Best of NBA: Cavaliers hold off Hornets for 3rd straight win

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- LeBron James scored 31 points, Kevin Love had 22 points and 10 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers continued their dominance against the Charlotte Hornets with a 115-107 victory Wednesday night.

The Cavaliers have won seven straight against the Hornets and 11 of 12. James is 40-6 in the regular season against Charlotte.

Kyle Korver's 3-pointer with 1:06 left in the third quarter put the Cavaliers ahead for good at 86-84. They extended the lead to 10 points three times in the fourth quarter, first when James drove into the lane and hit a stepback baseline jumper to make it 105-95.

Jeff Green added 13 points for Cleveland, Korver had 11 and J.R. Smith 10. The Cavaliers have won three straight and four of five.

The loss was Charlotte's fifth in a row since a five-point win at Milwaukee on Nov. 1. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist shot 10 of 14 from the field and led Charlotte with a season-high 22 points, three shy of his career best. Point guard Kemba Walker had 20.

Hornets guard Nicolas Batum played his first game of the season after a tearing a ligament in his left elbow last month. He started and scored 16 points in 32 minutes, including seven straight in the second half as the Hornets took a 58-52 lead (see full recap).

Raptors ride hot 3-point shooting to victory
NEW ORLEANS -- DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points and the Toronto Raptors kept hitting 3s to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 125-116 on Wednesday night.

The Raptors shot 16 for 34 on 3-pointers, with C.J. Miles going 5 for 9.

Kyle Lowry had 22 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 21 and Miles 17 for Toronto. Serge Ibaka added 12 points and Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet each had 10.

DeMarcus Cousins scored 25 points for the Pelicans and Anthony Davis had 19.

New Orleans had a 64-42 scoring advantage in the paint, but couldn't match Toronto's outside shooting. The Raptors shot 59 percent overall and won for the fourth time in five games.

The Pelicans lost for the second time in their last seven games.

Toronto turned a one-point halftime edge into a 98-86 lead after three quarters, boosted by DeRozan's 11 points.

Lowry scored on an offensive rebound and Miles made a 3-pointer as Toronto built the lead to 110-93 early in the fourth quarter (see full recap).

Pacers build big lead early, hold on late for win
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Darren Collison scored a season-high 30 points, Victor Oladipo had 21 and the Indiana Pacers built an early lead before holding off a late rally to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 116-113 on Wednesday night.

Collison added eight assists, made all 12 of his foul shots and connected on 8 of 13 from the field, including 2 of 4 from outside the arc.

Memphis lost its third straight. It had a chance to tie it after a review of an out-of-bounds call gave the Grizzlies the ball with 9 seconds left. Marc Gasol's 3-pointer with 3 seconds remaining was off the mark.

Gasol led Memphis with 35 points and 13 rebounds. Tyreke Evans added 18 points and nine assists, while Chandler Parsons scored 13 points.

Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 16 points for Indiana, including a 3-pointer that momentarily stalled a fourth-quarter surge by Memphis.

The Grizzlies trailed by 17 early in the fourth but scored 10 straight points to cut the deficit to 105-98 before Bogdanovic's 3.

Memphis played without starting point guard Mike Conley, who has a sore left Achilles tendon. Despite shooting well at times, Memphis' offense seemed in disarray and committed fifteen turnovers (see full recap).

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