Cavaliers, led by James, win rematch against Celtics, 89-77

LeBron James scored 24 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 89-77 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night in an uneventful rematch of their bruising first-round playoff series last season.

Kevin Love scored 20 points with eight rebounds in his first game back in Boston since Kelly Olynyk yanked his shoulder out of its socket in Game 4, forcing Love to miss the rest of the postseason.

Jae Crowder, who took a punch in the jaw from J.R. Smith in the series, scored 14 for the Celtics.

Timofey Mozgov had nine points and a season-high 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have won three in a row since losing three straight to start the month.

Denver 112, at Minnesota 100: The Nuggets shot 56% against the porous Timberwolves defense to pick up their sixth win in seven games. Randy Foye scored 19 points, breaking out of a season-long slump to hit five of six three-pointers for Denver.

at Sacramento 107, Houston 97: The manager of Kings center DeMarcus Cousins was ejected for slapping at Rockets guard Jason Terry. Trailing a play, Terry put his hand out to slow down as he neared fans sitting along the baseline. Andrew Rogers, Cousins’ manager, slapped at Terry’s arm. Terry stopped, turned around and started to step toward Rogers, who was then ejected from his seat. Cousins had 26 points and 12 rebounds.

at Lakers 113, Milwaukee 95