CLEVELAND — LeBron James joined Oscar Robertson on an exclusive NBA list and Kevin Love scored a season-high 35 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers remained unbeaten at home with a 117-103 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night.
James had 15 points and 13 assists and joined Robertson, the legendary “Big O,” as the only players in league history to rank in the top 25 in career points and assists.
With his fifth assist, James moved past Norm Nixon (6,386) into 25th place and moved alongside Robertson, who finished his Hall of Fame career with 26,710 points and 9,887 assists. James will soon eclipse Robertson’s scoring total and the unselfish superstar is a good bet to pass the guard on the assist list as well.
Love scored 27 in the first half for the Cavs, now 8-0 at home and an Eastern Conference-leading 11-3.
Andrew Nicholson scored 18 and Evan Fournier had 13 points for the Magic. Orlando has dropped 11 straight to Cleveland.
James entered the game needing 21 points to surpass Reggie Miller (25,279) for 18th place on the career scoring list. While he didn’t quite catch Miller, he moved into the company of Robertson, a triple-double machine during his playing days.
J.R. Smith scored a season-high 26 and Matthew Dellavedova, starting in place of injured Mo Williams, added 15 for Cleveland.
The Cavs made a season-high 18 3-pointers in 35 attempts.
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