Cavaliers Beat Pistons 102-93
AUBURN HILLS (AP) - Kevin Love tied a career-best with eight 3-pointers for 24 points and LeBron James added 19 points and 11 assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied in the second half to beat the Detroit Pistons 102-93 on Tuesday night.
Love fell just one short of teammate J.R. Smith's record of nine 3-pointers against Detroit. Love missed both his two-point attempts.
James nearly had an odd triple-double, turning the ball over nine times, one short of his career high. Kyrie Irving added 18 points for Cleveland, which has won 17 of its last 19 games.
Reggie Jackson had 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in his second game with Detroit, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 21.
Tayshaun Prince started at small forward in his first game as a Piston since he was traded to Memphis in January 2013. He was acquired in a trade with Boston.
Detroit's backcourt was the difference in the first half, as Caldwell-Pope and Jackson outscored Irving and Smith 28-10. James and Love were in double figures for Cleveland, but the Pistons led 62-53 at the break.
Cleveland's defense stepped up in the third, holding the Pistons to 12 points on 22 percent shooting. That enabled them to take a 77-73 lead into the fourth, and Iman Shumpert increased the margin to seven with an early 3-pointer.
After that, James started going to the basket on nearly every possession against Detroit's reserves, and Cleveland moved the lead to 11 midway through the period. The Cavaliers outscored Detroit 36-16 in the first 18 minutes of the second half.
TIP-INS
Cavaliers: In the second quarter, James broke Scottie Pippen's NBA record for career assists by a forward. He tied Pippen's record of 6,135 by finding Timofey Mozgov for an alley-oop dunk, then broke it when he found Love for an open 3-pointer.
Pistons: After trading four players for Prince and Jackson, the Pistons have signed Quincy Miller to a 10-day contract and picked up Shawne Williams off waivers. Miller was in uniform Tuesday, but didn't play, while Williams was inactive. . Prince hit his 500th 3-pointer for Detroit in the first half, joining Joe Dumars, Chauncey Billups, Lindsay Hunter and Rasheed Wallace as the only Piston to reach that mark.
UP NEXT
Cavaliers: Host Golden State on Thursday.
Pistons: Host New York on Friday.
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