SAN ANTONIO (AP) — LeBron James became the youngest player ever with 30,000 career points, but LaMarcus Aldridge scored 30 points to lift the San Antonio Spurs over the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers, 114-102, on Tuesday night.
James had 28 points while becoming the seventh member of the 30,000-point club, yet he couldn’t keep the Cavaliers from dropping their 10th in 13 games.
Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray — friend and mentee of James — had 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in his second start since replacing a healthy Tony Parker.
Murray soared for a tip follow and then rose to disrupt James’ driving layup, which led to a 3-pointer by Danny Green that gave the Spurs a 105-94 lead with 4:20 remaining.
After missing his first two midrange jumpers and a pair of free throws, James made two driving layups and a 20-footer, and then rose above Danny Green for a 19-foot jumper with one second remaining in the first quarter to reach the mark. The shot put Cleveland up 29-25.
At 33 years and 24 days, James is the youngest player to get 30,000. Bryant was 34 years and 104 days when he got there.
THUNDER 109, NETS 108
In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook made a go-ahead layup with 3.3 seconds left to help Oklahoma City rally from a 15-point second-half deficit and beat Brooklyn.
The lead changed hands six times in the final 2:23. Brooklyn went ahead 108-107 on a driving layup by Spencer Dinwiddie with 7.8 seconds left, but Westbrook answered with his own. After three timeouts, Dinwiddie missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer, with the Thunder’s Andre Roberson guarding him closely.
Westbrook had 32 points and Paul George had 28 with nine rebounds. George was left off the NBA All-Star roster earlier in the day.
Joe Harris led the Nets with 19 points while Dinwiddie and DeMarre Carroll had 13 each. The Nets ended a two-game winning streak, matching their longest of the season.
WARRIORS 123, KNICKS 112
Meantime, Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 32 points in the third quarter to go with seven assists and six rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors used a big second half to beat the New York Knicks 123-112 on Tuesday night.
Kevin Durant added 14 points, a career-high 14 assists and two blocks before his ejection with 2:50 left for a second technical. Zaza Pachulia added 13 points in Golden State’s seventh straight victory in the series.
Curry made 8 of 15 from deep while sporting sneakers featuring the faces of his daughters Riley and Ryan and the message “I can do all things.”
