 41 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining, and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Orlando over Brooklyn.

Evan Fournier added 28 points in game that went back and forth late in the fourth quarter. He finished the scoring with two free throws with 15.5 seconds to play.

D’Angelo Russell scored 27 points for the Nets, while DeMarre Carroll had 19 and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
18.

TRAIL BLAZERS 103, PELICANS 93

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — CJ McCollum scored 23 points and Portland extended its NBA-record winning streak in home openers to 17 games with a 103-93 victory over New Orleans.

Damian Lillard and Evan Turner each added 13 points for Portland, which is off to a 3-1 start for the first
time since the 2011-12 season.

DeMarcus Cousins had 39 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double to start the season. The Pelicans were hurt when Anthony Davis departed with a left knee injury in the first quarter.

CLIPPERS 102, JAZZ 84

LOS ANGELES — Blake Griffin scored 22 points, Patrick Beverley added 19 and unbeaten Los Angeles beat Utah.

\All five starters for the Clippers (3-0) finished in double figures. Austin Rivers had 16 points, Danilo Gallinari 14 and DeAndre Jordan added 11 points and 18 rebounds.

Rookie Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz (2-2) with 19 points, with Rudy Gobert adding 12 points and seven bounds. Thabo Sefolosha finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.