Advertisement

NBA roundup: James scores 46 as Cavs bounce back

LeBron James scored 46 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers evened their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at one game apiece with a 100-97 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.

James hit 17 of 24 shots and 10 of 13 free throws while pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. Cleveland's Kevin Love, who left the game with a thumb injury with 3:43 left in the fourth quarter, scored 15 points, and Kyle Korver added 12.

Love later said that he will be able to play Friday night in Game 3 in Indianapolis.

Victor Oladipo topped the Pacers with 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Myles Turner was right behind with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Darren Collison added 16 points for Indiana.

Jazz 102, Thunder 95

Donovan Mitchell scored 20 of his 28 points in the final 13 minutes, and visiting Utah evened its Western Conference first-round series against Oklahoma City at one game apiece.

Ricky Rubio contributed 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Jazz, and Derrick Favors recorded 20 points and 16 rebounds. Rudy Gobert had 13 points and 15 rebounds as Utah halted a 15-game losing skid in Oklahoma City. The series now shifts to Salt Lake City for Game 3 on Saturday.

Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds and four steals for the Thunder. Paul George shot just 6 of 21 while finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Carmelo Anthony had 17 points and nine rebounds.

Rockets 102, Timberwolves 82

Chris Paul rebounded from a ragged Game 1 while Gerald Green provided a boost of energy off the bench as host Houston rolled to a win over Minnesota in Game 2 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Paul finished with a game-high 27 points and eight assists to push Houston to a 2-0 series lead. Green added 21 points and 12 rebounds in 26 high-impact minutes, including nine on three 3-pointers during a 16-0 second-quarter run that shifted momentum to the Rockets for good.

Nemanja Bjelica led Minnesota with 16 points and added eight rebounds while Andrew Wiggins had 13 points.

--Field Level Media