Los Angeles, March 18, 2018 (News agencies) - LeBron James' 70th career triple-double propelled the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers to a 114-109 NBA victory over the Chicago Bulls Saturday night, when the injury plagued Golden State Warriors also pulled off a win. Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James was once again the difference maker for the Cavs, who traveled to Chicago without Kevin Love, Rodney hood, Kyle Korver, Larry Nance Jr., Cedi Osman and Tristan Thompson. Thanks largely to him Cleveland finished their six-game road trip 3-3. "For us to go 3-3 throughout everything as far as the injuries and available guys, I think it was a good trip for us," James said. Coach Tyronn Lue also missed the second half of Saturday's game because of an undisclosed illness, but the Cavs -- who led 69-52 at halftime -- fended off the Bulls' late challenge to secure the win. Trailing 85-81 going into the fourth period, Chicago tied the score twice in the final frame. James' jump shot over Paul Zipser with 39 seconds left put the Cavs up by six, and on the Bulls' ensuing possession he rejected Cameron Payne's shot. James finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, and became the sixth player to notch 70 triple-doubles in his career. For a Warriors team missing stars Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson along with Patrick McCaw and Omri Casspi it was Quinn Cook and Kevon Looney who stepped up in a 124-109 victory over the Suns in Phoenix. Cook led the Warriors with a career-high 28 points. Looney posted career-highs of 13 points and six blocked shots, and Draymond Green came within two assists of a triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Warriors bounced back from a loss to Sacramento on Friday. Seven players scored in double-figures for Golden State, who trailed by 15 points in the second quarter but out-scored the Suns 72-49 in the second half. The Warriors, seeking their third title in four seasons, are two and a half games behind the Western Conference leading Houston Rockets, who beat the Pelicans 107-101 in New Orleans. James Harden scored 32 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Rockets notched their 21st win in 22 games. Chris Paul added 21 points and Clint Capela chipped in 13 with 11 rebounds for Houston. Against a Pelicans team fighting for their playoff lives, Harden drained a three-pointer that put the Rockets up by nine with 1:31 remaining. Harden's 11 fourth-quarter points included four from the free-throw line, and Rockets coach Alvin Gentry was angry at what he said was a disparity in foul calls. Gentry said Pelicans star Anthony Davis "never gets a call." "We talked about them holding him, we talked about them grabbing him on rolls. We talked about them coming under him on post up -- he never gets a call," said Gentry, who was whistled for a technical foul with 5:39 for disputing a foul called on Jrue Holiday. Davis, with 26 points and 13 rebounds, paced the Pelicans, who are fighting for their playoff lives in the West after losing four of their last five games. Blazers wins Damian Lillard says Portland's current streak is more about the Trail Blazers than their opponents. Lillard had 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and the Blazers beat the Detroit Pistons 100-87 on Saturday night for their 12th straight victory. "During this entire run a lot of the things we've done have been about us," Lillard said. "Us communicating, being on the string defensively, locking into the scouting report and knowing what hurt us the last time we played these teams, and also trusting each other on offense, and making other teams have to work to stop us instead of being easy to guard." CJ McCollum added 16 points for the Blazers, who have the longest current winning streak in the league. It's the longest streak for the franchise since it won 13 in a row in December 2007. Portland (43-26) also earned its season-best ninth straight home win - a timely streak as it tries to hold on to third place in the Western Conference standings. While the Blazers are soaring, the Pistons are struggling. Andre Drummond had 18 points and 22 rebounds in Detroit's 12th consecutive road loss. Blake Griffin had 15 points. The Pistons (30-39) have dropped eight of 10 overall, and currently sit in ninth place in the East. Coach Stan Van Gundy was fuming after the game about the officiating. "They held and grabbed on every play and they got away with fouls all over the place. We got absolutely screwed all night," Van Gundy said. "Luke (Kennard) makes a back cut to the basket on an out-of-bounds play, gets knocked down, they end up with two points on the other end. Blake has two straight drives in the fourth that he gets hammered on. He gets screwed twice." While Van Gundy said he didn't want to take anything away from the Blazers, he said the officiating made their defense look good. He called the game embarrassing for the league. "I've been here for four years and many more years before that and I've never come in after a game, never, never come in after a game and talked like this. That was embarrassing," he said. The Pistons trailed by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, but they closed to 84-74 on Stanley Johnson's dunk with 8:18 left. Evan Turner responded with a jumper for the Blazers. After Kennard was whistled for a technical foul, Lillard made a foul shot and McCollum converted a layup to make it 89-74 with 6:19 remaining. Kennard was a game-time decision with a tight hamstring, but he finished with 12 points. Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic got two quick fouls within the first four minutes of the game, so he was replaced by Meyers Leonard. Portland went up 20-9 early. The Blazers led 60-45 at the break. Lillard led all scorers with 12 points. After extending the lead in the third quarter, Lillard went to the bench to start the fourth and it looked as if he might be done for the night. But he returned when Detroit got within 10 points. "We're grown men," Johnson said. "We grab and hold just like they grab and hold. At the end of the day it is what it is. You can't go back and change stuff. You can't do nothing about it. If that's the way they want to officiate the game, we gotta deal with it and try to maneuver the best we can."
