LeBron outduels Wiggins to lead Love-less Cavaliers to victory

LeBron James spent Tuesday morning sending a clear message to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the wake of Kevin Love's knee injury: Things will be just fine as long as King James is on the court.

He spent Tuesday night backing that up against an emboldened Andrew Wiggins and the Minnesota Timberwolves - as if anyone doubted him in the first place.

James had 25 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds to lead the Cavaliers to a 116-108 victory over the Timberwolves.

Cleveland Cavaliers captain LeBron James goes up for a bucket against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night at Target Center in Minneapolis. James had 25 points and eight rebounds as the Cavs rolled to a 116-108 victory. USA Today Sports

Channing Frye had 21 points and 10 rebounds while starting for Love, who will miss at least the next six weeks after having surgery on his left knee.

Kyrie Irving scored 25 points for the Cavs and James sealed the victory with a stepback 3-pointer with two minutes to play.

"The one thing that we can always rely on is the fact that we've played without Kev before," James said.

"We've had to do that in the playoffs. As much as you don't like to play without some of your big guns, sometimes it happens."

Wiggins scored 41 points against the team that drafted him and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 26 for the Wolves, who finished a six-game homestand at 2-4.

Minnesota allowed Cleveland to shoot 51 percent and hit 13 3s.

"It's always competitive playing them," Wiggins said. "I feel like it brings out the best in everybody."

James took his time to get going, choosing to get others involved, including with a no-look pass through Wiggins' legs to a diving Derrick Williams for a layup in the second quarter.

James threw down two soaring dunks later in the third and added a Jordan-like reverse layup as part of a highlight-filled night.

"It's been a burden on me since I got drafted. Why does it change now?" James said when asked if he has to do more with Love out.

"Nothing's changed. I'll have my guys ready to play every single night."

The Cavs appeared to be pulling away when they opened a 14-point lead in the third quarter, but Wiggins exploded for 20 points in the period to make it a game. He hit a 3-pointer and beat the buzzer on a long 2 to tie it at 93 going into the fourth.

Wiggins, a Canadian, was chosen by the Cavs No 1 overall three years ago, but that was before James made his surprising return to Cleveland.

The Cavs traded Wiggins to Minnesota for Love and Wiggins has always given them his best punch. He entered the night averaging 27.6 points per game against them, his highest scoring average against any team in the league.

The Wolves missed two open 3-pointers that would have tied the game in the final four minutes, but James hit his from deep and Williams got a steal and a layup to drop Wiggins to 0-6 against the Cavs.

"We'll get 'em eventually," Wiggins said.

Tip-ins

Cavaliers: Forward Iman Shumpert played 25 minutes after missing the previous three games with a sprained left ankle ... Williams scored 13 points off the bench against the team that drafted him No 2 overall ... Tristan Thompson had 14 points and 11 boards.

Timberwolves: Shooting guard Zach LaVine had surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday to reconstruct the torn ACL in his left knee. He is expected to miss nine months while recovering ... Point guard Ricky Rubio had 16 assists and eight rebounds, but was just 2 for 8 from the field ... Guard Lance Stephenson has played well since signing a 10-day contract last week. He drained his first two shots on Tuesday, but then grotesquely rolled his left ankle just three minutes into his first shift and had to be helped off the court.

Quote of the night

As he prepared to face a Timberwolves team filled with very young players trying to find their place in the league, James was asked how long it took him to turn the corner as a pro.

"I turned the corner very, very young," James said, smiling. "Probably about 16."

Cleveland coping with injury carousel

LeBron James might take on a heavier workload down the stretch to make up for the absence of All-Star Kevin Love, and the added wear and tear could prove costly in the Cleveland Cavaliers' quest to repeat as NBA champions.

Love will miss six weeks after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Tuesday and while his injury will not sink the Cavaliers it could cost them the Eastern Conference's top seed and make their road to the NBA Finals a little tougher.

It's the latest injury for a Cavaliers team already playing without injured starting shooting guard JR Smith, but not a situation the team is unfamiliar with.

"It's just our road; every season one of our key guys gets hurt," James said before the Cavs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-108 on Tuesday.

"This year has probably been the worst of all, having our starting guard out for so long and then having our All-Star power forward out for an extended period of time. It's just a case of next man up."

The Cavaliers (38-16) have a two-game lead over the surging Boston Celtics in the East and might need to lean on James much more if they want to lock up the top seed, which would guarantee them homecourt advantage until at least the NBA Finals should they get that far.

But having James healthy for the playoffs is the team's top priority and likely only hope of winning a championship, which means they will have to quickly sort out how to get by during Love's absence.

"We can't run LeBron into the ground because Kevin's out," said Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue. "Guys have to step up and be ready to play."

Reuters