BOSTON (AP) " BOSTON (AP) " LeBron James scored 24 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 89-77 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night in an uneventful rematch of their bruising first-round playoff series last season.
Kevin Love had 20 points and eight rebounds in his first game back in Boston since Kelly Olynyk yanked his shoulder out of socket in the playoffs. Jae Crowder, who took a punch in the jaw from J.R. Smith in the series, scored 14 for the Celtics.
Timofey Mozgov had nine points and a season-high 10 rebounds, scoring seven with five boards in the third quarter when Cleveland turned a five-point deficit into a 10-point lead. The Cavaliers have won three in a row since losing three straight to start the month.
Avery Bradley scored 17 points for Boston, which was back home for the first time since taking the then-unbeaten Golden State Warriors to double overtime.
NUGGETS 112, TIMBERWOLVES 100
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) " Randy Foye scored 19 points, and Denver picked up its sixth win in seven games.
Kenneth Faried added 19 points and 10 rebounds, Will Barton had 14 points, seven boards and five assists, and the Nuggets shot 56 percent against the porous Timberwolves defense. Foye broke out of a season-long slump to hit 5 of 6 3-pointers, and the Nuggets hit 10 of 18 from deep as a team.
Zach LaVine had 20 points and five assists and Andrew Wiggins scored 23 points for the Timberwolves, who have lost seven of their last eight games. They are 3-10 at home this season.
KINGS 107, ROCKETS 97
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) " Sacramento star DeMarcus Cousins' manager was ejected for slapping at Rockets guard Jason Terry during the Kings' win over Houston.
Trailing the play on a dunk by Sacramento's Ben McLemore, Terry put his hand out to slow down as he neared fans sitting along the baseline.
Andrew Rogers, Cousins' manager, slapped at Terry's arm. Terry stopped, turned around and started to step toward Rogers, who was then ejected from his seat.
Cousins had 26 points and 12 rebounds. The Kings never trailed after the midway point in the second quarter in a sloppy game that included 49 turnovers and three technical fouls, one on Cousins.
Starting for suspended Rajon Rondo, Darren Collison had 14 points, a season-high 13 assists and six rebounds as the Kings won their third in a row. Rondo was penalized one game by the NBA for using a gay slur toward official Bill Kennedy in a recent game.
James Harden had 33 points for Houston.
LAKERS 113, BUCKS 95
LOS ANGELES (AP) " Kobe Bryant had 22 points and six assists during Los Angeles' victory over the Bucks in Milwaukee's first game since ending Golden State's 24-0 start to the season.
D'Angelo Russell had 19 points and seven assists as the Lakers took a 22-point lead in the third quarter and cruised to their second victory in 15 games, improving to 4-21 in Bryant's farewell season.
Michael Carter-Williams scored 19 points for the Bucks, who played without leading scorer Greg Monroe in their first game since snapping the Warriors' 28-game winning streak dating to last season.
Monroe was a late scratch with a sore left knee for the Bucks, who have lost 10 straight road games.