Cavs handle Pistons
CLEVELAND -- Kyrie Irving scored 25 points and passed for a season-high 11 assists, LeBron James scored 21 points and Kevin Love had 12 points and 13 rebounds in a 104-81 win against the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
J.R. Smith passed Dirk Nowitzki for 15th place on the 3-point career list and now has 1,706.
The Pistons fell to 1-7 on the road and continued their miserable struggles away from the Palace, shooting 31 percent. The Cavs, meanwhile, continue to roll. They have made at least 10 3-pointers in every game this season, an NBA record that is now at 12 games and climbing. Irving's assists were one off his career high while Tristan Thompson also matched his season-high with 14 rebounds.
Jon Leuer scored 15 points off the bench for Detroit, while Andre Drummond scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds. But the Pistons trailed 56-39 at the half and never caught up.
The Cavs led by as many as 32 after the Pistons pushed them hard in last season's first-round postseason sweep.
Smith returned to the lineup after missing the last three games with a sore ankle. Since the Cavs have four full days off before their next game, it seemed to make sense to hold Smith out of this one, too, before bringing him back fully healthy on Wednesday. Coach Tyronn Lue let him play, however, because Smith badly wanted to play.
"He's always been a great shooter and I think at times in Denver and New York, maybe he took a lot of tougher shots, one-on-one off the dribble and trying to create his own shot from 3," Lue said. "Here with this team, with Kevin and Kyrie and LeBron and the way they demand so much attention, now he's getting open, easy shots and he's always been a knockdown shooter. I think now he's getting easier shots and shots in rhythm and he knows where his shot's gonna come from."
NOTES: Cavaliers F LeBron James said he'd love to meet good friend Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA Finals, but recognizes it's too early to have such talk. The Clippers entered Friday with the NBA's best record (10-2). "We've always thought about that. We've talked about it. Your mind definitely goes to that point, but we'll see what happens." ... The Cavs don't play again until Wednesday, so coach Ty Lue is giving the players the weekend off. ... Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy admitted this week he has used the term "posse" to refer to African-Americans after LeBron James was offended by the way Phil Jackson used it to describe him and his friends. "The people in the majority don't get to decide what is racist and what's not," Van Gundy said. "It's like men don't get to decide what's sexist and what's not. You have to listen and if you care, you listen and you try to get better from it." ... The Pistons host the Boston Celtics on Saturday.