NBA: LeBron James leads Cleveland Cavaliers' charge to a 13th straight win, Kevin Durant steps up for injury-hit Golden State Warriors

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (left) driving against Sacramento Kings forward JaKarr Sampson during their NBA match on Dec 6, 2017. PHOTO: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

(THE SPORTS XCHANGE) - LeBron James scored 32 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Sacramento Kings 101-95 on Wednesday (Dec 6) to tie a team record for consecutive wins.

The Cavs won their 13th straight, and they can set a franchise record on Friday (Dec 8) against the Indiana Pacers.

Cleveland previously won 13 in a row in March 2009 and from January-February 2010.

Kevin Love scored 18 points with 13 rebounds for the Cavs, while Jeff Green scored 17 off the bench. Kyle Korver added 15 points as Cleveland rallied from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter.

Zach Randolph paced the Kings with 18 points, and JaKarr Sampson set a career high with 16 rebounds.

Kevin Durant totalled 35 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as the Golden State Warriors beat the Charlotte Hornets 101-87 without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

Durant finished 13-of-28 from the field and recorded his ninth career triple-double as the Warriors won while Curry and Green sat out with a sprained ankle and shoulder injury respectively.

Klay Thompson added 22 for the Warriors, who won their fifth straight and seventh in eight games. Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 24 points. Nicolas Batum added 15 and Dwight Howard finished with 14.

Kyrie Irving scored nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 97-90.

Irving scored seven points in a span of 3min 5sec and then added another basket down the stretch to help Boston win its fourth straight.

Al Horford had 17 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and two steals. Rookie Jayson Tatum also scored 17 and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Harrison Barnes led the Mavericks with 19 points and seven rebounds while Dirk Nowitzki had 16 points.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points to lead a parade of team-mates in double figures as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Miami Heat 117-105.

Eight of the 11 players who saw the court for San Antonio scored in double figures as Bryn Forbes hit for 17 points, Rudy Gay scored 16 and Patty Mills had 13 points.

Tyler Johnson led Miami with 25 points off the bench, while Dion Waiters scored 22 and Josh Richardson added 19.

DeMarcus Cousins had 40 points and 22 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday was right behind with 27 points and seven assists to lift the New Orleans Pelicans over the Denver Nuggets 123-114.

Playing without forward Anthony Davis, who missed his third consecutive game with a strained adductor, the Pelicans erased an early 10-point deficit by pounding the ball inside to Cousins.

The Nuggets were led by Gary Harris with 24 points, but they dropped to 3-9 on the road.

Courtney Lee scored half of his 24 points in the second quarter as the New York Knicks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 99-88.

Kristaps Porzingis returned after missing two games with an ankle injury to contribute 18 points on eight-of-19 shooting. Enes Kanter added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who won for the second time in seven games.

Marc Gasol scored 17 points, and Tyreke Evans added 15 to lead the Grizzlies, who lost for the 11th time in 12 games.

Andre Drummond scored 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, but it was not enough for the Detroit Pistons in a 100-104 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Drummond hit 12-of-15 shots but Detroit shot just 41.9 per cent as a team and went 10-for-30 from beyond the three-point arc for their fourth straight loss. Tobias Harris added 21 and Avery Bradley finished with 20 for the Pistons.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Milwaukee, who also got 22 points from Eric Bledsoe and 21 from Khris Middleton.

Evan Fournier led all scorers with 27 points but left Orlando Magic's 110-106 overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks early in the extra period with a badly sprained right ankle. Fournier hit 12-of-21 shots and scored the first basket in overtime before limping off the court after landing on Nikola Vucevic's foot during the follow-through of his running floater.

Aaron Gordon had 24 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for Orlando (11-15) while Vucevic added 22 and a season-best 16 rebounds. Dennis Schroder led the Hawks (5-19) with 26 points and seven assists.

Victor Oladipo scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, including a three-pointer with 31.1sec left as the Indiana Pacers rallied from a 16-point deficit in the final nine-and-a-half minutes to beat the Chicago Bulls 98-96.

Oladipo made his shot after stealing the ball from Chicago's Denzel Valentine and was among five in double figures for Indiana. Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 points and Darren Collison contributed 14.

Kris Dunn scored 19 points for Chicago, who dropped its 10th straight by getting outscored 13-29 and shooting five-of-18 in the fourth quarter.

Karl-Anthony Towns totaled 21 points and 12 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Clippers 113-107. Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague added 19 points apiece for Minnesota, who shot 55 per cent. Andrew Wiggins contributed 16 points as did Taj Gibson, who also grabbed 14 rebounds.

Reserve Lou Williams and Austin Rivers led the Clippers with 23 points. DeAndre Jordan collected 18 points and 21 rebounds as Los Angeles fell to 0-4 since losing Blake Griffin for two months to a left knee injury.

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