Depleted Cavs nip No. 1 Raptors

Hornets win on Howard’s 32 pts, 30 rebs

CLEVELAND – The standings show the Eastern Conference’s top team plays in Canada.

The best player remains in Cleveland, Ohio.

LeBron James reminded Toronto he’s king.

Playing without five teammates and his coach, James scored 35 points and added 17 assists, his last setting up a late a three-pointer by Kevin Love, as the undermanned Cavaliers rallied to beat the Raptors, 132-129, on Wednesday night.

The Cavs were down five rotational players and coach Tyronn Lue, who missed his second straight game for health reasons.

But they still had James, who earlier in the day said, “I’ll be available, so we got a chance.”

The three-time champion delivered another virtuoso performance, adding seven rebounds without committing a turnover in nearly 40 minutes.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said associate coach Larry Drew, filling in for Lue. “It’s just amazing what he does, night in and night out. How he sustains it is just mind-boggling.”

In New York, Dwight Howard had 32 points and a franchise-record 30 rebounds, becoming just the eighth player in league history with a 30-30 game, and the Hornets stormed back to beat Brooklyn, 111-105.

‘’I just thought that my energy and effort wasn’t where it needed to be for our team to be successful,’’ Howard said. ‘’Got a text at halftime from somebody and it kind of got me motivated and gave me some extra energy.’’