James leads Cavaliers past Hornets
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- LeBron James narrowly missed a triple-double with 32 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers completed a season sweep of the Charlotte Hornets with a 112-105 victory over the Hornets Friday night at the Spectrum Center.
Kyrie Irving added 26 points and Kevin Love finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds, on a night when the Cavs shot 55.4 percent from the field.
They led by as many as 12 in the first half and led the entire second half.
The Cavs (47-24) bounced back from a 126-113 loss at Denver on Wednesday night, a performance that prompted James to call out his teammates for a lack of toughness. They had lost six of their previous 10.
The Hornets (32-40) had a three-game winning streak snapped and lost vital ground in their quest to grab an Eastern Conference playoff berth. They remain 11th in the East with only 10 games remaining.
Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 28 points. Marco Belinelli scored 22, Nicolas Batum scored 19, Cody Zeller had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Marvin Williams finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Cavs led 33-31 after one quarter, 59-53 at halftime and 90-85 after three quarters.
Cleveland seemed to have matters under control up 100-92, but the Hornets reeled off seven straight points to cut the margin to 100-99 with 4:20 remaining. The Cavs had to go back to work from there, and J.R. Smith hit a 3-pointer, Love a 20-footer and James a dunk on the next three possessions to push the lead back to seven.
Charlotte never got closer than five again.
NOTES: The Cavs won all three previous games between the teams this season. They have won six straight in the series over the last two seasons. ... The Hornets were without F Johnny O'Bryant (ankle) and G Ramon Sessions (knee), but C Miles Plumlee (calf) was active after missing the previous 16 games. ... The Hornets announced their 13th sellout of the season at the Spectrum Center. ... The Cavs were closing out a four-game road trip that started with two games in Los Angeles. ... The Cavs hit nine 3-pointers, giving them 929 for the season. They have already set a franchise record for most 3-pointers in a season and are fourth on the NBA's all-time list, four 3-pointers out of third. ... The Hornets are 12-37 this season when giving up 100 or more points. ... The Cavs will return home to face Washington on Saturday. ... The Hornets were opening a three-game home stand. They'll host Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.