LeBron carries Lakers past Cavs

CLEVELAND (AP):

Once the video tribute ended, a simple sentiment filled the giant scoreboard. Against a black backdrop, giant white letters delivered the heartfelt message.

Cleveland wanted to say something.

"THANK YOU, LeBRON," it said.

Eight years after he was treated like a thug, LeBron James was welcomed back properly.

Back on the court where he performed for 11 seasons, and under the title banner he helped raise, James returned to Cleveland and rallied the Los Angeles Lakers to a 109-105 win on Wednesday night over the Cavaliers, who played their best game of the season against their former teammate but couldn't stop him when it mattered most.

James finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists. He also scored or assisted on 11 straight points as the Lakers overcame a 99-91 deficit in the fourth quarter.

But basketball took a back seat to James' homecoming, which was so different than his return in 2010, when betrayed Cleveland fans unleashed their fury on him.

There were no profane chants this time. No derogatory signs. No venom.

Only love, and James felt it.

"From the time we landed yesterday, it just felt a different way," he said. "I'm a different person. We're all different from eight years ago, both good and bad. But more important, this experience has been great. So it's all about growth, and we all have grown from that moment eight years ago. So I kind of leave the past in the past and always focus on the present and see what happens in the future."

The Cavs, who came in a league-worst 2-13, gave James and the Lakers all they could handle. And even after giving up an eight-point lead, they had a chance to tie late, but Kyle Korver missed a wide-open 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made four free throws in the final 15 to seal it for Los Angeles.

Jordan Clarkson had 20 points and Tristan Thompson 14 and 15 rebounds for Cleveland.

Players injured

Meanwhile in California, three Thunder players were injured and Oklahoma City still left Oracle Arena with a lopsided win against the ailing, slumping two-time defending NBA champions.

Russell Westbrook recorded his first triple-double of the season as Oklahoma City defeated the Golden State Warriors 123-95 on Wednesday night when Thunder rookie Hamidou Diallo was carted off on a stretcher with 7:17 left but avoided a serious injury according to the team after X-rays and Warriors doctors evaluated him.

OKC's Terrance Ferguson returned from a two-game absence as he welcomed a baby then went down at the 5:41 mark of the first quarter with a sprained left ankle and didn't return. Nerlens Noel received stitches after getting hit in the face during the second quarter.

"There's just been a lot of things on this road trip that have impacted any level of consistency, our rotation, of having any idea of who's going to be playing," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said.

Westbrook began one for six, then hit his stride, finishing with 11 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds. It was his second game back since missing five with a sprained left ankle then another when he welcomed twin daughters Saturday night.

Paul George had 25 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, and Steven Adams contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Thunder sent the Warriors to their first four-game skid in nearly six years.

Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson scored 27 points apiece, with Durant grabbing a season-best 14 rebounds for the Warriors, who were again playing without All-Star starters Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, as well as key reserve Alfonzo McKinnie.