Curry, Warriors dim Suns Kobe, LeBron share spotlight

CLEVELAND – With 20,000 fans roaring, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James hugged and seemed to be in a world of their own.

One on one.

“It was just a lot of mutual respect,” James said of the embrace. “Sometimes what is known doesn’t need to be said.”

The two superstars shared the same floor in Cleveland for the final time on Wednesday night as the Cavaliers, despite playing the second half without Kevin Love, downed the Los Angeles Lakers 120-111 in their last game before the All-Star break.

Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 35 points and James added 29 for the Cavs, who feared Love had re-injured his surgically repaired left shoulder in the first half. However, following the game Love said he only has a “stinger” and doesn’t expect to miss any time.

Bryant finished with 17 points in his last performance in Cleveland, where many fans cheered his every move and fans serenaded him with “Ko-be” chants throughout the night.

For James, there has been no player of his era quite like Bryant.

“His competitive nature,” James said when asked what he admires most about Bryant. “A lot of guys might be bigger, taller or jump higher, but it’s something that’s in you that gets you to that level.”

In Phoenix, Stephen Curry nearly had a triple-double before sitting out the fourth quarter, and the Warriors stormed into the All-Star break on an 11-game winning streak with a 112-104 victory over the free-falling Suns.

“It wasn’t our best effort but I told them before the game keep the turnovers down, just be solid and we should be fine,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “For the most part, we did a good job of taking care of the ball. Thirteen turnovers is a pretty good number for us. We didn’t do much else that well but it was enough.”

Curry had 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the defending NBA champions. At 48-4, the Warriors enter the break with the best record through 52 games in NBA history, one win better than the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls and 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers. Those Bulls finished the season with a league-record 72 wins.

In other results, Charlotte plastered Indiana, 117-95; San Antonio survived Orlando, 98-96; Sacramento edged Philadelphia, 114-110; Memphis routed Brooklyn, 109-90; Denver trounced Detroit, 103-92; Atlanta clobbered Chicago, 113-90; Minnesota outlasted Toronto, 117-112; New Orleans turned back Utah, 100-96; and the Boston Celtics wore down the Los Angeles Clippers in overtime, 139-134.