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LeBron James puts on a royal show in win

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cleveland's LeBron James was one of several players with "I Can't Breathe" shirts during shootaround.

NEW YORK >> LeBron James showed Prince William that it’s good to be the King.

James and the Cleveland Cavaliers turned a close game into a clinic after Prince William and his wife, Kate, grabbed courtside seats to watch them, beating the Brooklyn Nets 110-88 on Monday night.

Cleveland outscored Brooklyn 49-27 after Britain’s royal couple arrived to cameras flashing, fans roaring and a tie game.

“Yeah, they brought luck to us,” James said.

And then James brought gifts to them. He gave the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge cupcakes from a bakery in his hometown of Akron, Ohio and a couple of Cavaliers jerseys: one for their son (Kate is expecting their second child) and another that read “Cambridge” on the back.

“It was their first time watching a basketball game, so it was an honor that I would be that guy they decided they wanted to watch,” James said.

Kevin Love was shooting free throws when the royal couple emerged from a tunnel with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter. Perhaps distracted by the loud roar, Love missed the second badly, leaving the game tied at 61.

But James put on a show that few others could, throwing some sharp passes to go with his nine points in the period. He finished with 18 points.

James joined Kyrie Irving and some Nets players in wearing “I Can’t Breathe” shirts during warmups. The shirts were in support of the family of Eric Garner, who died July 17 after a police officer placed him in a chokehold. A recording of Garner’s arrest showed him gasping, “I can’t breathe” during the fatal encounter.

“D-Will brought it to the guys that wanted to wear it and support the cause, and the ones that wanted to wear it wore it. I think it is important,” Garnett said.

Williams had 13 points and 11 assists but shot 3 for 14 for the Nets.

WARRIORS 102, TIMBERWOLVES 86

MINNEAPOLIS >> Stephen Curry overcame a rare off night from long range to post 21 points and help Golden State to its 13th consecutive win with a victory over Minnesota.

Curry missed six of his seven 3-point attempts, but the top-ranked Warriors defense forced the short-handed Timberwolves to shoot 36 percent and turn the ball over 19 times.

Andrew Wiggins had 21 points for Minnesota.

KINGS 101, JAZZ 92

SACRAMENTO, Calif. >> Rudy Gay scored 29 points, and Sacramento overcame the absence of DeMarcus Cousins to beat Utah.

Cousins sat out for the sixth straight game because of viral meningitis, which will sideline him at least the rest of the week. The Kings are 2-4 without Cousins.

Gordon Hayward had 19 points for the Jazz.

CLIPPERS 121, SUNS 120, OT

LOS ANGELES >> Blake Griffin scored a season-high 45 points, drilling the winning 3-pointer that hit the rim and dropped in at the buzzer, to help the Los Angeles Clippers beat Phoenix for their eighth straight win.

Griffin made 15 of 17 free throws, and finished twopoints off his career high.

Eric Bledsoe had a triple-double of 27 points, a career-high 16 assists and 11 rebounds for the Suns.

HAWKS 108, PACERS 92

INDIANAPOLIS >> Al Horford scored 25 points and Jeff Teague added 21 as Atlanta beat Indiana.

C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey each scored 15 points to lead Indiana.

RAPTORS 112, NUGGETS 107, OT

TORONTO >> Kyle Lowry had 13 points and 13 assists, Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Toronto rallied to beat Denver in overtime.

The Raptors trailed by five points with less than three minutes to play but got a game-tying 3-pointer from Patrick Patterson with 28 seconds left.

Ty Lawson had 22 points and 12 assists for Denver.

WIZARDS 133, CELTICS 132, 2OT

WASHINGTON >> John Wall scored 26 points, including the last 10, and Washington rallied to beat Boston in double overtime.

Wall added a career-high 17 assists and Paul Pierce scored a season-high 28 points for Washington, which squandered a 23-point third-quarter lead.

Jeff Green led Boston with 28 points.

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