NBA PLAYOFFS

Beast mode: LeBron’s 46 overpowers Indiana

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers flies to the basket for a dunk during the Cavaliers’ victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of their NBA playoff series Wednesday night in Cleveland.
LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers flies to the basket for a dunk during the Cavaliers’ victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of their NBA playoff series Wednesday night in Cleveland.

CAVALIERS 100, PACERS 97

CLEVELAND -- LeBron James scored 46 points and added 12 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from a poor performance in the opener by holding off the Indiana Pacers 100-97 on Wednesday night to even their Eastern Conference series at one game apiece.

Dazzling from the start, James scored the game's first 16 points and had 29 at halftime, dominating the way he has in so many previous postseasons.

But in a season in which nothing has been easy for the Cavs, Cleveland was lucky that Indiana's Victor Oladipo missed a wide-open three-pointer that would have tied it with 27 seconds left.

Kevin Love scored 15, but Cleveland's All-Star center injured his left hand, the same one he broke earlier this season, with 3:43 left. Love's status is unknown.

Kyle Korver added 12 points, all on threes.

Oladipo scored 22 -- he was in early foul trouble -- and Myles Turner 18 for the Pacers, who shocked the Cavs with an overpowering victory in Game 1.

Indiana clawed back from an 18-point deficit and was within 95-92 when Oladipo, who scored 32 in the opener, somehow came free but missed the wide-open three-pointer. James grabbed the rebound and made three free throws over the final 22 seconds as the Cavs avoided falling behind 2-0 in the series.

Game 3 is Friday night in Indianapolis.

James, 33, was expected to be more aggressive than in Game 1, when he was unusually passive, deferred to teammates and suffered the first playoff-opening loss of his career.

But James was his unstoppable self again, and there wasn't a whole lot the Pacers could do about him in the first half.

Cavs Coach Tyronn Lue shook up his starting lineup, going with Korver and J.R. Smith over Jeff Green and Rodney Hood. Green didn't score in the opener and Hood only started because Korver was dealing with a sore right foot.

While the changes weren't that surprising, Oladipo leaving after 62 seconds was stunning.

Indiana's lightning-quick guard picked up an offensive foul and then got his second when he knocked over James, who was setting a screen.

With Oladipo off the floor, the Pacers didn't have an offensive answer to James.

The three-time champion was in attack mode from the start. After not attempting his first shot in the opener until 1:52 remained in the first quarter, he dropped a short jumper 16 seconds into Game 2.

And he was just getting started.

James made his first five attempts and scored Cleveland's first 16 points, making a pair of three-pointers and then picking up assists on threes by Love and Korver. James outscored the Pacers 20-18 in the first 12 minutes.

JAZZ 102, THUNDER 95

OKLAHOMA CITY — Rookie Donovan Mitchell scored 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter to help the Utah Jazz defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder and tie their Western Conference playoff series at one victory apiece.

Derrick Favors had career playoff bests of 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Jazz, and Ricky Rubio had 22 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds in the first playoff victory of his seven-year career.

Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 13 assists and 9 rebounds for the Thunder. Paul George, who scored 36 points in Game 1, finished with 18 on 6-for-21 shooting. Carmelo Anthony scored 17 points, but made just 6 of 18 shots.

Utah outrebounded Oklahoma City 56-46 to take home-court advantage from the Thunder. Game 3 will be Saturday in Utah.

ROCKETS 102, T-WOLVES 82

HOUSTON — Chris Paul had 27 points and Gerald Green came off the bench to score 21 as the Houston Rockets used a huge second quarter to cruise to a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves that gave them a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Houston fell behind early, but went on top for good with a 37-point second quarter, powered by four 3-pointers from Green, and the Wolves didn’t threaten again.

The top-seeded Rockets won the opener by three behind a 44-point performance from James Harden on a night when most of the team struggled offensively. Things were much different on Wednesday when Harden had just 12 points as one of four Rockets who finished in double figures.

Jamal Crawford scored 16 points for the eighth-seeded Timberwolves, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

At a glance

NBA PLAYOFFS

FIRST ROUND (Best-of-7) MONDAY’S GAMES

Miami 113, Philadelphia 103

Series tied 1-1

Golden State 116, San Antonio 101

Golden State leads series 2-0

TUESDAY’S GAMES

Toronto 130, Washington 119

Toronto leads series 2-0

Boston 120, Milwaukee 106

Boston leads series 2-0

New Orleans 111, Portland 102

New Orleans leads series 2-0

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Cleveland 100, Indiana 97

Series tied 1-1

Utah 102, Oklahoma City 95

Series tied 1-1

Houston 102, Minnesota 82

Houston leads series 2-0

TODAY’S GAMES

All times Central

Philadelphia at Miami, 6 p.m. Portland at New Orleans, 8 p.m. Golden State at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.

photo

AP/TONY DEJAK

LeBron James (left) led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 100-97 victory Wednesday night over the Indiana Pacers to tie the series 1-1. James had 46 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists.

Sports on 04/19/2018

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