Irving-less Cavs declaw Grizzlies

By Associated Press in Cleveland | China Daily | Updated: 2016-12-15 07:28

Close friends

Memphis coach David Fizdale spent four years with James in Miami and the two became close friends. Before the game, Fizdale was asked if he could see the superstar coaching one day.

"No," Fizdale said with a laugh. "He would kill somebody. He wants perfection. I could see him owning his own team, but I think he would end up killing a player at some point because they wouldn't live up to the expectations that he would set."

James smiled and agreed with Fizdale's remark.

"Yeah, he's right," he said. "You've got to be patient as a coach. I don't have that much patience."

James needs 28 points to pass Moses Malone (27,409) for eighth place on the career scoring list.

With his 3-pointer in the first, Love became the fifth active player with 800 career 3s and 6,000 rebounds - joining James, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce.

Triumphant return for Thibodeau

Zach LaVine scored 24 points, Andrew Wiggins added 23 and the Timberwolves rallied to beat the Bulls 99-94 in Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau's return to Chicago on Tuesday night.

The Timberwolves wiped out a 21-point deficit and got Thibodeau a victory in his first game in Chicago since the Bulls fired him in an acrimonious split in 2015.

Gorgui Dieng and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 16 points as Minnesota snapped a four-game losing streak.

Jimmy Butler led Chicago with 27 points, and Robin Lopez added 14. But the Bulls continued a pattern of letdowns against losing teams, this time falling to one that came in tied for the NBA's worst record.

That wasn't what the Timberwolves expected when they hired Thibodeau. After all, the Bulls went 255-139 and made the playoffs in all five of his seasons, including a run to the Eastern Conference finals with 2011 MVP Derrick Rose leading the way.

The T-Wolves looked like they were going to get blown out in this one, trailing by 21 in the second quarter. Instead, they came roaring back.

Minnesota was leading 91-87 when Butler threw down an alley-oop off a feed from Dwyane Wade in transition and nailed a fadeaway jumper off a steal to tie it with 1:34 remaining.

Wiggins then hit a pullup jumper and LaVine scored on a reverse layup to make it 95-91 with 52 seconds left.